How to Add Keywords in Google Shopping Ads (The Right Way)

In Google Shopping Ads, keywords are not applied directly as they are in traditional Search campaigns. Instead, product visibility is improved by optimizing elements within the Google Merchant Center feed, including product titles, descriptions, and attributes.

While direct keyword targeting is unavailable, advertisers can utilize negative keywords to prevent ads from appearing for irrelevant search queries, thereby enhancing targeting accuracy and minimizing wasted ad spend.

Google Shopping Ads are one of the most powerful ways to showcase your products directly on Google’s search results. They display product images, pricing, and merchant details, helping customers make faster purchasing decisions.

But here’s the catch: unlike traditional search ads, Google Shopping Ads don’t rely on keywords in the conventional sense. Instead, they depend on your product feed data—titles, descriptions, and attributes—to determine when and where your ads appear.

Can you add keywords in Google Shopping Ads? The short answer is yes, but in a different way. This guide will walk you through the right way to do it.

How Keywords Work in Google Shopping Ads?

Google Shopping Ads do not use keywords like traditional Search Ads. Instead, relevance is determined by your product feed, including titles, attributes, descriptions, and categories. 

By optimizing these elements with relevant, high-intent keywords, you help Google match your products more accurately to user searches.

In addition, reviewing search-term reports and applying feed rules enables dynamic keyword enrichment, while negative keywords help exclude irrelevant queries.

Collectively, these practices improve ranking visibility, drive stronger performance, and enhance return on investment, ultimately leading to higher percentage growth in campaign results.

In this guide, you’ll discover a step-by-step process for adding keywords to Google Shopping Ads to boost ranking visibility.

How to Optimize Your Google Shopping Ads with Keywords?

To optimize Google Shopping ads, focus on the quality and completeness of your product feed by incorporating descriptive, high-intent keywords into product titles and attributes (such as brand, size, color, and GTIN), while ensuring accurate pricing, availability, and shipping details. 

Leverage keyword signals in titles and descriptions to align with shopper queries, but keep in mind that Google matches products based on feed data rather than manual keyword bidding. 

Use negative keywords (where available) to filter irrelevant traffic, and monitor search term insights or demand-gen reports to refine visibility. 

Organize campaigns or product groups by category, margin, or brand for better budget control, and pair them with Smart Bidding or Performance Max audience signals. 

Regularly analyze performance, competitor pricing, and query trends to continuously improve Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).

Optimize your product data feed

1. Product Titles: Place the most important and relevant keywords at the beginning of your titles. Include descriptive details such as brand, size, color, and material to match common search queries. Keep titles concise to avoid truncation on mobile, and avoid promotional or policy-violating terms (e.g., “Free Shipping,” “Best,” or emojis).
2. Product Descriptions: Write clear, keyword-rich descriptions that highlight key features and benefits. Ensure descriptions align with the product landing page, avoid keyword stuffing, and keep them compliant with Google’s content policies. If using AI-generated descriptions, include the structured description attribute as required by Google Merchant Center.
3. Product Type: Use the product type attribute to define your category structure (e.g., “Home > Furniture > Living Room > Sofas”) to help Google understand and organize your products. Combine this with the official Google Product Category attribute for maximum visibility and accurate targeting.
4. Google Product Category: Google auto-assigns categories, but you can override them using either the official taxonomy ID or the full path (submit one, not both). Choose the most specific and relevant category to improve accuracy. The taxonomy file is regularly updated by Google.

If you run a WooCommerce store, you can use CTX Feed Pro—the essential Google Shopping product feed plugin—to easily manage your product feeds.

Conduct Keyword & Search Intent Research

• Use Google Keyword Planner to explore relevant search terms, track trends, and estimate volumes while treating insights as directional, since the tool is designed for Search rather than Shopping ads.
  
• Think like your customers: identify the phrases and attributes they use when searching (brand names, descriptive terms, long-tail keywords), and test their performance.
  
• Leverage AI-powered tools to optimize product titles and descriptions at scale by identifying missing keywords, suggesting variations, and reordering elements, but always validate results for accuracy, compliance, and alignment with your brand voice.

Keyword Targeting in Google Shopping Ads 

Google Shopping ads don’t use traditional keyword targeting like Search campaigns. Instead, Google’s algorithm matches user queries to your ads using the structured product data in your Merchant Center feed—titles, descriptions, categories, and other required attributes.

To increase relevance and performance:

• Optimize titles and descriptions with accurate, specific, high-quality details.
• Ensure all relevant product data (category, identifiers such as GTIN, availability, shipping, images) is completed according to Google’s product data specifications.
• Use negative keywords where possible to exclude irrelevant searches.

With high-quality feed data and thoughtful exclusions, you can improve ad relevance, control which products appear for specific queries, and increase ROAS.

How to Research Keywords for Google Shopping Campaigns?

While you can’t bid on keywords directly within Shopping campaigns, keyword research remains essential for feed optimization.

Steps to Follow:

• Use Keyword Planner Strategically: Access it via Tools → Planning in Google Ads. Although designed for Search campaigns, it helps uncover relevant terms, track search trend shifts, and prioritize vocabulary for your product feed.
• Leverage the Search Terms Report: In Google Ads (via Dimensions or Insights), review the actual queries that triggered impressions and clicks in your Shopping campaigns. Use these insights to identify new terms to include in titles, descriptions, and metadata.
• Use Search Terms Insights: Available for Shopping campaigns, this feature automatically groups queries into intent-based categories to reveal broader search trends and highlight areas where your feed may need improvement.
• Use External Tools for Competitive and Trend Insights: Platforms such as Ahrefs and SEMrush can help identify high-intent keywords used by competitors or trending within your niche. Apply these insights to strengthen your product feed—not as direct bidding targets.

Keywords in Product Titles 

Use the actual product name and include key, search-friendly details, brand, model, size, color, and material, as customers often search using specific terms. 

Front-load the most important information so it appears within the first 70 characters, since many displays, especially on mobile, truncate titles. 

Avoid promotional terms, excessive punctuation, all caps, or claims that violate policy.

Example:
Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 40 Men’s Running Shoes – Size 10, Black/White, Lightweight Mesh

Keywords in Product Descriptions

Include one or two carefully selected, relevant keywords in your product descriptions to improve visibility and relevance. 

Front-load critical details such as size, color, or usage so they appear early in truncated views. Provide detailed, intent-rich descriptions that explain what the product is, who it’s for, and what makes it valuable. 

Ensure your description matches the content on the landing page for consistency and policy compliance. Avoid keyword stuffing, all caps, or promotional fluff.

Example:

The Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 40 Men’s Running Shoes in Black/White, Size 10, are designed for everyday runners seeking comfort and durability. Featuring lightweight mesh for breathability and responsive cushioning for long-distance support, these shoes are ideal for training, racing, or casual wear. Built with a secure fit and high-quality materials, they provide lasting performance for athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike.

Negative Keywords in Google Shopping

In Google Shopping campaigns, negative keywords are a powerful tool for refining targeting and improving performance. 

Because Shopping ads don’t use traditional keyword bidding, negative keywords help prevent your products from appearing for irrelevant or low-converting search terms, ultimately saving ad spend and boosting ROI.

According to a case study by DataFeedWatch, the sporting goods retailer ZoobGear improved its Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) by 178% after refining its Google Shopping campaigns through the use of negative keywords and campaign prioritization strategies.

Why Negative Keywords in Google Shopping Matter:

• They act as filters, blocking queries such as “used,” “cheap,” or “review,” which often indicate low purchase intent.
• Reducing irrelevant impressions improves click-through rates, which can enhance ad efficiency and lower the cost per conversion.

How to Use Negative Keywords In Google Shopping Effectively:

• Add negative keywords via the Google Ads UI or API. Apply them at the campaign or ad group level, or manage them through shared negative keyword lists. Use a broad phrase, or an exact match as appropriate.
  
• Use the Search Terms Report (or Search Terms Insights) to analyze queries that triggered impressions or clicks but did not convert. Identify wasteful or irrelevant terms and add them to your negative keyword list.
  
• Implement a campaign priority structure (low, medium, high) for standard Shopping campaigns:
    • Low priority: broader reach with minimal negatives.
    • Medium priority: add general negatives based on data from low priority campaigns.
    • High priority: apply highly restrictive negatives to target only high-intent queries.
  

Eliminating High-Volume but Irrelevant Keywords

A powerful way to optimize Google Shopping campaigns is by identifying and excluding high-volume search queries that drive traffic but don’t convert. By sorting your Search Terms Report by impressions, cost, or clicks with no conversions, you can uncover these inefficient terms.

Adding them as negative keywords prevents your ads from appearing for irrelevant searches, helping you save ad spend and focus your budget on high-intent queries. Over time, this strategy can increase click-through rates, improve conversion rates, and enhance overall campaign profitability.

Scenario: Online Shoe Store

You run Shopping ads for “Nike Running Shoes.”

In your Search Terms Report, you find queries driving traffic:

“cheap nike shoes,” “nike shoe reviews,” and “free nike shoes giveaway” are high-volume queries (lots of clicks) but result in little to no conversions. They’re costing you hundreds of dollars but bringing almost no revenue.

Using Multiple Shopping Campaigns with Strategic Priorities (2025 Best Practice)

Effectively managing Google Shopping campaigns often involves creating three separate campaigns, each with a different priority level (high, medium, or low) to sculpt traffic and allocate budget according to purchase intent and business goals.

How It Works:

• High-Priority Campaign
  
  • Triggered for broad, low-intent queries.
  • Uses low bids and focuses on awareness or promotions (e.g., best-sellers on sale)
  • Functions as a clearinghouse—only when its budget is consumed do lower-priority campaigns activate.
    
• Medium-Priority Campaign
  
  • Serves as a fallback when high-priority coverage is exhausted.
    
  • Targets mid-funnel searches such as branded or category terms associated with proven performers.
    
• Low-Priority Campaign
  
  • Reserved for high-intent, product-specific searches.
    
  • Typically features higher bids and targets high-converting queries.
    
  • Includes full catalog coverage, ensuring comprehensive ad presence for qualifying products.

Brand-Based Google Shopping Campaign Structure

To capitalize on search intent and maximize conversion efficiency, it’s effective to break down your Shopping campaigns with priority tiers and brand-based segmentation:

High-Priority Campaign: Non-Brand, Broad Searches

• Targets broad, non-branded search terms.
• Excludes brand terms via negative keywords.
• Uses higher bids to capture awareness-stage traffic quickly.
• Ideal for promotions, broad product categories, and driving visibility across general queries.
  

Medium-Priority Campaign: Branded Terms

• Exclusively includes brand-related queries (e.g., your store or model names).
• Excludes these brand terms from the High-priority campaign—this prevents overlap and focuses budget where it converts.
• Uses moderate bids—reflecting stronger intent but typically lower volume than broad searches.
  

Low-Priority Campaign: Niche or Best-Performing Terms

• Designed for highly specific, high-converting search queries or niche SKUs.
• Excludes these specific keywords from the higher tiers.
• Uses lower bids (or sometimes higher, depending on ROI) and serves as a precision funnel for shoppers ready to convert.

Campaign Priority	Traffic Type	Negative Keyword Strategy	Bid Level
High	Non-Branded, Broad	Exclude Brand + Top Performing Terms	Highest
Medium	Branded	Exclude Niche High Converters	Moderate
Low	Niche/ Best-performing	Exclude Both Non-Brand and Brand Queries	Lower (Or Selective Higher ROI Bids)

Wholesale vs Retail (B2B Focused Campaign Segmentation)

For B2B companies selling in bulk, separating your Shopping campaigns based on customer type can significantly improve targeting precision and conversion efficiency.

• High-Priority Campaign: Retail / General Traffic
  
  • Exclude “bulk” and “wholesale” terms with negative keywords to steer general retail traffic.
  • Use a moderate or performance-based bidding strategy (e.g., Target ROAS or Enhanced CPC), instead of setting manual bids as low as $0.01, to maintain visibility while optimizing cost efficiency.
    
• Low-Priority Campaign: Wholesale / Bulk Buyers
  
  • Tailor bid adjustments or bidding strategy specifically for “bulk”-focused queries, capturing high-intent B2B shoppers.
  • Incorporate “bulk” or “wholesale” as inclusive keywords or campaign-specific targeting, not merely relying on negative exclusion elsewhere.

Focus on Product Title Optimization

When optimizing your presence in Google Shopping, product titles remain the most important lever for visibility, relevance, and performance.

Surprisingly, many retailers still overlook this. Numerous case studies confirm that title optimization remains underutilized even today.

Why it matters:

• Google’s algorithm relies heavily on titles to match products with shopper queries, and shoppers glance at titles first in search results.
• Titles that include key attributes — such as brand, model, color, size, or special features — significantly boost ad relevance.
• The order and clarity of keywords — front-loading essential elements — make your product instantly recognizable and relevant.
• Iterative title testing (e.g., testing “organic” vs. “formulated by doctors”) has been shown to dramatically improve CTR and conversion rates.

Monitor, Test, and Optimize

The real success of Google Shopping Ads comes after launch, through continuous monitoring and optimization. Track key performance metrics, including click-through rate (CTR) and impressions, to determine if your keywords and feed optimizations are driving traffic, conversion rates to assess whether clicks are resulting in sales, and ROAS to evaluate profitability. 

Based on these insights, refine your strategy by adjusting bids, improving product titles, or testing variations. For example, a title such as “Nike Air Zoom Pegasus” may generate better performance than a more generic term like “Nike Running Shoes”. Regular optimization ensures your campaigns remain competitive and cost-effective.

Best Practices for Ongoing Optimization

• Update your feed regularly with fresh keywords and accurate product info.
• Test different titles & images to see what resonates.
• Stay updated on Google Ads changes (like Performance Max campaigns replacing Smart Shopping).

Final Thoughts

Adding keywords to Google Shopping Ads the right way is not about entering them into a box; it is about strategically optimizing your product feed. By combining thorough keyword research, the use of negative keywords, careful feed optimization, and continuous testing, you can enhance visibility, attract the right audience, and maximize your return on ad spend (ROAS).