Why Your Shopping Campaigns May Be Competing with Demand Gen & PMax on YouTube

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By Greg Finn
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Shopping Campaigns on Google Ads are one of the most powerful campaign types on the platform. These visual ads – formerly known as Product Listing Ads (PLAs) – showcase pricing, images, and store details in a highly engaging format.

With the addition of more "advanced" campaign types like PMax and Demand Gen, Google is expanding its reach beyond just search and onto its owned platforms — like YouTube (for Demand Gen and PMax) and display networks (for PMax).

With Demand Gen and PMax, advertisers should expect a strong presence on YouTube, as this is part of the intended reach for these campaign types. However, there’s a setting within your Shopping Campaigns that could also push your placements to YouTube. Read on to find out what that setting is and our recommendations for it.

Why Your Standard Shopping Campaigns are Showing on YouTube

If you have the Search Partners Network (SPN) turned on, your Shopping Ads are eligible to appear on “hundreds of non-Google websites, parked domains, YouTube, and other Google sites.” Your ads can also show on "search result pages, site directory pages, parked domains, or other pages related to a user’s search."

So, if you’re running Shopping campaigns and have SPN enabled, you might unintentionally be targeting YouTube through another campaign — on top of any YouTube-specific Demand Gen or PMax campaigns you're already running.

What You Can Do About It

At Cypress North, we avoid using SPN for Shopping Campaigns, preferring to use tools that are more tailored for those placements. However, you can always review your account metrics to determine how things are performing and decide what’s working best for your campaigns.

If you’re aiming to leverage Demand Gen, PMax, and Shopping campaigns simultaneously, it may be worth removing SPN from your Shopping campaigns. This will allow you to focus your Shopping campaigns on Google Search, while still ensuring that Demand Gen, YouTube, and PMax are driving visibility on YouTube.

Sometimes, keeping things simple and avoiding overlapping placements across multiple campaigns can help provide clearer insights into what’s truly driving performance. Removing SPN from Shopping is an easy first step in that direction. We’re here to help you stay on track and keep your campaigns performing their best. Reach out if you need help or have questions.

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Meet the Author

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Head of Performance & Innovation / Partner

Greg Finn

Greg is the Head of Performance and Innovation for Cypress North's digital marketing team and one of the founders of our agency. In 2010, he and Matt Mombrea started Cypress North in Buffalo. Greg oversaw the opening of our second office in 2022, located in his hometown of Rochester.

As Head of Performance and Innovation, Greg co-manages our digital marketing department and works closely with our team to ensure all our clients achieve the best possible results. He is always looking for ways to test new digital marketing techniques and technology, and oversees all teaching and training efforts to ensure our agency stays ahead of the curve.

Greg is also a co-host of our weekly Marketing O'Clock podcast, where he and the team provide updates, insights, and hot takes on the latest SEO, PPC, and social media marketing news. In addition to weekly news shows, Greg hosts our Marketing O'Torial digital marketing tutorials and often co-hosts bonus Marketing O'Talk episodes that bring together panels of digital marketing experts.

With nearly two decades of experience, Greg is a known and trusted voice in the digital marketing community. He’s a contributor for Search Engine Land, a member of the Search Marketing Expo (SMX) programming team, and has been a featured speaker at some of the largest search engine conferences, including SMX, eSummit, and Pubcon. 

When he’s not working or staying updated on the latest trends, Greg enjoys watching his kids play sports and coaching their soccer team. He’s been named the runner-up “Greg of the Year” on Marketing O’Clock’s annual Clockscars Awards four years in a row. While the coveted award has evaded him for many years, Keanu Reeves has not. Greg once saw him at Gabriel's Gate tavern in Buffalo (and noted he was very tall.)