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Google VLAs | Performance Max

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Bill Hoerr

Bill Hoerr

Smashing Bugs
Nov 29, 2021
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Bill
#1
Howdy! Would love some help from the Google Gurus!

We've been running Vehicle Listing Ads for quite some time. However, when Google "updated" VLA's to Performance Max, it seems to have made reporting a bit more difficult.

1) Google Ads is not showing anything in "Where Ads Showed" since Performance Max uses multiple Google Networks including Search, Gmail, YouTube, and Discover, shouldn't Google be able to show where the ads were placed? (Screenshot Below).

Google Ads PMAX.png

2) Is there a way to only show vehicle listing ads on Google Search within Pmax?

I read in the onboarding guide (Enable vehicle ads in your Performance Max campaigns - Google Merchant Center Help)

"If you attach a vehicle feed without separately adding other assets such as descriptions, headlines, and images, by adding them under asset groups or by opting into automatic asset creation under campaign settings, your Performance Max campaign will show your vehicle ads only on Google search."
Click to expand...
I went through and only added the vehicle feed without adding other assets, but Google will not allow me to publish the campaign without adding assets such as descriptions, headlines, images, etc. so not sure if I'm reading that paragraph wrong.

Thank you for your time!
 
#2
Bill,

1) Welcome to the black box of pMax. We've had to resort to watching the flow of data points to infer where most of the traffic is coming from as they aren't releasing details about the placements nor much else for performance Max campaigns
2) There is and there isn't. Can you, possibly. Some accounts allow for the loophole of not adding assets to force old school VLA like actions. But this a loophole that is only in some accounts and as it's in direct contradiction to what Google wants from the product, they are solely closing the holes.

Cheers!
Kelly
 
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#4
Bill Hoerr said:
Howdy! Would love some help from the Google Gurus!

We've been running Vehicle Listing Ads for quite some time. However, when Google "updated" VLA's to Performance Max, it seems to have made reporting a bit more difficult.

1) Google Ads is not showing anything in "Where Ads Showed" since Performance Max uses multiple Google Networks including Search, Gmail, YouTube, and Discover, shouldn't Google be able to show where the ads were placed? (Screenshot Below).

View attachment 8852

2) Is there a way to only show vehicle listing ads on Google Search within Pmax?

I read in the onboarding guide (Enable vehicle ads in your Performance Max campaigns - Google Merchant Center Help)


I went through and only added the vehicle feed without adding other assets, but Google will not allow me to publish the campaign without adding assets such as descriptions, headlines, images, etc. so not sure if I'm reading that paragraph wrong.

Thank you for your time!
Click to expand...
Hey!

Yeah, it's weird that "Where Ads Showed" is blank. You should reach out to Google Ads support to see if they can help you get more detailed reporting.

For showing vehicle listing ads only on Google Search, I think you're right that the onboarding guide suggests adding just the vehicle feed. But it seems like Google Ads is requiring you to add more assets to publish the campaign. You could try creating a separate campaign just for Google Search, using only the vehicle feed. Then, duplicate it and add the other assets for the other networks. If you're still stuck, hit up Google Ads support again for more guidance.
 
#5


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