Google Shopping and Performance Max: a Merchant Center launch checklist

1. Decide whether this is the right campaign workflow

This guide covers product-based Shopping and retail Performance Max preparation. It does not replace the Search campaign guide, and it does not mean every Performance Max campaign needs a retail product feed. Start with the business objective and the products you are authorized to advertise.

Write a short launch brief: market, product set, destination, budget boundary, purchase definition and the person approving the launch. A product-based campaign is not ready merely because an agency advertiser account has been provided. Merchant Center, store information and measurement need their own owners.

2. Confirm the Merchant Center and Google Ads relationship

Identify the intended Merchant Center account and advertiser account before requesting a link. In Merchant Center, the documented route is Settings → Access and services → Apps and services → Add service → Google Ads. For an account managed by another organization, confirm its customer ID with the authorized contact and use the request flow. The Google Ads administrator reviews received requests under Tools → Data manager → Google Merchant Center.

Inspect whether the confirmation links Merchant Center only or also connects the Google Business Manager arrangement shown in the flow. Review the scope before approval. If the request is still pending, record it as pending rather than as a completed connection.

Keep the account references in your private handover record. If several stores or advertiser accounts are involved, verify the exact pair and intended market. Do not change ownership, transfer billing or create replacement accounts simply because the first account you opened is not the one you expected.

3. Check product data against the store

Use Google’s current product data specification to review the attributes required for your products and target country. Compare the product source with the actual landing page and checkout. Product identifiers, titles, images, availability and prices should describe the offer customers can actually buy.

Make one representative product your review sample, then expand the check to the intended product set. Record discrepancies and their source so a feed fix is not overwritten by the next synchronization. If using a store integration, establish whether the store or a separate feed process owns each field.

On a narrow screen, scroll the table sideways to compare.

4. Review product and account issues before selecting inventory

Inspect the current Merchant Center product and account diagnostics. Separate an account-level issue from a problem affecting one product, market or destination. A successful data upload does not establish eligibility for Shopping ads.

For a reported issue, record the affected items and the official reason, correct the underlying product or store information, then use the relevant reprocessing or review path. Product approval and ad-account status remain separate checks. Do not conceal a prohibited offer, submit misleading attributes or create a replacement account to evade a restriction.

5. Review the campaign, products and creative together

For retail Performance Max, start a new campaign, review the objective and conversion goals, then select Performance Max. Select the intended Merchant Center account and market or feed label where offered. Google notes that the Merchant Center account cannot be changed after this campaign is created, so resolve a wrong selection before proceeding.

Review the products included in the asset group’s listing groups. Do not assume that a visible store name means only the products in your brief were selected. Review assets and the combinations the campaign may use, and check destination choices and automation against the approved scope.

Set an authorized budget and schedule; examples in a help article are not a budget recommendation. Preview the offer on a phone-sized screen as well as a desktop.

• Match the selected products and market to the launch brief.
• Inspect the creative, destination and purchase goal together.
• Obtain approval for budget, schedule and automation settings.

6. Verify purchase measurement before interpreting return

Define the reported purchase value and currency with the business owner. Test an authorized checkout path and check that the intended conversion action receives the expected result without duplicate counting. A purchase signal should not fire merely because a visitor opened checkout.

Keep the test order reference private and distinguish an event received during testing from a sale attributed to advertising. For revenue reporting, also establish how refunds and cancellations are handled. These checks help the team interpret results; they do not promise a particular return on ad spend.

7. Reopen the saved campaign and maintain the feed

After an approved submission, reopen the campaign and check saved settings, review status, product coverage and delivery separately. If traffic is missing, work through account status, product eligibility, selected inventory, schedule and campaign diagnostics before changing several settings at once.

Assign responsibility for ongoing product updates. If a product ID, availability or assortment changes, review the relevant product selection and diagnostics again. Keep a dated launch record and an issue owner so the team knows what was checked and what is still unresolved. AdsGorilla’s account service and additional campaign work remain subject to the agreed scope.