In certain situations, we might want a product campaign to display only when the search query contains specific keywords. Unfortunately, such settings are not directly available in Google Ads. However, there is a workaround for this.
We can imagine an advertiser who wants their product ads to appear only when the search query includes terms like “wholesale,” “for business,” or other relevant narrowing phrases.
When running separate campaigns for brand-related keywords (branded) and for generic keywords (excluding the brand), we may also want to have a separate shopping campaign that displays ads only for queries containing our brand name.
How to Target Product Ads to Specific Keywords?
Google Ads does not allow targeting shopping ads to specific keywords. Targeting occurs automatically based on product data in the data file (also known as the product feed). However, it is possible to create a campaign that will only display for keywords of our choice.
To do this, we need to create two legacy product campaigns (not Performance Max):
- One of these campaigns should have a high priority, but with the specified keywords excluded, and we set a low manual CPC bid, e.g., 1 cent, so the ads will practically not show.
- The second campaign is set with low priority, so it will display only for the keywords excluded from the higher-priority campaign.
This second campaign, with lower priority, will, in effect, be targeted to the selected keywords. We set CPC bids appropriate to the campaign’s goal or use available automated strategies, such as target ROAS or maximizing clicks or target impression share.
| Campaign | Priority | Bid | Keywords |
| 1. Blocking campaign | High | 1 cent | Excluded |
| 2. “Keyword-targeted” campaign | Low | Normal |
This way, the low-priority product campaign will display only for queries containing the selected keywords.
The high-priority campaign may generate certain, usually very small traffic for generic keywords, but given the very low acquisition cost, this is not something to be concerned about.
