If you want to make changes to a significant number of your Shopping campaigns’ product groups, bids, tracking templates, or custom parameters, you could save time by using bulk uploads. You’ll do this by downloading an editable report, making changes right in the document, and then uploading the updated report back into your account, where your new changes can be previewed and applied.
For tracking templates and custom parameters, you can make changes to all product groups that aren’t subdivided, except for those marked "Excluded."
Before you begin
To make bulk edits, you first need to set up a Shopping campaign.
Instructions
To make changes to your product groups, bids, tracking templates, or custom parameters with bulk uploads, you’ll first need to download an editable product group report.
Keep in mind: You can also download reports from the "Product Groups" tab that allow you to segment by device, click type, or days of the week. Reports that use segments aren't editable. Learn more about reports for Shopping campaigns.
Here's how to download a product group report:
- In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon
.
- Click the Campaigns drop down in the section menu.
- Click Campaigns.
- Choose the Shopping campaign you’d like to make changes to.
- Choose an ad group in the campaign.
- Make sure the table is displaying all of the columns you may want to edit.
- Click the download button.
- Select the file format you’d like to use
- Click Download.
Tip: Save your original downloaded report
Once a bulk upload is submitted, there is no automated way to cancel or reverse your changes. Therefore, we recommend that you always save a copy of your original downloaded report in case you ever need to see what your settings were before you made changes and submitted a bulk upload.
With your downloaded product group report, you’ll be able to review all of the product groups across your ad group and edit the max. CPC bids, tracking templates, or custom parameters, and destination URLs for product groups that aren’t subdivided.
When you edit your report, there are some general rules to follow to ensure that we properly interpret your change requests.
General rules for editing your product group reports
- Don’t worry about deleting extraneous columns or the total rows. Simply upload the whole report, and we’ll ignore what isn’t essential.
- Be sure to save your spreadsheet in one of our supported formats (.xlsx, .tsv, or .csv).
Below are the columns you’ll see in your editable product group report, along with instructions for how to make your changes. Depending upon the columns visible on your “Product groups” tab when you downloaded your report, you could see additional columns, all of which are non-editable.
| Column name | Description | Edit instructions |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign | Shows the name you gave your campaign. | Editable (Must also change campaign ID) |
| Campaign ID | Shows the unique identifier AdWords assigned to each campaign. | Editable (Must also change campaign name) |
| Ad group ID | Shows the unique identifier AdWords assigned to each ad group. | Editable (Must also change ad group name) |
| Ad group | Shows the name you gave your ad group. | Editable (Must also change ad group ID) |
| Criterion ID | Shows the unique identifier AdWords assigned to each product group. | Non-editable |
| Product group | Shows the the full path of the product group in your product group hierarchy. Learn more about subdividing product groups | Editable |
| Partition type | Shows whether a row represents a subdivision or a unit. | Editable |
| MaxCPC | Shows the current maximum cost-per-click bid for the product group. You won’t see a value if the product group has been sub-divided. | To change your bid, edit the value in the column. |
| Clicks | Shows the number of clicks on ads for the products in that product group. Use this information to decide how you might want to adjust your bid. | Non-editable |
| Tracking template | Shows the tracking template. | Edit the template in the column. Learn more about tracking |
| Custom parameter | Shows your custom parameters. | Edit the names and values in the column. Learn more about custom parameters |
In your report, each product group is represented on a separate row with a partition type and the path of subdivisions in that product group. You’ll use the partition type and product group path to add, remove, or edit your product group organization.
- “Unit” partition type: Represents a product group that you can bid on. When a row in your report uses the "Unit" partition type, you can adjust the bid and settings for that product group.
- “Subdivision” partition type: Represents a product group that contains other product groups. You can't bid on a product group that has subdivisions, but you can use them to structure the bidding on your inventory.
- “Product Group” path: Represents the sequence of subdivisions that led to the product group. The path always starts with
*and uses/to represent a subdivision. Product groups are represented byattribute = value, while “Everything else” product groups are represented byattribute = *.
| Product group as shown in AdWords | Partition type | Product group name in downloadable report |
|---|---|---|
| ▾ All products | Subdivision | * / |
| my brand a | Unit | * / brand = "my brand a" |
| ▾ my brand b | Subdivision | * / brand = "my brand b" / |
| new | Unit | * / brand = "my brand b" / condition = "new" |
| Everything else in 'my brand b' | Unit | * / brand = "my brand b" / condition = * |
| Everything else in 'All products' | Unit | * / brand = * |
Add a product group
Adding a new product group unit
Let's say your product groups look like this:
| Product group | Partition type | Max. CPC | Product group name in AdWords |
|---|---|---|---|
| * / | Subdivision | -- | ▾ All products |
| * / condition = "new" | Unit | 0.55 | New |
| * / condition = * | Unit | 0.35 | Everything else in 'All products' |
To add a new product group unit, insert new rows that correspond to the product groups you want to see. Below, the "used" product group has been added to the report.
| Product group | Partition type | Max. CPC | Product group name in AdWords |
|---|---|---|---|
| * / | Subdivision | -- | ▾ All products |
| * / condition = "new" | Unit | 0.55 | New |
| * / condition = "used" | Unit | 0.45 | Used |
| * / condition = * | Unit | 0.35 | Everything else in 'All products' |
Adding a new product group subdivision
You can subdivide a product group by changing the values for the existing row and adding a few new product groups. Below, the "used" product group subdivision has been added, plus two new units under "used".
| Product group | Partition type | Max. CPC | Product group name in AdWords |
|---|---|---|---|
| * / | Subdivision | -- | ▾ All products |
| * / condition = "new" | Unit | 0.55 | New |
| * / condition = "used" | Subdivision | -- | ▾ Used |
| * / condition = "used" / category = "Electronics" | Unit | 0.50 | Electronics |
| * / condition = "used" / category = * | Unit | 0.40 | Everything else in 'used' |
| * / condition = * | Unit | 0.35 | Everything else in 'All products' |
Uploading your changes
If you leave out product group subdivisions and only upload units with your report, we'll automatically do a few things for you:
- create subdivisions for your newly added product groups (including turning unit product groups into subdivisions)
- create 'Everything else' product groups, with bids that these products used previously (we'll fall back to the default Ad Group bid in cases where there is no previous bid)
For example, here's a set of product groups units created for the product groups used earlier:
| Product group | Partition type | Max. CPC | Product group name in AdWords |
|---|---|---|---|
| * / condition = "used" / category = "Electronics" / brand = "My brand A" / custom label 0 = "high-margin" | Unit | 0.60 | high-margin |
| * / condition = "used" / category = "Electronics" / brand = "My brand A" / custom label 0 = "low-margin" | Unit | 0.30 | low-margin |
| * / condition = "used" / category = "Electronics" / brand = "My brand B" | Unit | 0.45 | My brand B |
If you upload a spreadsheet with only these product groups units, AdWords will automatically create the product groups and subdivisions shown in bold below:
| Product group | Partition type | Max. CPC | Product group name in AdWords |
|---|---|---|---|
| * / | Subdivision | -- | ▾ All products |
| * / condition = "new" | Unit | 0.55 | New |
| * / condition = "used" / | Subdivision | -- | ▾ Used |
| * / condition = "used" / category = "Electronics" | Subdivision | -- | ▾ Electronics |
| * / condition = "used" / category = "Electronics" / brand = "My brand A" | Subdivision | -- | ▾ My brand A |
| * / condition = "used" / category = "Electronics" / brand = "My brand A" / custom label 0 = "high-margin" | Unit | 0.60 | high-margin |
| * / condition = "used" / category = "Electronics" / brand = "My brand A" / custom label 0 = "low-margin" | Unit | 0.30 | low-margin |
| * / condition = "used" / category = "Electronics" / brand = "My brand A" / custom label 0 = * | Unit | 0.50 | Everything else in 'My brand A' |
| * / condition = "used" / category = "Electronics" / brand = "My brand B" | Unit | 0.45 | My brand B |
| * / condition = "used" / category = "Electronics" / brand = * | Unit | 0.50 | Everything else in 'Electronics' |
| * / condition = "used" / category = * | Unit | 0.40 | Everything else in 'used' |
| * / condition = * | Unit | 0.35 | Everything else in 'All products' |
Removing a product group unit
Let's say your product groups look like this:
| Product group | Partition type | Max. CPC | Product group name in AdWords |
|---|---|---|---|
| * / | Subdivision | -- | ▾ All products |
| * / condition = "new" | Unit | 0.55 | New |
| * / condition = "used" | Subdivision | -- | ▾ Used |
| * / condition = "used" / category = "Electronics" | Unit | 0.50 | Electronics |
| * / condition = "used" / category = "Furniture" | Unit | 0.50 | Furniture |
| * / condition = "used" / category = * | Unit | 0.40 | Everything else in 'used' |
| * / condition = * | Unit | 0.35 | Everything else in 'All products' |
To remove a product group unit, place the word "Remove" in the Partition type column for the corresponding row. Below, the Furniture product group is being removed.
| Product group | Partition type | Max. CPC | Product group name in AdWords |
|---|---|---|---|
| * / | Subdivision | -- | ▾ All products |
| * / condition = "new" | Unit | 0.55 | New |
| * / condition = "used" | Subdivision | -- | ▾ Used |
| * / condition = "used" / category = "Electronics" | Unit | 0.50 | Electronics |
| * / condition = "used" / category = "Furniture" | Remove | -- | Furniture |
| * / condition = "used" / category = * | Unit | 0.40 | Everything else in 'used' |
| * / condition = * | Unit | 0.35 | Everything else in 'All products' |
When you upload the report, these are the product groups you'll see in AdWords:
| Product group | Partition type | Max. CPC | Product group name in AdWords |
|---|---|---|---|
| * / | Subdivision | -- | ▾ All products |
| * / condition = "new" | Unit | 0.55 | New |
| * / condition = "used" | Subdivision | -- | ▾ Used |
| * / condition = "used" / category = "Electronics" | Unit | 0.50 | Electronics |
| * / condition = "used" / category = * | Unit | 0.40 | Everything else in 'used' |
| * / condition = * | Unit | 0.35 | Everything else in 'All products' |
Removing a product group subdivision
To remove a product group subdivision, place the word "Remove" in the Partition type column for the corresponding row. If you remove a subdivision, it will also remove any of the product groups that belonged to it. Below, the Used subdivision is set to be removed.
| Product group | Partition type | Max. CPC | Product group name in AdWords |
|---|---|---|---|
| * / | Subdivision | -- | ▾ All products |
| * / condition = "new" | Unit | 0.55 | New |
| * / condition = "used" | Remove | -- | ▾ Used |
| * / condition = "used" / category = "Electronics" | Unit | 0.50 | Electronics |
| * / condition = "used" / category = * | Unit | 0.40 | Everything else in 'used' |
| * / condition = * | Unit | 0.35 | Everything else in 'All products' |
When you upload the report, these are the product groups you'll see in AdWords:
| Product group | Partition type | Max. CPC | Product group name in AdWords |
|---|---|---|---|
| * / | Subdivision | -- | ▾ All products |
| * / condition = "new" | Unit | 0.55 | New |
| * / condition = * | Unit | 0.35 | Everything else in 'All products' |
Everything else product groups (units and subdivisions) can only be removed by deleting their parent subdivisions.
Let's say your product groups look like this:
| Product group | Partition type | Max. CPC | Product group name in AdWords |
|---|---|---|---|
| * / | Subdivision | -- | ▾ All products |
| * / condition = "new" | Unit | 0.55 | New |
| * / condition = * | Unit | 0.35 | Everything else in 'All products' |
To change an existing product group into another one, you'll follow two steps:
- For any product group you want to replace, put the word "Remove" in the Partition type column in the corresponding row. Note that if you remove a subdivision, it will also remove any of the product groups that belonged to it.
- Add new product group rows as you need them.
Below, the New product group is being replaced with the Used product group.
| Product group | Partition type | Max. CPC | Product group name in AdWords |
|---|---|---|---|
| * / | Subdivision | -- | ▾ All products |
| * / condition = "new" | Remove | 0.55 | New |
| * / condition = "used" | Unit | 0.45 | Used |
| * / condition = * | Unit | 0.35 | Everything else in 'All products' |
- In your Google Ads account, click the Tools icon
.
- Click the Bulk actions drop down in the section menu.
- Click Uploads.
- Click the plus button
.
- Click the Select source drop down and select Google Sheets to locate your edited and saved spreadsheet.
- Click Preview to review your file, and then click Apply.
- When loaded, a preview of your changes will appear. At this point, you can see what your changes would look like, fix any errors in your spreadsheet then upload again, or ignore the errors and click Apply changes.
- In your Google Ads account, click the Tools icon
- Click the Bulk actions drop down in the section menu.
- Click All bulk actions.
- Locate your spreadsheet in the bulk actions table.
- In the row with your report, click Download errors or click on the number of errors to see the Details screen.
- In the Results column on the spreadsheet, find the issue with each row, then fix that issue.
- Save the file, and then upload it in the Bulk actions area.
Tip
You can use bulk uploads to efficiently make changes across all of your campaign types, such as creating new text ads, adding and editing keywords, and creating ad assets. Learn more about all the things you can do with bulk uploads
