Smart Shopping
Smart Shopping was a Google Ads campaign type that combined Shopping ads and remarketing with automated bidding. Now replaced by Performance Max.
What is Smart Shopping?
Smart Shopping was an automated Google Ads campaign type that combined standard Shopping ads with Display Network remarketing in a single campaign. Google controlled the bidding, placements, and which products were shown, all based on your product feed in Google Merchant Center. It was phased out during 2022, when every Smart Shopping campaign was automatically upgraded to Performance Max — you can no longer create new Smart Shopping campaigns.
Why does Smart Shopping matter?
Even though the name is now historical, many store owners still meet it in old guides, account exports, and agency agreements. Understanding what Smart Shopping was makes it easier to read older data and to grasp what Performance Max inherited: the same reliance on a clean product feed, the same automated bidding toward conversion value (often with a target ROAS goal), and the same limited visibility into search terms and placements.
Common use cases
- You read an older advertising guide or agency proposal that still references Smart Shopping.
- You migrate or compare historical campaign data from before and after the Performance Max upgrade.
- You troubleshoot a product feed that was originally set up for Smart Shopping.
- You explain the difference between the old and new campaign structure to colleagues or clients.
Shopify perspective
In Shopify, product data is delivered through the Google & YouTube app, which syncs your catalog to Google Merchant Center. The feed that once powered Smart Shopping now drives Performance Max in exactly the same way. Keep titles, GTINs, prices, and stock status accurate, and pair the effort with retargeting to recapture visitors who did not convert the first time.