Google Ads Isn't Broken , Your Feed Is

Let me guess. Your Google Ads campaigns are tanking, your ROAS looks like a sad emoji, and you're absolutely convinced that Google's algorithm has personally vendetta against your business. You've probably spent hours tweaking bids, adjusting audiences, and cursing at your laptop screen whilst muttering about how "Google Ads used to work better in the good old days."

Here's the uncomfortable truth: Google Ads isn't broken. Your product feed is.

The Great Google Ads Blame Game

Every week, I hear the same story from frustrated eCommerce founders. "Google Ads doesn't work anymore!" they cry, usually whilst pointing at their declining impression share or their Shopping campaigns that seem to have vanished into the digital ether.

But here's what's actually happening: whilst you're busy obsessing over keyword match types and demographic targeting, your product feed is sitting there like a ticking time bomb, sabotaging every campaign before it even gets started.

Think of your product feed as the foundation of your house. You can have the most beautiful interior design (killer ad copy), the fanciest furniture (perfect targeting), and the best security system (optimised bidding strategies) , but if your foundation is wonky, the whole bloody thing is going to collapse.

The Horror Stories That Keep PPC Managers Awake at Night

Let's talk about some real disasters I've witnessed. Names have been changed to protect the guilty, but trust me, these are all painfully real.

The Case of the Disappearing Dress A fashion retailer came to us complaining that their ads weren't showing for their bestselling summer dress. After digging into their feed, we discovered their product title read: "Item #SKU12345 - Thing - Blue." Not "Blue Floral Summer Midi Dress" or anything remotely searchable. Just "Thing - Blue." Google's algorithm looked at this masterpiece and essentially said, "Nah, mate. I'm not showing this rubbish to anyone."

The Great Price Mismatch Massacre Another client's website showed a product for £299, but their feed still listed it at £199 from a sale three months prior. Google spotted this inconsistency faster than you could say "policy violation" and promptly banned half their product catalogue. The client spent two weeks convinced that Google was "targeting" their business specifically.

The Missing Image Mystery My personal favourite: a home goods brand whose feed was populated entirely with placeholder images. You know, those lovely grey boxes with "Image Coming Soon" text. Their products were essentially invisible in Shopping results, but they were convinced the problem was their bidding strategy. They'd increased bids by 300% trying to get visibility for products that Google couldn't even display properly.

The Feed Disasters That Destroy Campaigns Before They Start

Product Titles That Make SEO Experts Weep

Your product titles should tell Google (and humans) exactly what you're selling. Instead, I regularly see titles like:

• "SALE! MUST BUY! Amazing Product!!!"

• "SKU-4739291"

• "Check out this awesome thing"

• "Product Name Here"

Google's algorithms are sophisticated, but they're not mind readers. If your title doesn't include the actual product name, brand, colour, size, or material, you're essentially playing hide and seek with potential customers : and losing spectacularly.

The Great Image Apocalypse

Missing images are just the tip of the iceberg. I've seen feeds with:

• Product photos taken with a potato

• Images that are 50 pixels wide (apparently we're still living in 1995)

• Photos of the wrong products entirely

• Images with massive watermarks covering the actual product

• Pictures of empty packaging instead of the product itself

Data That Would Make a Spreadsheet Cry

The technical horror stories are endless:

• GTINs that don't exist in any universe

• Availability marked as "in stock" for products discontinued in 2019

• Descriptions written entirely in Comic Sans (okay, that one might be a visual crime rather than a feed issue)

• Categories that make no logical sense ("Dog Food > Evening Wear > Automotive")

Why Your Feed Problems Are Killing More Than Just Shopping Ads

Here's where it gets interesting. Your dodgy product feed isn't just sabotaging your Shopping campaigns : it's poisoning your entire Google Ads ecosystem.

Performance Max campaigns rely heavily on your feed data to understand what you're selling and who might want to buy it. Feed that Performance Max a diet of rubbish data, and it'll serve your ads to completely irrelevant audiences whilst burning through your budget faster than a Formula 1 car burns through tyres.

Even your Search campaigns can suffer. Google uses feed data to inform Smart Bidding decisions and to understand the context of your business. Poor feed quality creates a ripple effect that impacts everything from Quality Score to conversion tracking accuracy.

The Feed Optimisation Reality Check

Fixing your feed isn't sexy work. There's no glamorous dashboard to screenshot for your LinkedIn humble-brag posts. There's no immediate dopamine hit from watching CTRs spike overnight. It's just grinding through spreadsheets, checking data consistency, and making sure your product information actually makes sense.

But here's the thing: feed optimisation is probably the highest-impact work you can do for your Google Ads performance. I've seen accounts transform overnight simply by cleaning up product titles and ensuring price consistency.

The Quick Wins That Actually Matter

Product Titles That Don't Suck Include your brand, product type, key attributes, and relevant keywords. "Nike Air Max 90 Men's White Leather Trainers Size 10" beats "Awesome Shoes!!!" every single time.

Images That Actually Show Your Products High-resolution photos with clean backgrounds work best. Multiple angles help. Lifestyle shots can work for certain placements, but your primary image should clearly show the product itself.

Data Consistency Across Everything Your feed price should match your website price. Your availability should reflect actual stock levels. Your product descriptions should be more detailed than "Great product, buy now!"

Categories That Make Sense Use Google's product taxonomy when possible. If you're selling dog leads, categorise them as "Animals & Pet Supplies > Pet Supplies > Dog Supplies > Dog Leashes" not "Accessories > Lifestyle > Random Stuff."

The Uncomfortable Truth About Agency Relationships

Here's something most agencies won't tell you: if your feed is broken, no amount of campaign optimisation magic will save you. I've watched agencies spend months tweaking bid strategies and audience targeting for accounts with fundamentally broken feeds, essentially polishing turds whilst charging premium rates.

The honest agencies (like us at JudeLuxe) will audit your feed first and tell you to fix it before we touch your campaigns. The dishonest ones will happily take your money whilst your broken feed continues sabotaging everything in the background.

Stop Looking for Complex Solutions to Simple Problems

The tech industry loves complexity. We've convinced ourselves that success requires AI-powered bidding algorithms, machine learning audience insights, and advanced attribution models. Sometimes that's true.

But more often, success requires basic competence: accurate product data, consistent pricing, and feed structures that actually make sense.

Before you blame Google's algorithm for your performance issues, before you fire your agency, before you convince yourself that iOS 14.5 has destroyed paid advertising forever : check your bloody feed.

Fix your product titles. Update your images. Ensure your prices match. Clean up your categories. It's boring work, but it's the foundation that everything else builds on.

Your Google Ads campaigns aren't broken. Your feed is. Fix that first, then we can talk about the fancy stuff.

And if you need help getting your feed sorted before tackling the rest of your PPC strategy, you know where to find us. We promise to look at your feed first and judge your bid strategies second.