Feed-only PMax: How to Regain Control Over Products and Not Waste Your Budget
Performance Max is a "black box" that Google persistently tries to stuff with your (or its own, generated and often questionable) banners and videos. But for an experienced PPC specialist, this is no reason to leave the budget at the mercy of algorithms. If you have a solid feed in Merchant Center, the best thing you can do is launch a Feed-only PMax.
This configuration effectively turns the campaign into an analog of the good old Smart Shopping, where only product ads work. In this guide, we'll look at how to pull off this trick manually and why it's much more pleasant to do it through Quantum.
1. Why e-comm Chooses Feed-only
When you create a full PMax campaign (with texts and images), Google gets carte blanche for impressions in the Display Network, YouTube, etc. The result is predictable: the budget is often wasted on awareness formats with low conversion, and your products are shown surrounded by auto-generated "visual noise".
Feed-only PMax solves these problems:
- Pure Intent: Ads are shown only where the user is looking for a product — in the product search results only.
- Brand Control: No awkwardly cropped banners or videos created by AI from stock photos.
- Transparency: You pay for clicks on products, not for "potential reach" or views of poorly generated video ads.
2. Manual: Setup in Google Ads Interface
Google is not interested in you depriving it of the opportunity to spend money on display media, so the path to Feed-only is hidden behind a dozen "checkboxes" in the Google Ads account.
Step 1: Basic Settings
1. In the advertising account, click "Create a campaign".
2. Choose the goal "Create a campaign without a goal's guidance" and the type Performance Max.
3. Specify the conversion goal, link the Merchant Center account, and name the campaign
4. Choose a bidding strategy (e.g., "Maximize conversion value")
5. Configure geotargeting, languages, and other basic parameters
Step 2: Disabling Automation
This stage is critical. You need to literally "sterilize" the ad.
1. At the Asset generation stage, be sure to click "Skip"
2. In Listing groups, select only the necessary product categories instead of "All products"
3. In the Brand guidelines section, fill in only the Business name
4. Leave all other fields (headlines, descriptions, images) completely empty
5. In the "Asset optimization" menu, uncheck "Text Customization"
6. In the same menu, disable "Enhancement" and "Landing page images" for photos and videos
Step 3: Publication
Set the budget
and click Publish campaign
Important: After launch, the Ad Strength status will be "Poor"
For Feed-only, this is absolutely normal - the algorithm is just upset that you didn't let it play with your creatives and waste part of your budget.
3. Manual: Launch via Quantum Platform
If manual setup seems like an unjustified waste of time, the Shopping Launcher module in Quantum automates the process to a few clicks.
Launch Process:
1. In your personal account, select the Shopping Launcher module and click "Start Working"
2. Select the required Merchant Center and click Scan Products
3. In the convenient category tree (by product_type attribute), check the necessary categories and click Build new campaign
4. In the settings modal, select Performance Max type, specify the asset group splitting strategy (e.g., "Split by Product Type"), and set the budget. Remember, the maximum number of asset groups per campaign is 20. By the way, if you want to launch standard Google Shopping, you can do it just as easily.
5. Click Launch new Campaign. The system will automatically create the campaign, group structure, and disable all extra assets via API.
4. Method Comparison: Time, Nerves, Results
| Parameter | Google Ads UI (Manual) | Quantum (Авто) |
|---|---|---|
| Setup Time | 15–20 minutes (prone to errors) | 2–5 minutes |
| Asset Control | Requires manually unchecking 5+ boxes | Blocked automatically |
| Error Risk | High (one missed checkbox = wasted budget) | Minimal (standardized process) |
5. Summary: Who needs to launch feed-only campaigns via Quantum?
- Freelancers: To manage 3 times more clients without drowning in the Google Ads UI routine.
- Agencies: To standardize launch quality — saving a colossal amount of specialists' working time.
- Business: To save up to 30% of the budget in the first month by excluding junk PMax traffic.
Feed-only PMax is a surgical tool in the hands of a professional. And Quantum is that very scalpel that makes the operation fast and predictable. Register in Quantum and try it - 14-day free trial.