From 2.5 ROAS to Product-Channel Fit Reality: What Keywords Actually Work in Google Shopping

So you're trying to figure out the right keywords for Google Shopping, right? Here's what most guides won't tell you: keywords are just the symptom, not the disease.

I learned this the hard way while working with an e-commerce client who had over 1,000 SKUs. They came to me frustrated because their Google Shopping campaigns were generating clicks but terrible ROAS. Everyone kept telling them to "optimize their keywords" - but that's like putting a band-aid on a broken leg.

The real problem? Product-channel fit. Some products just don't work on Google Shopping, no matter how perfect your keywords are. And some products that seem impossible to rank for can absolutely dominate with the right approach.

After working through this challenge and discovering what actually moves the needle, here's what you'll learn:

• Why keyword optimization is often solving the wrong problem

• The product-channel fit framework that determines Shopping success

• How to audit your catalog for Shopping viability before wasting ad spend

• The counter-intuitive keyword strategy that improved our client's performance

• When to pivot away from Google Shopping entirely (and what to do instead)

This isn't another generic "keyword research guide." This is about understanding the fundamentals that determine whether Google Shopping will work for your business at all. Let's dive into the reality check nobody wants to talk about.

Walk into any digital marketing forum or read any Google Shopping guide, and you'll get the same recycled advice about keywords:

• "Use high-intent keywords" - Target terms like "buy [product]" or "[product] for sale"

• "Focus on long-tail keywords" - Go after specific, less competitive terms

• "Add negative keywords extensively" - Block irrelevant traffic

• "Optimize your product titles" - Stuff them with searchable terms

• "Bid higher on branded terms" - Protect your brand searches

This conventional wisdom exists because it sounds logical. Keywords are the bridge between what people search for and what you sell, so optimizing them should improve performance, right?

The problem is this approach treats Google Shopping like traditional search ads. But Shopping campaigns work differently - they're product-first, keyword-second. Google uses your product data, not your keyword targeting, to determine when to show your ads.

Where this falls short in practice: you can have the most perfectly optimized keywords in the world, but if your product doesn't align with how people actually shop on Google, you're dead in the water. I've seen stores with "perfect" keyword strategies burn through thousands of dollars with nothing to show for it.

The real question isn't "what keywords should I use?" It's "should I be using Google Shopping at all for this product catalog?"

OK, so let me tell you about this client situation that completely changed how I think about Google Shopping keywords.

I was working with an e-commerce client who had this massive catalog - over 1,000 products across multiple categories. They'd been running Google Shopping for months with a 2.5 ROAS, which looked decent on paper but was actually killing them due to their thin margins.

The previous agency had done everything "right" from a keyword perspective. Perfect product titles stuffed with search terms, extensive negative keyword lists, smart bidding strategies - the whole nine yards. But they were still struggling.

Here's what I discovered when I dug into their data: their strength was actually their weakness. Having 1,000+ SKUs meant incredible variety for customers, but it was fundamentally incompatible with Google Shopping's quick-decision environment.

Think about it - Google Shopping works best when people know exactly what they want and can make fast purchasing decisions. But this client's customers needed time to browse, compare options, and discover products they didn't even know existed. The platform mismatch was obvious once I saw it.

Meanwhile, Facebook Ads were getting all the credit for conversions that actually started with Google Shopping clicks. The attribution was completely backwards - people were discovering products on Shopping, then coming back through social media retargeting to actually purchase.

This is when I realized we were asking the wrong question entirely. Instead of "how do we optimize keywords for Shopping?" we should have been asking "does this product catalog belong on Shopping at all?"

So here's what I actually did with this client, and why it worked better than any keyword optimization ever could.

Step 1: The Product-Channel Fit Audit

First, I analyzed their entire catalog through the lens of Shopping behavior. I looked at which products had the highest click-through rates, lowest bounce rates, and best conversion rates. The pattern was clear: simple, well-known products with obvious use cases performed best.

I categorized their 1,000+ products into three buckets:

• Shopping Winners: Products people search for specifically

• Shopping Losers: Products requiring discovery and comparison

• Shopping Maybes: Products that could work with the right approach

Step 2: The SEO Pivot

Instead of forcing their entire catalog through Google Shopping, I shifted the strategy. For the "Shopping Losers" (which was actually most of their catalog), we pivoted to SEO. Why? Because SEO rewards discovery and detailed comparison - exactly what their products needed.

I completely revamped their website with SEO in mind. Every product became a potential entry point, not just something to push through Shopping ads. We created detailed category pages, comparison guides, and buying guides that actually helped people navigate their vast selection.

Step 3: The Keyword Strategy Flip

Here's the counter-intuitive part: instead of optimizing keywords for Shopping, I used Shopping data to optimize for organic search. The click data from Shopping campaigns showed us exactly which terms people were searching for, then we built SEO content around those insights.

For the products that DID belong on Shopping, we simplified everything. Fewer keywords, cleaner product titles, focus on the obvious search terms. No more keyword stuffing or trying to be clever.

Step 4: Attribution Fix

We set up proper cross-channel tracking to see the real customer journey. What looked like "failed" Shopping campaigns were actually driving significant traffic that converted through other channels. This data informed our budget allocation decisions.

The results were dramatic, but not in the way you'd expect from a "keyword optimization" case study.

Within three months of implementing this approach:

• Organic traffic increased 10x as we built content around actual search behavior

• Overall conversion rate improved because people found products through the right channels

• Google Shopping ROAS stayed the same but on a much smaller, focused product set

• Total customer acquisition cost decreased due to the SEO traffic bump

But here's the most important result: we stopped fighting the platform. Instead of trying to force 1,000 products through a channel designed for quick purchases, we let each product find its natural marketing home.

The Shopping campaigns we kept running became much more profitable because we were only promoting products that actually belonged there. The "failed" Shopping campaigns became the foundation for an SEO strategy that brought in qualified traffic at zero ongoing cost.

Here are the key lessons I learned from this experience:

1. Product-channel fit beats keyword optimization every time. You can't keyword your way out of a fundamental mismatch between your product and the platform.

2. Google Shopping works best for simple, obvious purchases. If your customer needs to research, compare, or discover, SEO is probably a better bet.

3. Failed campaigns contain valuable data. Shopping click data is gold for understanding search intent - use it to inform your SEO strategy.

4. Attribution is broken in multi-channel e-commerce. Shopping might be driving conversions that happen elsewhere.

5. Sometimes the best optimization is knowing when to quit. Moving budget from Shopping to SEO can dramatically improve overall performance.

6. Catalog complexity is both an asset and a liability. Large product ranges are great for customers but terrible for quick-decision ad platforms.

7. Channel physics matter more than tactics. Work with how platforms naturally function instead of against them.

What I'd do differently: I would audit product-channel fit BEFORE launching any campaigns. This would save months of optimization effort on fundamentally mismatched products.