Frequently asked questions about setting up Microsoft Shopping Campaigns

Why do the contents of my Microsoft Merchant Center store and Google Merchant Center account need to match?

To attribute conversions to ads for individual products, Search Ads 360 needs to load products from a single source, which is the Google Merchant Center. If Search Ads 360 is unaware of products that are in your Microsoft Merchant Center store, it will fail to attribute conversions to clicks on ads for those products. Likewise, if products in your Microsoft Merchant Center store have different attributes than products in your Google Merchant Center account, Search Ads 360 conversion counting will not match engine metrics from Microsoft Advertising.

Does all of my Microsoft Merchant Center feed need to exactly match Google Merchant Center feed?

No, only these fields need to match exactly:

• Product ID

• Brand

• Product type

• Category

• Custom label 0-4

• Condition

If you use these fields to define product groups, and the fields don't match, Search Ads 360 may attribute conversions to the wrong product group.

What happens if I don’t have one-to-one correspondence between a Microsoft Merchant Center store and a Google Merchant Center account?

Search Ads 360 will track products that are in the Google Merchant Center account you specify when you set up a Shopping campaign (remember that when you set up a Microsoft Shopping Campaign in Search Ads 360, you'll need to specify both a Microsoft Merchant Center store--which will be used by the Microsoft Advertising campaign--and a Google Merchant Center account--which will be used by Search Ads 360). If the contents of the Microsoft Merchant Store are split across two or more Google Merchant Center accounts, Search Ads 360 will only track conversions for that portion of the products contained in one of the Google Merchant Center accounts. In other words, if the Microsoft Merchant Center account you specify for a Microsoft Shopping Campaign contains more products than the campaign's Google Merchant Center account, Search Ads 360 will only report on the products in the Google Merchant Center account.

Do I need to have the same feed/catalog settings (for example, filename, sync schedule, and so forth) in Microsoft and Google?

No, it is not a requirement that the individual catalogs match the Google Merchant Center feeds themselves. Rather, the set of products sent across all catalogs in a Microsoft Merchant Center store must match the set of products sent across all feeds in a Google Merchant Center store.

Do I need to link my Microsoft Merchant Center store and Google Merchant Center account?

Use Microsoft's Google Import tool to port the contents of your Google Merchant Center into your Microsoft Merchant Center. This simplifies the process and ensures consistency between feeds.

No. A link can't be created between your Microsoft Merchant Center store  and Google Merchant Center account. If you use different inventory feeds for Microsoft and Google, you're required to manually keep the product feeds in sync. If your Microsoft Merchant Center store and Google Merchant Center accounts contain different products, Search Ads 360 will only report conversions from the products in the Google Merchant Center feed and clicks on the products from the Microsoft Merchant Center feed.

We recommend that you use the same inventory feed for both because Microsoft supports Google feed files.

I am currently running Microsoft Product Ads. How should I migrate to Microsoft Shopping Campaigns?

We recommend that you import your Shopping campaigns from Google Ads. Start by sending the same inventory feed to your Microsoft Merchant Center store and Google Merchant Center account. Then, use Microsoft Advertising tools to import your Google Shopping campaigns into Microsoft Advertising one at a time. Verify that the campaigns are receiving traffic and that both Microsoft Advertising and Google preview the same products. See the Microsoft Advertising Help Center for additional information and migration options.

Why aren't my Microsoft Shopping Campaigns syncing in Search Ads 360?

If you notice that none of your Microsoft Shopping Campaigns are visible in Search Ads 360, your Microsoft Shopping Campaigns' product filter or product groups use values of Category that aren't contained in the standard product taxonomy. Update your product filter or product groups to use Product Type instead of Category or be sure that the values for Category are included in the taxonomy. In any case, you should send the same inventory feed to your Microsoft Merchant Center store and Google Merchant Center account.

When you sync a Microsoft Advertising account, your Microsoft Product Ads campaigns are also synced. Product Ads campaigns don't include a Product groups tab in Search Ads 360 so there's only reporting on the text ads and keywords.  

Why do product group reports not match campaign and ad group reports?

This is expected if you've removed products from your inventory feed during the report's time range. Learn more about differences in product group, campaign, and ad group reports.