You can use a CSV file to create or edit Shopping campaigns in Google Ads Editor. Using a CSV file lets you add or change many items in your Shopping campaign at once. You can also use a CSV file to duplicate your campaign or ad groups, break one campaign into multiple campaigns or ad groups, or move your campaign to another Google Ads account.
To help make sure your import is successful, follow the formatting guidelines below.
Formatting your CSV
In order for your CSV file to be imported, it must include these columns:
| Column name | Description |
|---|---|
| Campaign | The name you gave your campaign. |
| Country of Sale | The two-letter country code or country name. |
| Campaign Type | The type of campaign you have, which should be "Shopping." |
| Ad Group |
The name of your ad group. |
| Max CPC | The current maximum cost-per-click bid for the product group. |
| Inventory filter | An optional way to exclude which products in your Google Merchant Center account can appear for Product Shopping ads. |
| Product Group | The full path of the product group in your product group hierarchy. Learn how to edit your product group. |
| Product Group Type | The type of product group can be "Excluded," "Biddable," or "Subdivision." |
| Merchant Identifier, Merchant ID, or Merchant | The ID of the Google Merchant Center account associated with the products being advertised in the campaign. |
| Budget | Your campaign's budget. |
View an example of a Shopping campaign template.
Uploading your CSV
Once you've prepared your CSV file, follow these steps to import it in Google Ads Editor:
- Select Account > Import. (If you have other pending proposed changes, the menu item will be grayed out. Once you accept or reject the other proposals, you can proceed.)
- Choose From file ... to select a file, or Paste text to copy and paste CSV data.
- Review the column headers. If a header is incorrect, select the correct header from the drop-down menu.
- The preview only shows up to 100 rows of your CSV file. If your file has more than 100 rows, they'll be included in the import even though they don't appear here.
- You can have the same header for multiple columns. For example, if you happen to have keywords in two columns, select "Keyword" as the column header for both columns. Note that only the first value in any given row will be used. Note: If in your settings or preferences you chose to include original values during CSV export, you may see two identifying columns for some items--one with an "#Original" heading and the other for new values that can be applied. Learn more
- Click Import. You can still revert the import later, if needed.
- Review the list of imported changes. If there are issues with the CSV file, Google Ads Editor displays a list of errors and warnings.
- Click Review imported changes.
- Changes imported from the CSV file are displayed as proposed changes in your account.
- To accept all changes, click Keep proposed changes.
- To reject all changes, click Reject proposed changes.
- To review and accept or reject individual changes, follow these instructions.
Fixing product group errors
Here's how to resolve error messages you may receive after importing your CSV file or making changes to your product groups:
| Error message | Issue | How to fix it |
|---|---|---|
| Product group subdivides by the same dimension more than once. |
You've added a product group that subdivides by the same dimension more than once. Keep in mind that category and product type are allowed to appear more than once. |
Remove the product group. |
|
Product group subdivides by product type more than five times. |
This is similar to the error above, but applies to the product type dimension, which may appear up to 5 times. |
Remove the product group. |
|
Cannot subdivide product type of 'everything else' by another product type. |
You can’t subdivide an “everything else” product type by another product type. |
Remove the product group. |
|
Product group specifies a category that is not valid for the campaign's country of sale. |
Some countries don’t allow certain categories. You'll see this error if you add a product group mentioning such a category into a campaign targeting that country of sale. |
Remove the product group. |
| Product group specifies an invalid category hierarchy. |
The category dimension can appear more than once in a product group, but each subsequent one must be a sub-category of the previous one. For example: “*/ Category=sports / Category=soccer” is valid, but “*/ Category=sports / Category=ladies shoes” isn’t. |
Change the category so that the dimensions are sub-categories. |
|
Product group values contain one or more of these invalid character sequences: == or &+ |
For technical reasons, the value of any dimension can’t contain these sequences of characters. |
Remove the product group. |
|
You can't subdivide a nonexistent product group. |
You can only subdivide a product group that exists. | Subdivide a product group that exists. |
|
This product group is missing an "everything else" subdivision. |
Every product group with a subdivision must contain an "Everything else" product group. |
Fix the product group structure. |
|
The only "everything else" subdivision of the product group was removed. There must be exactly 1 for each product group. |
You marked an "Everything else" product group for deletion, but each product group with a subdivision must contain an "Everything else" product group. |
Fix the product group structure. |
|
This dimension type isn't consistent with the other subdivisions. Each product group must be subdivided along the same dimension type. |
All product group must subdivide by the same dimension. |
Fix the product group structure. |
|
This product group is a duplicate subdivision. |
This product group is identical to another one in the same ad group. |
Remove the duplicate product group. |
|
This product group can't be removed without also removing its subdivisions. |
You tried to remove a product group, but not its subdivisions. |
Remove the subdivisions. |
|
Changing the product group from a subdivision leaves unowned child dimensions. |
This happens when you change a product group’s type from “Subdivision” to “Biddable” or “Excluded.” |
Fix the product group structure. |