According to Google Shopping Policies, what can be included in promotional text?
Correct Answer
D) Text highlighting a special offer on specific products
Key takeaways
Promotional text must describe a real, specific offer such as a discount or free delivery.
Repetition, keyword insertion and restating feed data are all disallowed.
The test is whether it tells the shopper something the listing does not already show.
Why is this the correct answer?
Promotional text is for a genuine offer on specific products, such as a discount, a bundle or free delivery over a threshold. The policy exists to stop the space being used as extra keyword real estate, so the three things it explicitly rules out are repeating words or phrases, inserting text dynamically from keywords, and simply restating attributes that already appear elsewhere in the listing. In other words, it has to add information the shopper does not already have.
Why are the other options wrong?
A) Product information taken from the data feed
Repeating data that is already in the feed adds nothing for the shopper, since the title, price and availability are already displayed, so it is not permitted as promotional text.
B) Repetition of words and phrases
Repetition of words and phrases is explicitly disallowed. It is the classic keyword-stuffing pattern the policy is written to prevent.
C) Text created from keyword insertion
Keyword insertion generates text from the query rather than describing a real offer, so it has no place in promotional text.
Frequently asked questions about this topic
Where do offers appear on a Shopping listing today?
Special offers are normally set up in Merchant Center under Marketing and then Promotions, which attaches a special offer link to the listing once approved. Answer the exam question as it is asked, but be aware that the current way to surface a discount is a merchant promotion rather than free text on the item.
Why does Google restrict promotional text so tightly?
Because Shopping listings are meant to be directly comparable. If merchants could add arbitrary keyword-rich text, the unit would stop being a like-for-like comparison of product, price and seller, which is the whole point of the format.
Official documentation: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/2877565
Topics in this question
About the Shopping Ads Certification
The Shopping Ads Certification checks that you can run retail campaigns end to end: product data in Merchant Center, linking it to Google Ads, and choosing between Standard Shopping and Performance Max to drive sales and value.
Exam guide and all 407 Google Ads Shopping questions →Related Google Ads Shopping questions
- 1You’d like to promote your products across Google’s platform but aren’t sure whether a Performance Max campaign would help you more than a Standard Shopping campaign. Which statement is true about Performance Max campaigns?Explained
- 2You work at an agency and manage several retail accounts in Google Ads. One of your clients is new to Shopping Ads and would like to track performance by product category (ex: apparel) and gender. The client is passing the required and optional attributes for apparel in the product feed. Which recommendation would you make to their campaign structure to achieve granular reporting?
- 3You’re using Smart Shopping campaigns to run across Google platforms including Google Search, YouTube, and Google Images. Which of these benefits would you gain with Smart Shopping campaigns?
- 4You’d like to promote your products across Google’s platform but aren’t sure if you should go with a Smart Shopping campaign or a Standard Shopping campaign. Which statement is true about Smart Shopping campaigns?
- 5Standard Shopping ads provide a more targeted reach, while Performance Max accesses a wider audience across all of Google’s inventory through the use of AI technology.
- 6You’re using Smart Shopping campaigns to run across Google platforms, such as Google Search, Google Images, and YouTube. In this scenario, what’s a benefit that you gain with Smart Shopping campaigns?