PPC Ad Examples: Search, Shopping and PMax

PPC ads for an online store come in three types: Search ads (headlines and descriptions you write), Shopping ads (photo, title, price and store name, from your product feed) and Performance Max (your assets and feed, mixed by Google across channels). The best ones match the search, name the product and show a price or offer.

Most PPC example lists online are B2B ads. "Get a free quote." "Book a demo." Useless if you sell dog harnesses.

I'm Christopher Krassnig. My agency, ZenoX Media, has run Google Ads for 400+ store accounts. The examples below are the patterns we see win in those accounts. The ad copy is made up to show each pattern. It is not any real brand's ad. Every limit and spec comes from Google's own help pages, listed at the end. I also sell Scaley, which comes up at the end. Read that part knowing it.

Google Ads and PPC Ad Examples by Campaign Type

These are the three types a store starts with. Google has more campaign types, like Demand Gen and Video, but most stores begin here.

Google says Shopping ads "use your existing Merchant Center product data (not keywords)". So two of the three ad types are mostly won in your product feed, not in ad copy.

Search Ad Examples for Online Stores

A Search ad today is a responsive search ad. You write the parts. Google picks which ones to show for each search, and can show up to 3 headlines at once. So every line has to make sense on its own.

Here are six patterns that work for stores. Each row is one made-up headline and description.

The brackets are on purpose: put in your own rating and buyer count. Two rules for the proof pattern. Only use a number that is true today. And the number has to be on the landing page too, or the shopper feels tricked.

A Full Responsive Search Ad, Line by Line

Here is one complete ad for a made-up store selling no-pull dog harnesses. Google's limits: headlines up to 30 characters, descriptions up to 90, display path two fields of 15.

Four descriptions, all 90 characters or less:

1. Padded no-pull harness with front and back clips. Sizes XS to XXL. Free shipping over $50.
2. Walks still a fight? Send it back within 30 days. Returns are free.
3. Reflective straps and washable padding. Pick your size with our 2-minute fit guide.
4. Harnesses from $29. Orders placed before 2pm ship the same day.

Display path: /harness/no-pull.

Look at the mix. Three lines carry the keyword and three carry the offer, while the rest give shoppers reasons to buy. No two say the same thing, and nothing is pinned, so Google has real choices to test. Need help with the words themselves? Read what ad copy is and how to write it.

Assets That Make the Ad Bigger

Assets (once called ad extensions) cost nothing to add. They give your ad more space. For the harness store:

• Sitelinks (up to 25 characters of link text): No-Pull Harnesses, Puppy Harnesses, Size Guide, Sale, Returns
• Callouts (up to 25 characters): Free Returns, Ships Same Day, Machine Washable
• Structured snippet, header Types: Step-In, Vest, No-Pull, Car Harness
• Image assets: a square product photo and a dog wearing it

Google picks which assets to show in each auction, so none is promised. But when Google shows them, a Search ad with sitelinks and an image takes more of the screen than one without.

Shopping Ad Examples: The Title Is the Ad

You don't write a Shopping ad. Google says Shopping ads "display a product photo, title, price, store name, and more", all pulled from your Merchant Center data. So the product title does the job a headline does in Search.

Titles can be 150 characters. Google says shoppers often see only the first 70 characters or fewer, depending on their screen size. Put the words people search at the front.

A simple order that works for most stores: brand (only if people search it), product type, then the key details like material, color, size or model.

The image is the other half. Google's image rules ban promo overlays, watermarks, borders and logos laid on top of the photo. So no "SALE" badge. Use a clean shot on a plain background. A supplier image with their logo in the corner breaks that rule.

More on titles, feed fixes and splits in Google Shopping optimization. New to Shopping? Start with what Google Shopping ads are.

Performance Max (PMax) Ad Examples

A Performance Max campaign has no single ad. You build an asset group, and Google mixes it into Shopping ads, text ads, YouTube videos and Display banners. Google says "if you use a Merchant Center feed, you don't need to provide creative assets to launch". You can. But then Google fills the gaps itself.

Google's limits for one asset group:

One Asset Group for the Harness Store

One asset group, one theme: no-pull harnesses. Puppy harnesses get their own group, with their own words and photos.

• Headlines: No-Pull Harness (15), Padded No-Pull Dog Harness, Free Shipping Over $50, Sizes XS to XXL, 30-Day Free Returns
• Long headline: The padded no-pull harness with front and back clips, in sizes XS to XXL
• Descriptions: Calmer walks with a front clip that turns your dog back toward you. / Free shipping over $50 and free returns for 30 days.
• Images: the harness on a white background (square), a dog wearing it on a trail (landscape), a close-up of the clip (portrait)
• Logo: your square logo
• Video: a short clip of putting the harness on, cut in 16:9, 1:1 and 9:16
• Final URL: the no-pull harness collection page, not the home page

Why one theme per group: the words and photos have to fit every product in that group. A long headline about puppies next to a harness for a big dog looks wrong.

Upload your own videos if you can. Google says that without a video of yours, it may make one for you. Make your own and you decide what people see.

Mistakes We See in Store Ads

1. Headlines that need each other. "Our Best Harness" plus "Is Now 20% Off" reads fine together. Google may show only one.
2. Fifteen ways to say "Buy Now". Google needs different lines to test. Swapping a word or two does not make a new line.
3. Pinning everything. Pin every spot and the ad stops being responsive.
4. B2B copy on a store. "Contact us today" and "Request a quote" don't sell a $29 harness. Price, offer and product do.
5. Hype in Shopping titles. "Best", "Sale" and "!!!" waste the first 70 characters.
6. The home page as the final URL. Send a harness search to the harness page.
7. Great ads on bad searches. A perfect ad still wastes money on "dog harness DIY". Block those words first with a negative keyword list.

Where to Find More Real Ad Examples

The best examples are the ones in your own niche. The Google Ads Transparency Center shows the ads any advertiser runs. Search two or three stores you compete with. Note which offers and words they repeat. Then write yours so it beats them.

For a picture of how each ad format looks and the image sizes, see Google ad sizes. Running a dropshipping store? See dropshipping ad examples for Google Ads.

Find the Ads and Products That Waste Money

Writing the ad is the easy part. Knowing which headlines, products and asset groups make money is the weekly work. In Google Ads, open the Assets report for Search and the asset group report for Performance Max. For Shopping, sort products by cost and look at the ones with no sales.

Scaley Media Buyer connects to your Google Ads read-only. Ask it "which products spent money and never sold this month?" or "which ad groups run only one search ad?" and you see the answer right away, from your live account. It only looks when you ask. It never changes anything.

Two other ways in:

• Scaley Consultant connects nothing. Upload a screenshot or a CSV of your ads report and ask the same question.
• Scaley Suite finds the fixes and makes each change only after you say yes to that one change.

Want to see which of your products and searches spend without selling? Start the free trial and ask. A card is required for the trial. Prices for all three are on the pricing page.

Where These Facts Come From

Checked on 2026-11-03:

• About responsive search ads, Google Ads Help - 15 headlines of 30 characters, 4 descriptions of 90 characters, the minimums, how Google mixes lines, pinning.
• About assets, Google Ads Help - sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets and image assets.
• About sitelink assets, Google Ads Help and About callout assets, Google Ads Help - the 25 character limits.
• About Shopping ads, Google Ads Help - "a product photo, title, price, store name, and more" and "Merchant Center product data (not keywords)".
• Title, Merchant Center Help - the 150 character limit and the first 70 characters.
• Image link, Merchant Center Help - no promo overlays, watermarks, borders or logos laid on product images.
• About Performance Max campaigns, Google Ads Help - asset groups and launching from a Merchant Center feed alone.
• Performance Max campaigns specs and format requirements, Google Ads Help - the asset group limits in the table above, and auto-made videos.