Listing Groups (PMax)

Listing Groups are hierarchical product filters within Performance Max asset groups that define which products from your Google Merchant Center feed are eligible to show as ads. They function similarly to product groups in Shopping campaigns, allowing advertisers to segment products by category, brand, item ID, condition, or custom labels.

Key Takeaways

• Define which Merchant Center products belong to each asset group
• Use a tree structure to subdivide products by category, brand, item ID, condition, or custom labels
• Default setting is “All products” — all feed items are eligible
• Subdivision allows different bid strategies and creative themes per product segment
• Only relevant for e-commerce campaigns with a connected Merchant Center feed

What Are Listing Groups

Listing Groups are the product targeting mechanism within Performance Max campaigns. When you connect a Google Merchant Center feed to a Performance Max campaign, listing groups determine which products from that feed are associated with each asset group. This allows you to organize products into logical segments with tailored creative assets and audience signals.

Filter Type	Description	Example
Category	Google product taxonomy	Electronics > Computers > Laptops
Brand	Product brand from feed	Nike, Adidas, New Balance
Item ID	Individual product SKU	SKU-12345
Condition	New, refurbished, used	New only
Product type	Your custom product categorization	Summer Collection
Custom label	Custom label 0-4 from feed	”best-seller”, “clearance”
Channel	Online or local inventory	Online

How It Works

Listing groups use a subdivision tree structure:

1. Start with “All products” — By default, every product in your feed is eligible
2. Subdivide by one attribute (e.g., Category) to create child groups
3. Further subdivide child groups by additional attributes (e.g., Brand within a Category)
4. Include or exclude each leaf node to control product eligibility

Each leaf in the tree is either “included” (products can serve ads) or “excluded” (products are blocked from this asset group). Products can appear in multiple asset groups if their listing groups overlap, though Google will select the most relevant group at auction time.

Unlike traditional Shopping campaigns, Performance Max does not allow bid adjustments at the listing group level — bidding is managed by Google’s automation at the campaign level. Listing groups purely control product eligibility and organization.

Practical Example

A sporting goods retailer structures listing groups across three asset groups:

Asset Group 1: “Running”

• Category: Athletic Shoes > Running Shoes (included)
• Category: Athletic Apparel > Running Apparel (included)
• Everything else (excluded)

Asset Group 2: “Basketball”

• Brand: Nike > Basketball line (included)
• Brand: Adidas > Basketball line (included)
• Everything else (excluded)

Asset Group 3: “Clearance”

• Custom Label 0: “clearance” (included)
• Everything else (excluded)

This structure ensures that running-specific creative assets pair with running products, basketball imagery pairs with basketball products, and clearance items get their own promotional messaging. Without listing group segmentation, all 5,000 products would share the same generic creative.

Why It Matters

Listing groups are the primary mechanism for aligning product inventory with relevant creative messaging in Performance Max. Without proper segmentation, a campaign with 10,000 products shows the same generic headlines and images regardless of what product a user sees. Strategic listing group structure ensures that product-specific asset groups deliver contextually relevant ads, improving click-through rates and conversion rates. For retailers with diverse product catalogs, listing group architecture is one of the most impactful optimization levers in Performance Max.