Derek VaalEcommerce PPC Consultant
Ecommerce PPC insights

Paid search advice built for real ecommerce decisions.

Practical guides to Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Shopping, Performance Max, Merchant Center, measurement, and the account decisions that matter after the dashboard is open.

Start where the account hurts.

Practical guidance for healthier ecommerce accounts.

Use these guides to diagnose an issue, plan the next change, or ask better questions of your account.

Search and Account Structure

How to Prioritize Ecommerce PPC Fixes When Everything Looks Urgent

A practical way to decide whether tracking, feed health, budget, or campaign structure deserves attention first when every PPC problem appears urgent.

8 min read
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Channel Strategy

ChatGPT Ads for ecommerce brands: what to know before you test

ChatGPT Ads are an evolving beta channel for conversational product discovery. Here is what ecommerce brands should prepare before testing access, creative, tracking, and fit.

6 min read
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Channel Strategy

When to add Microsoft Ads to an ecommerce PPC program

A readiness test for ecommerce brands weighing a second search channel: what has to be true on Google first, and what usually goes wrong when it is not.

6 min read
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Performance Max

Performance Max vs Search for ecommerce: where should the next dollar go?

Search and Performance Max solve different account problems. Here is how I compare their roles, overlap, economics, and budget decisions for ecommerce brands.

6 min read
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Hiring a PPC Consultant

How to choose an ecommerce PPC consultant

The right ecommerce PPC consultant should make the account easier to understand, own the details, and connect recommendations to business priorities. These are the questions I would ask.

5 min read
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Measurement and Reporting

Ecommerce PPC reporting and measurement that supports decisions

A good ecommerce PPC report explains what changed, why it matters, and what decision comes next. Here is the reporting structure I use with clients.

5 min read
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Search and Account Structure

Google Ads Search campaign structure for ecommerce brands

A useful ecommerce Search structure makes intent, budget, messaging, landing pages, and reporting easier to control. Here is how I decide what deserves its own campaign.

5 min read
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Measurement and Reporting

Ecommerce PPC tracking: what to verify before trusting the dashboard

Ecommerce PPC tracking should help you decide where budget belongs. Before trusting the dashboard, verify the event, value, attribution, and data-quality chain.

5 min read
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Shopping and Merchant Center

Merchant Center feed management: a practical operating guide

Merchant Center feed management is an operating process. It keeps product data, eligibility, landing pages, and paid search decisions connected as the catalog changes.

5 min read
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Shopping and Merchant Center

Google Shopping management for ecommerce brands

Google Shopping management is part feed operations, part merchandising context, and part campaign discipline. Here is how I connect those pieces.

5 min read
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Search and Account Structure

Ecommerce Google Ads audits: what I check before recommending changes

A useful ecommerce Google Ads audit should explain what is happening, why it matters, and which changes deserve attention first. Here is the sequence I use.

6 min read
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Channel Strategy

How Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, and ChatGPT Ads fit together for ecommerce

Ecommerce PPC management is not a list of platforms to keep busy. It is the work of matching channel roles, product data, measurement, and business economics so the next budget decision is clear.

6 min read
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Shopping and Merchant Center

Merchant Center recovery is a paid search problem

Merchant Center issues can remove the products paid search is meant to sell. Here is how I diagnose incidents, restore inventory safely, and prevent a repeat.

8 min read
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Performance Max

How I approach Performance Max cleanup for ecommerce brands

Performance Max cleanup is a sequence: validate conversion inputs, define campaign roles, inspect brand leakage, improve product data, and test one layer at a time.

8 min read
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Performance Max

How to separate branded demand from Performance Max

Branded queries inside Performance Max can make ROAS look healthier than the campaign's generic demand really is. Here is how I diagnose the overlap, test a cleaner setup, and interpret the result.

7 min read
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Shopping and Merchant Center

The feed health checklist I run before every account audit

Feed quality quietly determines what Shopping and Performance Max can sell. This is the product-data checklist I use before recommending campaign changes.

8 min read
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Hiring a PPC Consultant

What ecommerce Google Ads management should actually include

Good Google Ads management connects strategy, measurement, feeds, testing, reporting, and communication. Here is what I believe an ecommerce brand should expect.

8 min read
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Turn the next article into an account decision.

Tell me what is unclear in your Google Ads account and I’ll help identify what deserves attention first.

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