What are the latest trends in shopping ads for e-commerce brands?

Emily Team
Sep 30, 2025
3 min read

Shopping ads are changing rapidly — and top e-commerce brands are evolving with them to boost visibility, reduce cost per acquisition, and convert more customers across every channel.

Here’s your updated look at the latest trends in Shopping Ads for 2024–2025, and how EMILY® is helping clients implement them for stronger campaign performance.

🛒 Shopping Ads Trends Every E-Commerce Brand Should Know

Whether you're scaling a Shopify store or optimizing your product feed across Google, Meta, and TikTok, success in today’s digital marketplace depends on staying ahead of ad format changes, automation tools, and omnichannel best practices.

Let’s break it down, trend by trend.

🛍️ 1. Performance Max (PMax) Dominates Google Shopping

What’s Happening:Google is phasing out Smart Shopping and pushing Performance Max as the new standard for product ads. These campaigns unify placements across:

Google Shopping (Search & Display)
YouTube
Gmail
Google Maps

Tips:

Use custom audience signals to guide automation
Segment asset groups by product category
Track individual product performance using custom labels

💡 EMILY® configures PMax campaigns with full-funnel attribution and smart asset segmentation to retain creative and budget control.

🎯 2. AI-Powered Feed Optimization is the New Norm

What’s New:AI tools now enhance product listings by:

Improving titles and descriptions based on search behavior
Suggesting new keywords dynamically
Flagging low-performing product data

Tools in Use: Channable, Feedonomics, DataFeedWatch, and Google Merchant Center’s AI integrations

💡 EMILY® uses AI-powered feed tools to rewrite, tag, and optimize SKUs for better placement and click-through performance across channels.

📲 3. Mobile-First + Visual Shopping Formats Are Rising

Emerging Formats:

Google 3D product previews and AR Shopping
Instagram’s tappable Shopping Carousels
TikTok Collection Ads with embedded product tiles

Best Practices:

Prioritize vertical creative formats (4:5 or 9:16)
Use real-life and lifestyle product imagery
Design for thumb-stopping visual impact on small screens

💡 EMILY® builds campaigns with mobile performance in mind — optimizing everything from product photo angles to load speed and image ratios.

🔁 4. Retargeting Now Includes UGC + Personalized Video

What’s Trending:Shopping ad retargeting is now more engaging, featuring:

Short product videos (“See it in action”)
Customer testimonials or UGC
Personalized overlays (e.g., “Still thinking about [Product Name]?”)

💡 EMILY® creates short-form retargeting videos for Meta, YouTube, and TikTok to re-engage non-converting traffic with authentic, persuasive content.

🧠 5. Smart Bidding Focuses on Profit, Not Just Revenue

What’s Evolving:Advertisers are shifting toward margin-based bidding strategies:

Segmenting SKUs by profit potential
Using Google’s Target ROAS bidding at the product level

💡 EMILY® helps brands break out high- and low-margin products, ensuring smarter ad spend that maximizes profitable sales — not just volume.

🛍️ 6. Omnichannel Product Feed Syncing is Essential

What’s Changing:Retailers are now syncing a single product catalog across:

Google Merchant Center
Meta Commerce Manager
TikTok Shopping
Pinterest Catalog

Why It Matters:

Less manual work
Unified product data
Faster campaign launches

💡 EMILY® ensures your feed is consistent, clean, and ready for deployment across all ad platforms, with automation that scales as you grow.

🧾 7. Real-Time Promotions + Price Automation Are Standard

New Features Include:

Real-time price updates via Shopify + Merchant Center
“On Sale,” “Free Shipping,” and price drop badges on Google
Countdown timers or urgency messages in ad creatives

💡 EMILY® syncs live promotions and urgency triggers to Shopping Ads using GMC tools, Shopify, and dynamic creative templates to drive faster decisions.

📈 8. SKU-Level Attribution for Smarter Insights

What’s Trending:Brands are digging deeper into:

Product-level ROAS and click performance
Assisted conversions by Shopping Ads
Attribution by audience type (new vs. returning customers)

💡 EMILY® connects GA4, UTM tracking, and Tag Manager to report on SKU-level ROI — helping you scale what sells, and adjust what doesn’t.

✅ Quick Trends Recap

Trend	Why It Matters
Performance Max campaigns	Wider reach, consolidated automation
AI feed optimization	Better product visibility + faster edits
Mobile-first visual formats	Higher engagement and conversion
Retargeting with UGC & video	Lower CAC, more trust-building content
Profit-focused bidding	Improved ROAS and smarter spend allocation
Omnichannel feed syncing	More reach from a single source of truth
Price & promo automation	More urgency, better ad relevance
SKU-level attribution	Deeper insights, better optimization