Give every product the right advertising priority. Six segments, refreshed daily.
Product Metrics ML segments your products and writes each segment to Merchant Center as a custom label, so Shopping and Performance Max spend where products earn.
Prefer a guided look first? Book a demo
Interactive: click to explore
Product Segmentation
Reading 12,400 products from Google Ads, Merchant Center and shop orders.
Cash Cows
low volume, high return
Drainers
low volume, no return
Stars
high volume, high return
Question Marks
high volume, medium return
Dogs
high volume, low return
Product segments
Nike example, 12,400 products, POAS, 30 days
- Stars806
- Question Marks1,254
- Cash Cows622
- Dogs1,543
- Drainers4,914
- Ghosts3,261
Select a product to open its card. Switch between ROAS and POAS to see products change segment.
- Read products: Reading 12,400 products from Google Ads, Merchant Center and shop orders.
- Weigh signals: Product Metrics ML weighs clicks and return for every product.
- Segment into six: Segmented on volume and return. Volume is ad clicks, return is POAS against a 2 target.
- Pegasus 42 on ROAS: On ROAS, Nike Pegasus 42 clears the 300% bar at 3.18 and looks like a Star.
- Pegasus 42 on POAS: On POAS, its 44% margin tells the real story: 1.4 against a 2 target makes it a Question Mark.
Nike Pegasus 42: ROAS 3.18 vs 300% target → Star; POAS 1.4 vs 2 target → Question Mark. Same product. Margin tells the real story.
- 1M+ products analysed
- €750K+ monthly Shopping spend under management
- 6 segments, refreshed daily
The six segments
Two questions segment every product. How many clicks does it get, and what do they return against your ROAS or POAS target?
Stars
806 productsVolume: ad clicksHighReturn: POASAbove targetHigh volume, high return. Proven winners that draw clicks and beat your target.
Nike example: Vomero 18, Vaporfly 4, Air Force 1 '07
What to doScale budgetOwn PMax campaign or asset group with a lower target, so budget scales.custom_label_0: starsQuestion Marks
1,254 productsVolume: ad clicksHighReturn: POASJust under targetHigh volume, medium return. Plenty of clicks, return just under target.
Nike example: Pegasus 42, Zoom Fly 6, Tech Windrunner
What to doTest price & feedKeep at target; check price position and product journeys before scaling.custom_label_0: question_marksCash Cows
622 productsVolume: ad clicksLowReturn: POASAbove targetLow volume, high return. Efficient products that lack reach.
Nike example: Vomero Plus, Structure 26, Dunk Low
What to doProtect & grow reachBuy reach: a looser target and a bigger budget share.custom_label_0: cash_cowsDogs
1,543 productsVolume: ad clicksHighReturn: POASBelow targetHigh volume, low return. They soak up clicks without paying back.
Nike example: Pegasus Plus 2, Air Max 90, Club fleece crew
What to doLower priority / fix pageLower its priority; fix price, title or feed before spending more.custom_label_0: dogsDrainers
4,914 productsVolume: ad clicksLowReturn: POASNo returnLow volume, no return. Spend with nothing to show for it.
Nike example: ACG Pegasus Trail, Air Max Plus
What to doExclude or pauseIsolate with a strict target, or exclude until something changes.custom_label_0: drainersGhosts
3,261 productsVolume: ad clicksNo impressionsReturn: POASNothing to measureInactive: no impressions, no clicks. Google is not showing them.
Nike example: Pegasus 42 GORE-TEX, Dri-FIT Club cap
What to doReactivate or clean feedCheck Merchant Center status and feed quality; relaunch in a test campaign.custom_label_0: ghosts
Counts and examples are illustrative. Product Metrics is not affiliated with Nike, adidas or PUMA.
Machine learning
Nine signals in. One segment updated, every day.
Interactive: click to explore
- Nike Pegasus 42
- Live in PMax
- Return
- POAS 1.4, target 2
- Segment
- Question Marks
- custom_label_0
- question_marks
- Campaign
- PMax Question Marks
Performance Max now holds Pegasus 42 in the Question Marks asset group, at your target.
- Collect signals: Clicks, cost and orders come from Google Ads and your shop. Margin turns revenue into profit.
- Product Metrics ML: Product Metrics ML places Pegasus 42 on volume and return against all your other products.
- Assign segment: Lots of clicks, POAS under target: a Question Mark. Demand is there, profit is not yet.
- Write the label: The segment is written to custom_label_0. Merchant Center merges it on the next fetch.
- Campaign picks it up: Performance Max now holds Pegasus 42 in the Question Marks asset group, at your target.
Thresholds learned from your account
No industry rule of thumb. Your click distribution sets high volume; your ROAS or POAS target sets the return bar.
Enough evidence before a Star
A product needs a minimum number of clicks before it can be a Star. One lucky sale does not move budget, and products don’t jump between segments week to week.
Re-segmented every day
On a rolling 30, 60 or 90-day window, against all your other products. When clicks and returns change, the segment and label follow.
Product Score & Product Rules
The model decides, and you keep the final say. Product Score rates every product 0–100 on your weights; Product Rules act on it.
Product score
Metric weights, score 0–100 per product
- Price Competitiveness30
- Profit Margin25
- Inventory Level20
- Return Rate15
- Delivery Speed10
Score preview
- Nike Air Force 1 '0788
- Nike Vomero 1883
- Nike Pegasus 4258
- Nike Air Max 9044
When
Then
Writes custom_label_0 = stars in the supplemental feed
| Product | custom_label_0 |
|---|---|
| Nike Air Force 1 '07 | stars → stars (unchanged) |
| Nike Vomero Plus | cash_cows → stars |
| Nike Dunk Low | cash_cows → stars |
From segment to campaign
Every segment becomes a label in Merchant Center, updated daily. Your campaigns hold the right products, with your bid strategy per segment.
A campaign structure that follows the labels
Split by custom_label_0 once. Products then move between campaigns and asset groups as their segment changes. Your bid strategies stay yours.
| Segment | Campaign | Bid strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Stars | Performance Max, own campaign, asset group per category | Target ROAS or POAS below goal to buy volume |
| Question Marks | Performance Max, own campaign | Target at goal; review price and journeys first |
| Cash Cows | Performance Max or Standard Shopping | Maximise conversion value with a looser target |
| Dogs | Standard Shopping | Target above goal; lower priority |
| Drainers | Standard Shopping, low priority | Strict target, or excluded |
| Ghosts | Not serving | Fix feed or stock, then relaunch |
Labels move products
A new segment means a new label, and the product moves campaign on the next Merchant Center fetch.
| Product | custom_label_0 | Campaign |
|---|---|---|
| Nike Vomero 18PMax Stars | stars | PMax Stars |
| Nike Zoom Fly 6Moved to PMax Stars | question_marks → stars | Moved to PMax Stars |
| Nike Pegasus 42PMax Question Marks | question_marks | PMax Question Marks |
| Nike Air Max PlusStandard Shopping | drainers | Standard Shopping |
Zoom Fly 6 crossed its POAS target, 1.52 to 2.12, and its label changed to stars.
See which products have room to grow, before you raise a budget
Product Potential forecasts the extra clicks and revenue from a higher impression share, and the cost at today’s CPC.
| Segment | Impr. share | Pot. clicks | Pot. revenue | Pot. cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stars81.2% → 88.0% | 81.2% → 88.0% | +1,550 | +€15.2K | +€3.1K |
| Question Marks76.4% → 80.0% | 76.4% → 80.0% | +520 | +€2.0K | +€1.0K |
| Cash Cows58.3% → 70.0% | 58.3% → 70.0% | +1,020 | +€5.5K | +€1.8K |
| Total3 segments | 3 segments | +3,090 | +€22.7K | +€5.9K |
Start with the products that earn their next euro.
Illustrative data. Example with Nike products; Product Metrics is not affiliated with Nike, adidas or PUMA.
Setup
Your first segmentation, in three steps. Log in, choose ROAS or POAS, add one supplemental feed.
- Step 1
Connect Google Ads and Merchant Center
Log in with Google and connect your Google Ads account or MCC. We read your data and write only the labels you approve. No credit card.
- Step 2
Choose ROAS or POAS
ROAS works right away, without margin data. Connect margins to segment on POAS.
- Step 3
Add the supplemental feed once
Add the feed URL to Merchant Center once. Labels merge on every fetch; campaigns split on custom_label_0.
Built for 500 to 50,000 products on Performance Max and standard Shopping, with Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, Lightspeed and Shopware 6.
What PPC teams ask first. Anything else? Ask Berend.
How does Product Metrics decide which segment a product is in?
Will products jump between segments every week?
Do I need margin data?
What campaign structure do I build with the segments?
What access do you need? Do you change my bids or budgets?
Can I override what the model decides?
Is Product Metrics an attribution tool?
What does it cost, and is there a trial?
See your own products in six segments, today. Log in with Google and connect Google Ads and Merchant Center. Your first €10K of monthly Shopping spend is free.
Not ready to connect? Book a demo: a video call with Berend, then a demo account with example data. See pricing