🚀 The Feeder Strategy: How to Scale Smarter with Standard Shopping (While PMAX Fakes It)

Google wants you to think PMAX is the ultimate solution. But what if the very thing that looks like success... is secretly holding you back?

This document breaks down a proven strategy that smart media buyers are using to regain control, cut waste, and scale spend without sacrificing performance.

🔍 The Core Problem

PMAX was designed to automate and simplify campaign management. But as you scale it, you run into this:

ROAS looks great — until it doesn’t.

Why? Because PMAX starts shifting more budget into branded search, remarketing, display, and even YouTube. These channels often have low incremental value.

So it looks like performance is improving... But your cold traffic efficiency drops. Your real growth slows. And your budget gets stuck in a loop of chasing fluff metrics.

💡 The Strategic Shift: Enter the Feeder Strategy

The Feeder Strategy introduces standard shopping campaigns as a way to feed PMAX higher-quality traffic — while regaining control over spend.

Key Benefits:

• No branded search, display, or video waste
• Shopping-only traffic = high intent
• Creates better remarketing audiences for PMAX
• Enables you to scale spend without breaking performance

⚙️ How It Works

1. Launch a Catch-All Standard Shopping Campaign
   • Run the same products as your PMAX
   • Start with a small budget ($10–$50/day)
   • Use a slightly higher bid (or lower ROAS target) than PMAX to prioritize spend