by: Stefano Roberti
Developing a Multilingual Google Shopping & Performance Max Strategy
There’s something seductive about automation. You flick on Google’s Performance Max, upload a product feed, and let the machine “find the right customer.” Easy, right? Until you realise those customers speak seven different languages, live across five time zones, and all your ad headlines have mysteriously turned into broken English.
That’s why a proper multilingual Google Shopping and Performance Max strategy matters, and why our multilingual ppc services balance automation with localisation. Machines are great at optimising data; they’re terrible at empathy!
TL;DR
An international Google Shopping and Performance Max strategy succeeds when automation meets real connection, but authentic engagement and empathy require work:
- Localise feeds
- Localise creative
- Localise pricing
- Structure for learning
- Never let the machine fly solo
Real success requires feeding Google great data, then continually optimising performance to improve across every market, language, and customer type.
AccuraCast’s paid media specialists have seen it first-hand: clients who localised product feeds and creatives grew conversion rates by 35%+ within two months. The difference isn’t just automation, it relies on a human touch behind it.
Optimise feeds in every language
Your product feed is the gospel according to Google. Your product feed is your foundation. Google’s own documentation confirms that high-quality, relevant feeds can increase impression share by up to 50%. But “high quality” in multiple languages means manual effort.
Machine translation of product titles often misses context. “Blue men shoes 2025 edition” is technically correct, but no Parisian is clicking that. Localised product feeds, titles, descriptions, attributes, written in native language, in native style, outperform by 20–35%.
What “high quality” means varies by language:
- Titles: Include brand + key attribute + product type in local syntax.
- EN: “Nike Men’s Running Shoes Blue”
- FR: “Chaussures de course Nike bleues pour homme”
- DE: “Nike Herren Laufschuhe Blau”
- Descriptions: Adapt local phrasing; avoid direct translation.
- “Lightweight and supportive” in English might become “léger et stable” (not “léger et favorable”).
- Attributes: Local units of measurement matter — inches vs centimetres, litres vs gallons.
For large inventories, separate Merchant Center feeds per language or country, each linked to localised landing pages. Yes, it’s more work. Yes, it’s worth it.
Structure for multilingual scale
Performance Max thrives on clean structure. Segment by product category and language, not just region. This allows the algorithm to learn properly, rather than treating every market as one messy pool of data.
In practice, we’ve seen accounts with well-structured multilingual campaigns stabilise within two weeks, while messy ones still flounder after two months. Structure speeds learning; learning improves ROAS.
AccuraCast experts have tested this repeatedly: accounts structured by language stabilised in half the time compared to those that weren’t. In one multilingual apparel campaign, reorganising asset groups by language alone lifted ROAS 4x in four weeks.
Use local inventory and currency
Insider Intelligence / eMarketer reports that 60% of shoppers abandon carts due to unclear pricing or currency issues. Localisation doesn’t end at language, it includes currency, delivery time, and return policy.
A multilingual Google Shopping campaign that shows “£49.99” to a customer in Italy is asking for confusion. Price and tax transparency are trust signals.
Localisation doesn’t stop at words. It extends to:
- Currency: Ensure prices reflect exchange rate + rounding conventions (£49.99 ≠ €49,99).
- Delivery time: Adapt to realistic local expectations (2–3 days in UK ≠ 7 days in Italy).
- Return policy: Local consumer law may require free returns in some markets.
Create local “micro-trust” by matching shipping and pricing expectations. The psychological impact on CTR is measurable.
Localise creative assets – automation’s wild card
Performance Max mixes text, video, and image assets. That’s both powerful and dangerous. A single tone-deaf headline can ruin engagement across markets.
A global home décor brand we worked for used the headline “Bring the sunshine home”, which resonated beautifully in English. But translated into German, it didn’t make any sense. After rewriting the local versions, engagement soared.
The lesson: automation scales effort, not intelligence. Feed it great creative; supervise it with human judgement.
Pay attention to compliance and nuance: automation has no moral compass
Different countries, different red tape. Review Google’s Ad Policies before launching in sensitive categories. Sometimes “universal appeal” just means universally banned.
Every market has its advertising rules. Alcohol, health, finance, what’s fine in one region may breach policy elsewhere.
Cultural context matters too. A lighthearted pun in English can be offensive in German. When in doubt, test your copy with native speakers.
Checklist for compliance:
- Review Merchant Centre policies per country
- Verify certifications (especially for health, finance, alcohol)
- Use local business addresses where possible
Focus on data for automation, but don’t omit human oversight
Performance Max’s biggest strength, data-driven automation, is also its greatest risk. It optimises ruthlessly for performance, but without cultural understanding. That’s where human oversight turns machine learning into intelligent marketing.
AccuraCast’s rule: automation should handle the math; humans handle the meaning.
Weekly reporting should include qualitative feedback from native teams: how do these creatives feel locally? Numbers tell you what is happening; people tell you why.
We’re actively working with a brand whose products face the risk of being misrepresented or misunderstood. Understanding public sentiment is critical, so we rigorously monitor and report on it using every reliable method at our disposal.
Treat PMax as multilingual augmentation, not automation. Run asset-level audits every month per market.
Continuously experiment to gain a competitive edge
Multilingual campaigns require constant experimentation. Test localisation depth: literal vs idiomatic translations, different value propositions, or even different imagery. For example, an “eco-friendly” message resonates strongly in the Nordics, but “durability” drives more conversions in southern Europe.
Feed that insight back into your Performance Max asset groups, and the algorithm becomes smarter, globally and locally.
And remember, your multilingual Shopping or PMax strategy should evolve with every campaign cycle:
- Review local feed performance monthly.
- Rotate creatives quarterly.
- Audit currency, delivery, and policy data twice a year.
Summary: how to scale globally without losing your brand voice
The trickiest part is maintaining coherence across markets. Too much localisation, and your brand could feel fragmented; too little, and it feels foreign. We’ve learned to balance this through years of trial and error: one global framework, many local voices.
Your multilingual Google Shopping strategy should function like an orchestra, unified composition, different instruments.
‘Multilingual Performance Max’ is a paradox of sorts: you automate more to sound more human. You let algorithms decide placements while you handcraft every word. It’s not easy. But when it works, it scales your message across borders without losing authenticity.
Explore our multilingual PPC services to fine-tune your feeds, automate with intelligence, and help your products sell globally.
Because machines may know how to drive impressions, but humans still know how to connect.
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