Pay less, perform better: How Channable CSS optimizes Shopping campaigns on Google

If you’re running Shopping campaigns on Google and still using Google’s default Comparison Shopping Service (CSS), there’s a good chance you are paying more per click than you need to.

If you’ve ever searched for popular products on Google, you may have noticed something interesting. Beneath the shopping ads, you often see “By Channable” instead of “By Google”.
This is not a coincidence. Many experienced advertisers (from fast-growing ecommerce brands to established retailers like Asos or Hema) actively choose a third-party CSS like Channable to gain a competitive edge in the Shopping auction. If you want a deeper explanation, we have an article that explains Google CSS partners in detail.

Google’s CSS program was introduced after an EU antitrust ruling and allows advertisers to work with independent comparison shopping services. By advertising through a third-party CSS partner like Channable, advertisers benefit from a margin advantage of up to 20% in the Shopping auction.

In practice, this means your full bid enters the auction instead of being partially deducted by Google’s margin. Imagine two advertisers selling the same product with the same bid and budget. One uses Google’s default CSS, the other uses Channable CSS. Even though both set the same bid in Google Ads, the advertiser using Channable CSS competes with more bidding power. This translates into better visibility and more clicks without spending more.

This margin advantage is not just theoretical. In real-world accounts, it can translate into significant cost savings. For example, French media agency Good Light reduced cost-per-click by up to 42% across Europe after switching to Channable CSS for their ecommerce client, saving over €10,000 in just one month, while maintaining visibility.

Channable is a Google CSS Premium Partner, the highest partner tier. This gives advertisers maximum reach across Google Shopping, access to expert support, and a solution fully aligned with Google’s expectations. But saving money is only part of the story. The real value lies in how you use that 20% margin advantage to drive better performance.

The different ways of using the 20% margin advantage: volume vs. profitability

1.) Focus on volume: If your priority is growth, you can keep your bids unchanged after switching from Google CSS to Channable CSS. Thanks to the 20% margin advantage, your ads become more competitive, which leads to more impressions, more clicks, and higher conversions without increasing your spend.

Use cases of this approach:

• When you are scaling new markets, and you want to generate volume and data quickly
• During growth phases where selling more products matters more than efficiency
• In seasonal periods when many competitors are increasing bids, and the competition is intense.

2.) Focus on profitability: If efficiency matters more than scale, you can take a different approach. After switching to Channable CSS, you lower your bids by around 10% to 20%. Thanks to the 20% margin advantage, you will maintain your current visibility and volume while significantly lowering your CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) and increasing ROAS.

Use cases of this approach:

• Mature accounts where growth has plateaued, and you want to focus on improving efficiency instead of scaling
• When selling products with tight margins, where even small improvements in CPA can have a significant impact on overall profitability
• Profit optimization phases where you want better traffic, not more traffic

Why Channable is unique and the best CSS option on the market

The CSS 20% margin advantage is powerful, but it is just the starting point. Real performance gains come from optimizing on top of it. That’s why now Channable goes beyond the CSS margin advantage by offering a set of built-in optimization features that help advertisers spot opportunities faster, focus on the products that matter most, improve relevance and competitiveness in the Shopping auction. These features are designed to work together.

For example, when a product is competitively priced but underperforming, these new optimization features help identify whether the issue lies in relevance, pricing, or prioritization, allowing advertisers like you to act fast and fully leverage the CSS margin advantage.

Title Optimizer

Product titles are one of the most important factors in Google Shopping performance. The Title Optimizer is built to make improving them simple and impactful. It analyzes the relevance and quality of your existing titles and highlights where changes will make the biggest difference. Using AI and multiple data sources, it suggests high-impact keywords that match how people actually search on Google Shopping.

More relevant titles help your products show up for better search terms. That improves auction performance and amplifies the effect of the CSS margin advantage. The tool is intuitive, easy to use, and designed for real-world workflows.

Labelizer Lite

The Labelizer Lite helps you quickly understand how your products are performing. By automatically labeling products based on performance, it becomes easy to spot top performers and underperformers at a glance. This makes prioritization much easier and prevents wasted effort. You can focus your optimization efforts on the products where changes will have the biggest impact and drive additional volume.

Price Benchmark Lite

Price Benchmark Lite adds valuable pricing context to your performance data. It shows how your prices compare to the market to help you understand whether performance issues are driven by relevance or by pricing. This makes your optimization decisions far more informed.

For example, a strong performing product that is priced competitively but has a generic title is a clear opportunity. Improving the title alone can unlock additional volume quickly, especially when combined with the CSS margin advantage.

Wrapping up

All the features included in the Channable CSS Standard module turn Channable CSS into a performance optimization layer, not just a cost-saving mechanism.

Whether you want to grow volume or improve profitability, Channable CSS Standard gives you the features to adapt your strategy and get more out of every Shopping campaign on Google.

In short, CSS is no longer just about paying less. With Channable, it’s about performing better.