Google plans channel reporting for Search and Shopping in 2027

Google is preparing to extend channel performance reporting to standard Search and Shopping campaigns in 2027, across both individual Google Ads accounts and manager accounts. The schedule appears in the platform's updated documentation. Reporting is currently available for Performance Max and Demand Gen, showing how results are distributed across the surfaces where ads appear.

The change concerns analysis tools and the classification of data. Google states that the reporting updates preserve underlying ad delivery, budgets and Smart Bidding. The planned Search and Shopping expansion is separate from the access already available for the two campaign types currently supported; the documentation specifies 2027 without giving a more precise calendar date.

A channel identifies where an ad appears, while a format describes its construction

Google defines a channel by the surface where an ad serves, rather than exclusively by its creative format. One channel can include several formats. YouTube, for example, can display video, image, text or product-based ads. An image ad does not automatically belong to the Display Network, and an ad using a catalogue product does not constitute a separate channel.

The Performance Max classification includes Google Search, Google Display Network, YouTube, Discover, Maps, Gmail and search partners. The same definitions appear in Demand Gen reporting for the channels specific to that campaign type. Google Search includes ads served in the search engine and Search app, while the Discover feed is classified separately.

In the published definitions, the Maps channel includes Google Maps and Waze. Gmail and YouTube have their own categories, even when some of the formats displayed there resemble ads on other surfaces. Ads in YouTube search results are assigned to YouTube rather than to search partners. Those boundaries determine how impressions and costs are grouped in the report.

For creative using Merchant Center information, the report offers the Ads using product data segment. It can be examined by channel, allowing advertisers to follow where ads built with product information appeared. Google separately describes a video segment. Channel and format are therefore two dimensions that can be combined when analysing the same campaign.

The product segment has a specific scope: it includes Shopping ads on Search, YouTube search, Maps and search partners, as well as dynamic remarketing on Display. The documentation excludes Gmail formats using Merchant Center feeds and video ads with products on YouTube and Discover from that segment. A product appearing in an ad and inclusion in the reported segment are therefore distinct conditions.

An overview alongside a detailed table

The current report has three main components: a performance summary, a visualisation connecting channels to goals, and the channel distribution table. The summary brings together cost, conversions, conversion value and interactions, alongside indicators such as cost per acquisition or return on ad spend. The table provides detailed values for each channel.

Selecting all campaigns displays an aggregated table for the campaign types currently supported, Performance Max and Demand Gen. A single campaign is selected to display its individual summary and detailed charts. This distinction separates the account-level perspective from analysis of a particular budget, objective and set of results. Table data can be downloaded for examination and reporting outside the Google Ads interface.

The time series view shows how performance develops over the selected range. Metrics include impressions, clicks and conversions, while filtering for one channel allows changes in the distribution of activity to be followed. A chart can relate the timing of a campaign change to developments in the data, without turning a temporal coincidence into proof of causation.

Campaign optimisation conversions and account-wide results

The Conversions and Results filters have different meanings. The former follows the conversions for which the campaign is optimised. Results includes the primary conversion actions in the account's goals, including goals that are not used to optimise the selected campaign. Choosing a filter changes the set of actions being evaluated, rather than merely the column's label.

Reporting uses the attribution model configured for each conversion action. Data can also include offline conversions, such as store visits or sales, when they are included in campaign reporting. Segmentation by ad event type distinguishes clicks from other interactions associated with conversions, including engaged views used in video ad attribution.

Google also highlights the delay between an interaction with an ad and the conversion being reported. Costs and conversions for a recent period can consequently reach the system at different times. This is one documented reason why channel-level figures need to be read in the context of the campaign's reporting period, objectives and attribution rules.

Diagnostics for products, assets and eligibility

The status column identifies situations where a channel is eligible, limited or unable to serve ads. Diagnostics can identify missing assets, materials disapproved under platform policies, or problems with Merchant Center accounts and products. Documented examples include unapproved products, missing required assets and errors preventing delivery on a particular surface.

These details form part of Google Ads campaign analysis, where impression volumes are considered alongside costs, conversions and ad eligibility. A channel with little activity and a product error flagged in the report describes a different situation from a channel with no technical restrictions but a smaller share of campaign delivery.

The update also includes dedicated placement identifiers, such as m for Maps, gm for Gmail and dsc for Discover, replacing the legacy x code. Google draws attention to filters in external analytics and CRM tools that use those parameters. Until the 2027 expansion, the documented access scope for channel performance reporting remains Performance Max and Demand Gen.