Custom labels — the smart way to segment Google Shopping
Custom labels are one of the most underused tools in Google Shopping. Used correctly, they let you apply different bids to different product segments without splitting campaigns. This guide covers every proven UK segmentation strategy — and how Trajekt sets custom labels automatically via rules.
Trajekt's rules engine sets custom labels based on any field in your product data — product type, price range, category, stock level, sale status, or brand.
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Margin segmentation
Assign custom_label_0 based on price tiers (under £20, £20-£50, over £50) to set lower bids on low-value items and higher bids on high-margin products.
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Seasonality flags
Use custom_label_1 for seasonal markers: spring-summer, autumn-winter, evergreen. Increase bids during peak season, reduce in off-season without restructuring campaigns.
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Bestseller tagging
Tag your top 20% of products as "bestseller" in custom_label_2 and bid more aggressively on proven performers.
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Clearance marking
Flag clearance and sale items in custom_label_3 to run lower-bid, higher-budget clearance campaigns separate from full-price products.
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New arrivals
Mark new products in custom_label_4 for a temporary launch campaign with higher bids to build initial data on new SKUs.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Custom labels (custom_label_0 through custom_label_4) are optional fields in your Google Shopping feed that let you add your own categorisation data to products. Unlike google_product_category or product_type (which follow Google's or your taxonomy), custom labels are entirely your own — you define what values they contain and use them to create product groups in your Shopping campaigns for bid management.
You have 5 custom label fields: custom_label_0, custom_label_1, custom_label_2, custom_label_3, and custom_label_4. Each field accepts a single text value per product (max 100 characters). You can use all 5 simultaneously — creating a multi-dimensional segmentation system with combinations like margin tier + seasonality + bestseller status.
Most effective custom label strategies: custom_label_0 for profit margin tier (high/medium/low), custom_label_1 for seasonality (peak/off-peak/evergreen), custom_label_2 for stock level or sell-through (fast/medium/slow), custom_label_3 for promotional status (clearance/sale/full-price), custom_label_4 for new vs established products (new/established). These enable very precise bid management.
In Google Shopping campaigns, you create Product Groups filtering by custom_label_0 = "high-margin", custom_label_0 = "medium-margin", etc. Each product group gets its own bid. Products with high margin get higher bids; low-margin or low-value products get lower bids. This is more efficient than bidding the same amount across your entire catalogue.
Yes, but carefully. If you change the value of a custom label field (e.g. changing "high-margin" to "high"), your existing campaign product groups will no longer have matching products — effectively pausing all ads that used the old label value. Always check your campaign product group filters before changing label values in your feed.
Trajekt's rules engine sets custom labels based on conditions you define. For example: IF price > 100 THEN custom_label_0 = "high-value" ELSE IF price > 50 THEN custom_label_0 = "mid-value" ELSE custom_label_0 = "low-value". Rules can evaluate any product field — price, category, brand, product type, sale status, or inventory level.
Custom labels accept any text string up to 100 characters. Values are case-sensitive. Keep values simple and consistent: "high-margin" is better than "High Margin Products" — shorter, lowercase, no special characters. If you later need to filter by label in Google Ads, simple values are easier to work with.
Yes. Trajekt's AI Rules can assign custom labels based on nuanced criteria that pattern-matching rules can't easily handle — for example, assigning seasonality labels based on product description content, or categorising products by implicit attributes in their name or description. AI label assignment is particularly useful for large, diverse catalogues.
No. Custom labels only affect paid Google Shopping campaigns and are invisible to Google's organic ranking signals. They don't impact free Shopping listings, search quality scores, or product match quality. They are purely a campaign management tool for paid Shopping ads.
Custom labels should be updated whenever the underlying condition changes: when products go on sale (clearance label), when new products launch (new_arrival label), when seasonal peaks start and end (seasonality label). Trajekt's rules automatically recalculate custom labels on every feed refresh, so labels always reflect current product status.
Yes. Microsoft Shopping supports the same custom_label_0 through custom_label_4 structure as Google. The values and strategy that work for Google Shopping work identically for Microsoft/Bing Shopping campaigns. Trajekt applies your custom label rules to both Google and Microsoft feeds from the same source.
Start using custom labels to improve your Google Shopping bids
Trajekt's rules engine sets custom labels automatically on every feed refresh — based on price, category, sale status, or any other field in your product data.