SA360 Templates and Inventory Management: Set-up and Implementation
Key takeaways
- SA360 templates generate campaigns, ad groups, RSAs, keywords and sitelinks from a feed.
- They succeeded inventory management and work with Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising and Yahoo! JAPAN.
- Each level multiplies the one above: segment carefully to stay within engine limits.
- Check bidding on generated items: max CPC was not inherited in the previous version.
- Success depends on data: a clean feed, encoding fixed at source, strict naming.
With a catalogue of thousands of products, building and maintaining by hand one Search campaign per category, one ad per product and keywords that follow stock levels is impossible. Search Ads 360 (SA360) automates it: from a data feed, its templates generate and update campaigns, ad groups, responsive search ads, keywords and sitelinks (About Templates, Google FAQ).
The feature succeeded the « inventory management » of earlier versions (About Templates, Google FAQ). This article explains the template structure, step-by-step set-up, custom feeds, and the field experience that avoids the costliest mistakes.
What SA360 templates do
A template is a rule: « for each value of this feed attribute, create this item, with this name, these ads and these keywords ». The benefits, according to Google (Why use Templates?, Google FAQ):
- full coverage of the catalogue, without manual building;
- up-to-date ads: feed values (price, name, category) feed the copy;
- continuous updates: Merchant Center and non-retail feeds linked to the account refresh automatically (About Templates, Google FAQ);
- several engines: templates work with Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising and Yahoo! JAPAN Ads (Templates and advertising platforms, Google FAQ).
The structure: from feed to keywords
Templates nest like an account structure (Understand Templates structure, Google FAQ):
- a campaign template, creating one campaign per value of an attribute (for example, category);
- ad group templates, children of the campaign (for example, one group per product type);
- under each group, responsive search ad, keyword and negative keyword templates, plus sitelinks (About template types, Google FAQ).
Names are dynamic: the campaign takes the colour’s name, the ad group « colour – product type ». Generated items stay visible and flagged as template-managed (View campaigns, ad groups, responsive search ads, and keywords managed by template, Google FAQ).
Field experience: the previous version talked about multipliers. With « colour » at campaign level and « product type » at ad group level, the system created the « red » campaign and the « loafer – red », « ankle boot – red » ad groups… It remains the best way to design a template: each level multiplies the one above, and the number of generated items grows fast.
Setting up a template, step by step
- Prepare the feed: check the attributes used for segmentation (category, brand, type, colour) and their quality. Downloading feed items, for example to Google Sheets, helps design the template (About feed items download, Google FAQ).
- Choose the segmentation: which attribute at campaign level, which at ad group level.
- Write the responsive search ads with feed values, with fallback text for empty or over-long values.
- Define the generated keywords and negatives.
- Preview, then activate, following Google’s set-up guide (Get started with template setup, Google FAQ).
- Watch output errors: if a template exceeds the engine’s limits, SA360 creates no new items and logs an error to fix (About Templates, Google FAQ).
The data feed: Merchant Center or a custom feed
By default, templates use the Merchant Center feed linked to the account. For other data, a custom feed is possible. Experience from a set-up in the previous version:
- the request goes through your agency or Google contact, who liaises with the SA360 team;
- Google provides an allowlist (a Google Sheets file) for your SA360 account and feed source;
- the feed is sent as CSV, for example from a database export, and a Google-provided service account must be given read access to your server;
- with several SA360 accounts, check that each has the right feed;
- allow two to three weeks: the process is usually slow.
The process may have changed in the current version: check with your Google contact before planning.
Points to watch
- Max CPC is not inherited: in the previous version, the max CPC multiplier had to be added manually in the ad group template. Always check the bid strategy applied to generated items.
- Every product in the feed is processed: a new product creates its items. Turn on the email alert for newly created items.
- Manual edits to a generated item can block its updates by the template.
- Bringing in existing items: existing campaigns and ad groups can join a template if their names follow its naming convention.
- Engine limits: overly fine segmentation quickly exceeds the allowed number of items.
Practical data tips
- Create custom columns from feed fields, with formulas.
- Fix encoding (accents, special characters) and stray punctuation at the source, in the database.
- Add custom fields as control columns to check data quality.
- Structure the data before export.
- Make sure the product ID used in the template is also in the order confirmation page’s data layer: you get per-product performance at campaign level.
Conclusion
SA360 templates turn a feed into complete, always-current Search coverage. Success depends less on the tool than on the data: a clean feed, measured segmentation and strict naming. The first set-up remains a fairly lonely journey: experts in this feature are rare, even in large agencies.
For bidding on generated campaigns, see bid strategies by campaign type. An SA360 project? Let’s talk.
Frequently asked questions
What do SA360 templates generate?
Campaigns, ad groups, responsive search ads, keywords, negative keywords and sitelinks, from a feed (About template types, Google FAQ).
Which engines do they work with?
Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising and Yahoo! JAPAN Ads (Templates and advertising platforms, Google FAQ).
What happens if a template exceeds the engine’s limits?
SA360 creates no new items and logs an output error to fix (About Templates, Google FAQ).
How long does a custom feed take?
In our experience, two to three weeks to set up.
Updated 30 October 2026. Sources: Google’s official documentation, checked on that date.
About the author: Alain Vanhee is an independent paid search consultant based in Lille, France. He has managed Google Ads and Search Ads 360 accounts for more than fifteen years, with budgets from 1 to 20 million euros a year, in e-commerce and lead generation. Request an audit