What is Impression Share?
Impression share (IS) is the percentage of impressions your ads received compared to the total number of impressions you were eligible for. As Google explains in their official documentation, it's a measure of your visibility in the Google Shopping auction.
The formula is simple:
Impression Share = Impressions Received / Eligible Impressions
If your campaign had 6,000 impressions and was eligible for 10,000, your impression share is 60%. This means you're missing 40% of potential visibility.
"Eligible impressions" are estimated based on your targeting settings, approval status, bids, quality, and current auction dynamics. Google calculates this retroactively—you can't see eligible impressions directly, only the resulting share percentage.
Key Insight
Impression share tells you about opportunity cost. A 50% IS means you're invisible for half of relevant searches. Whether that matters depends on whether those missed impressions would have been profitable.
Types of Impression Share Metrics
Google provides several impression share metrics, each revealing different aspects of your visibility:
Search Impression Share
The percentage of impressions you received on the Search Network (including Shopping results) out of the total you were eligible for. This is your primary IS metric for Shopping campaigns.
Search Lost IS (Budget)
The percentage of impressions lost because your budget was too low. If this is high (>20%), your campaigns are running out of budget before the day ends, missing afternoon/evening searches.
Search Lost IS (Rank)
The percentage of impressions lost due to low Ad Rank. Ad Rank is determined by your bid and quality factors. High lost IS (rank) means competitors are outbidding you or have better quality scores.
| Metric | What It Measures | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Search IS | Overall visibility percentage | Improve budget + rank |
| Lost IS (Budget) | Impressions missed due to budget | Increase budget or reduce bids |
| Lost IS (Rank) | Impressions missed due to rank | Increase bids or improve quality |
Click Share
A newer metric showing the percentage of clicks you received compared to the estimated maximum clicks available. This accounts for ad position—top positions get more clicks even with similar impressions.
Understanding Lost Impression Share
Lost impression share is where optimization opportunities live. The two types require different fixes:
Lost IS (Budget): You Ran Out of Money
When budget limits your impression share, your ads stop showing once the daily budget is exhausted. Signs include:
- Campaigns consistently hitting daily budget before end of day
- "Limited by budget" status in Google Ads
- Lost IS (budget) above 10-20%
- Impressions clustered in morning hours
Solutions:
- Increase daily budget (if ROAS supports it)
- Lower bids to spread budget across more time
- Use ad scheduling to show only during peak hours
- Pause low-performing products to free up budget for winners
Lost IS (Rank): Competitors Are Beating You
Lost impression share due to rank means your Ad Rank is too low to enter auctions. This is about bid and quality:
- Your max CPC bids are below competitive thresholds
- Product data quality is poor (bad titles, images, missing attributes)—proper feed error resolution is critical
- Landing page experience issues
- Low historical CTR dragging down quality
Solutions:
- Increase bids on high-value products
- Improve product titles with relevant keywords
- Use high-quality images
- Ensure landing pages match product expectations
- Fix feed errors and add missing attributes
Prioritization Tip
Fix lost IS (budget) first if it's high—you're already paying for clicks but missing easy wins. Then tackle lost IS (rank) which requires more effort (bid increases or quality improvements).
Impression Share Benchmarks by Industry
"Good" impression share depends on your industry, competition, and strategy. Here are general benchmarks:
| Query Type | Target IS | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Brand terms | 90%+ | Defend your brand aggressively |
| High-margin products | 70-90% | Worth paying for visibility |
| Competitive categories | 40-60% | Higher IS may not be profitable |
| Long-tail products | 30-50% | Lower volume, focus on efficiency |
| Low-margin products | 20-40% | Prioritize ROAS over reach |
Industry-specific benchmarks vary significantly. Fashion and electronics are highly competitive (expect 30-50% IS), while niche B2B products may achieve 70%+ with less effort. See our impression share benchmarks guide for detailed industry data.
Product-Level Impression Share
Campaign-level impression share hides important variation. Your overall 50% IS might include hero products at 80% and long-tail products at 5%. Product-level analysis reveals where to focus.
Why Product-Level Matters
- Resource allocation: Identify which products deserve more budget
- Opportunity sizing: See how much upside exists per product
- Problem detection: Find products with zero impressions
- Competitive intelligence: Understand where you're losing
Accessing Product-Level IS Data
Google Ads doesn't show impression share at the product level in the standard UI. You can access it through:
- Google Ads API: Query
metrics.search_impression_sharewithsegments.product_item_id - Google Ads Scripts: Build custom reports pulling product-level metrics
- Third-party tools: Platforms like SKU Analyzer aggregate this data automatically
For implementation details, see our product impression share guide.
Troubleshooting: Products with No Impressions
Zero impressions is different from low impression share. It means your products never entered the auction. Common causes:
Feed Issues
- Disapprovals: Products rejected due to policy violations or data quality
- Missing attributes: Required fields like GTIN, brand, or condition per Google's product data specification missing
- Price/availability mismatches: Feed data doesn't match landing page
- Image problems: Promotional overlays, watermarks, or wrong format
Campaign Configuration
- Products excluded: Negative product groups or inventory filters
- Bids too low: Below minimum threshold to enter auctions
- Budget exhausted: Campaign out of budget before these products could show
- Targeting too narrow: Location or audience exclusions
Competitive Factors
- Extremely low search volume: Nobody is searching for these products
- Dominated by competitors: Prices or bids uncompetitive
Diagnostic Steps
- Check Merchant Center Diagnostics for disapprovals
- Verify products are in an active product group with bids
- Confirm campaign/budget isn't exhausted early
- Test a significantly higher bid to see if impressions appear
- Check if products are new (may need time for indexing)
For a complete troubleshooting walkthrough, see our no impressions fix guide.
Impressions Dropped After Feed Update
Feed changes can cause sudden impression drops. Google needs to re-process your products, and changes to key attributes trigger re-review.
High-Risk Feed Changes
- Title changes: Especially if adding/removing brand or key terms
- Price changes: Large price swings can trigger reviews
- GTIN changes: Changing product identifiers causes re-matching
- Image URL changes: New images need processing time
- Availability changes: Out of stock to in stock transitions
Recovery Timeline
| Change Type | Typical Recovery |
|---|---|
| Price/availability | 24-48 hours |
| Title/description | 2-5 days |
| Images | 3-7 days |
| GTINs/identifiers | 5-14 days |
| New products | 3-7 days |
For detailed recovery strategies, see our feed update recovery guide.
Strategies to Improve Impression Share
Improving impression share requires a combination of budget, bidding, and quality optimization:
1. Prioritize by Value
Don't chase 100% impression share across all products. Focus on:
- High-margin products (worth paying for visibility)
- Best sellers (proven conversion rates)
- Brand searches (defend your traffic)
2. Fix Budget Constraints First
If lost IS (budget) is significant:
- Increase daily budgets on performing campaigns
- Use dayparting to concentrate spend in peak hours
- Reduce bids on low-ROAS products to free up budget
- Split campaigns to give priority products dedicated budget
3. Improve Ad Rank
If lost IS (rank) is the issue:
- Increase bids strategically (not blanket increases)
- Optimize product titles for relevance
- Improve image quality
- Ensure landing page matches product exactly
- Fix all feed errors and warnings
4. Use Smart Bidding Effectively
Target Impression Share bidding lets you optimize directly for visibility:
- Set a target IS percentage (e.g., 70%)
- Set a max CPC cap to control costs
- Use for brand defense or priority products
- Monitor costs—high IS targets can get expensive
Frequently Asked Questions
What is impression share in Google Shopping?
Impression share is the percentage of impressions your ads received compared to the total number of impressions you were eligible for. For example, 60% impression share means your ads appeared in 60% of auctions where they could have shown based on your targeting, bids, and quality.
What is a good impression share for Google Shopping?
A good impression share varies by industry and strategy. For brand terms, aim for 90%+. For competitive non-brand terms, 40-60% is often realistic. High-margin products should target higher impression share than low-margin items. Focus on impression share for your best-performing products first.
Why are my Google Shopping ads not getting impressions?
Common causes include: feed issues (disapprovals, missing attributes), low bids compared to competitors, limited budget causing early budget exhaustion, poor product data quality, targeting settings too narrow, or account-level issues like policy violations. Check Merchant Center diagnostics first.
How do I improve impression share on Google Shopping?
Improve impression share by: increasing bids on high-value products, raising daily budgets to avoid early exhaustion, fixing feed errors and disapprovals, improving product titles and images for better quality scores, and ensuring competitive pricing. Prioritize products with the best ROAS.
Maximize Your Shopping Visibility
Impression share is a powerful diagnostic metric for Google Shopping campaigns. It reveals how much opportunity you're capturing and where you're losing ground to competitors.
Key takeaways:
- Track both lost IS (budget) and lost IS (rank) to understand why you're missing impressions
- Prioritize impression share for high-margin and high-converting products
- Don't chase 100% IS on everything—focus where it matters
- Product-level analysis reveals optimization opportunities hidden in averages
- Feed quality directly impacts your ability to enter auctions
Tools like SKU Analyzer make product-level impression share analysis accessible, showing you exactly which products have visibility gaps and where to focus optimization efforts.