Index
Before you start: requirements and necessary accounts
Step 1: Create and configure Google Merchant Center
Step 2: Verify the business as a dealership
Step 3: Prepare the vehicle inventory feed
Step 4: Upload the feed to Merchant Center and resolve validation errors
Step 5: Link Merchant Center with Google Ads
Step 6: Create the Performance Max campaign for VLA
Step 7: Configure conversions and tracking
What to do during the first few weeks
Frequently Asked Questions
Before you start: requirements and necessary accounts
Before starting the configuration, check that you have everything you need. Attempting to configure VLA without meeting any of these requirements generates blocks that can take days to resolve.
What you need:
A Google account (Gmail or business account with Google Workspace). The dealership's own website with individual listings per vehicle: each car in stock must have its own page with a unique URL, visible price, and accessible contact form or telephone number. Google crawls these pages to verify that the price in the feed matches the price published on the web.
A verified physical establishment in Google Business Profile where buyers can view the vehicles. Without verification of a physical establishment, Google does not approve VLA campaigns.
Documentation proving activity as a dealership or professional dealer. Google may request this during the verification process.
Admin access to Google Merchant Center and Google Ads (or the ability to create them from scratch).
To understand the full context of what VLAs are and how they work before entering the technical configuration, you can review the complete Google Vehicle Ads guide for dealerships.
Step 1: Create and configure Google Merchant Center
Google Merchant Center (merchant.google.com) is the platform where the inventory feed is managed. It is the central point of the entire VLA configuration.
Create the account:
Access merchant.google.com and log in with the dealership's Google account. If you do not have a Merchant Center account, click "Get started" and complete the form with the business name (the commercial name of the dealership as it appears on Google Business Profile), the country of operation (Spain), and the time zone.
Configure business information:
Once the account is created, go to "Business info" in the side menu and complete all fields: physical address of the dealership, contact telephone number, and website URL. This info must exactly match what appears on Google Business Profile.
Verify and claim the website:
In "Business info" → "Website", enter the URL of the dealership's website. Google offers four verification methods: adding an HTML tag in the <head> of the web, uploading an HTML file to the server, verifying via Google Analytics (if already installed and linked to the same Google account), or verifying via Google Tag Manager. The fastest method is usually Google Analytics if already installed.
Once the domain is verified, you must "claim" it: indicate that you are the owner of that website and that you have the right to use it to advertise in Merchant Center. Verification and claiming are separate steps in the interface.
Step 2: Verify the business as a dealership
Google requires verification that the advertiser is a dealership or professional dealer before allowing VLA ads. This step does not exist in standard Google Shopping and is specific to Vehicle Ads.
The verification process is initiated in Merchant Center from "Programs" → "Vehicle Ads" or from the business identity verification section. Google may request documentation proving activity: business licence, registration in the tax census/IAE with the vehicle sale heading, or equivalent documentation.
The review time varies between 1 and 5 business days. If the request is rejected, Google indicates the reason and allows the documentation to be resent. The most common reasons for rejection are illegible documentation, the business name on the documentation not matching that registered in Merchant Center, or a lack of clear evidence of vehicle sales activity.
Step 3: Prepare the vehicle inventory feed
The feed is a structured data file containing info for all vehicles in stock. It is the most critical element of the setup because it determines which ads are shown and with what information.
Basic feed structure:
The vehicle feed has a specific format distinct from the standard Google Shopping feed. The minimum mandatory attributes are:
Attribute | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Unique text |
|
| Text (max 150 characters) |
|
| Text (max 5000 characters) | Vehicle description |
| URL |
|
| Image URL |
|
| Number + currency |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Text |
|
| Text |
|
| Number (4 digits) |
|
| Number + unit |
|
| 17 alphanumeric characters |
|
Recommended optional attributes:
fuel_type (petrol, diesel, hybrid, electric), transmission (manual, automatic), body_style (sedan, suv, hatchback, etc.), color, additional_image_link (up to 10 additional images), vehicle_registration_date (first registration date in YYYY-MM-DD format).
Good habits for titles:
The title is what most influences which searches trigger the ad. The recommended format is: [Brand] [Model] [Version/Engine] [Year]. For example: "Seat Leon 1.5 TSI FR 2021" is better than "Used grey Seat Leon Madrid". Geographical modifiers in the title do not improve targeting (Google already does this via ad location) and use up useful characters.
To get a ready-to-use feed template with all attributes, you can download the free Google VLA guide for dealerships.
Step 4: Upload the feed to Merchant Center and resolve validation errors
Upload the feed:
In Merchant Center, go to "Products" → "Feeds" → "+" (add feed). Select Spain as the country, Spanish as the language, and "Vehicles" as the feed type (not standard "Products"). Assign a name to the feed and indicate the upload method.
There are three upload options. Scheduled URL upload is the most recommended: you enter the URL where the feed is hosted (a publicly accessible XML or CSV file from your server or DMS) and configure how often Google downloads it (every 6 hours, every 24 hours). Manual upload is valid for small stocks or initial testing. Google Sheets allows linking a spreadsheet directly.
Resolve validation errors:
After uploading the feed, Merchant Center takes between 30 minutes and several hours to process it. Errors are shown in "Products" → "Product status" broken down by type. The most frequent:
Image error: The image does not meet the minimum resolution requirements or has a watermark. Solution: ensure all feed images are at least 400×300 pixels and have no overlaid text.
Price does not match website: The feed price differs from the price visible on the vehicle listing on the website. Google crawls both and compares them. Solution: synchronise feed prices with those on the web or check if VAT included/excluded is causing the discrepancy.
Invalid VIN: The VIN number does not have the correct format (17 alphanumeric characters, without I, O, or Q). Solution: verify the VIN in the vehicle documentation and correct the feed.
URL not accessible: The vehicle listing URL returns an error or does not load. Solution: verify that the feed URLs correspond to active pages on the web.
To understand in depth how to keep your feed updated automatically, you can review the guide on how to synchronise your dealership's stock with Google VLA.
Step 5: Link Merchant Center with Google Ads
Before creating the campaign, you need to link the two accounts.
From Merchant Center: Go to "Settings" → "Linked accounts" → "Google Ads". Click "Link account" and enter the Google Ads Customer ID (a 10-digit number shown at the top of the Google Ads interface). Send the request.
From Google Ads: Go to "Tools and settings" → "Linked accounts" → "Google Merchant Center". The pending request from Merchant Center will appear. Approve the link.
Once linked, Google Ads campaigns can access the Merchant Center inventory to create VLA ads.
Step 6: Create the Performance Max campaign for VLA
VLAs are managed exclusively through Performance Max campaign types in Google Ads. You cannot create a VLA campaign using other campaign types (search, standard Shopping, etc.).
Create the campaign:
In Google Ads, click "New campaign". Select the goal "Leads" (for lead generation) or "Sales" (if you have sales conversion tracking set up). In the campaign type, select "Performance Max".
In the campaign settings, activate "Use product data source" and select the linked Merchant Center account. Make sure the selected feed type is "Vehicles".
Set the budget:
Define the daily budget. The recommended minimum for the algorithm to optimise itself is £10-15 a day. With less budget, the data volume is insufficient for system learning.
Configure bidding strategy:
For new campaigns without conversion history, the recommended strategy is "Maximize conversions". Once the campaign has enough recorded conversions (at least 30-50 per month), you can switch to "Target CPA" by setting a maximum cost per lead.
Asset groups:
Performance Max requires at least one asset group with images, ad copy, and audience signals. For VLA, the asset group is less critical than in other Performance Max campaigns because ads are automatically generated from the feed. Even so, Google recommends adding high-quality images of the dealership or the sales process and texts that reinforce the business value proposition.
Step 7: Configure conversions and tracking
Without conversions set up, the Performance Max algorithm cannot optimise. This step is essential for the campaign to function correctly.
Configure the conversion action:
In Google Ads, go to "Tools and settings" → "Conversions" → "New conversion action". For a dealership, the most relevant conversions are submitting the contact form on the vehicle listing page and telephone calls initiated from the ad.
For the contact form, the simplest way is to configure the conversion as a "Page view" and indicate the URL of the confirmation page that appears after submitting the form (the "thank you" page). When a user reaches that URL after clicking on the ad, Google records a conversion.
For calls, Google Ads offers call conversions that trigger when the user clicks the telephone number in the ad.
Install the Google tag:
For conversions to be recorded correctly, you need to install the Google tag (Google Tag) on all pages of the website. The easiest way is via Google Tag Manager if already installed, or by adding the code snippet directly into the <head> of the web.
Verify conversions are working:
Before launching the campaign, use the "Tag Assistant" Google Chrome extension to verify that the tag is active on the relevant pages and that conversions trigger correctly when the form is completed or the phone number clicked.
To integrate VLA conversion tracking with other business KPIs, you can consult the guide on essential KPIs for used car dealerships.
What to do during the first few weeks
Week 1-2 (learning phase): Do not make changes to the budget or bidding strategy. The algorithm needs data to optimise, and changes during the learning phase reset it. Check daily that the feed has no new errors in Merchant Center.
Week 3-4: Start reviewing key metrics: impressions, clicks, CTR, and initial conversions. If the CTR is very low (less than 2%), review the quality of feed images. If there are clicks but no conversions, review the user experience on the listings of the most-clicked vehicles.
From month 2 onwards: With enough data, you can evaluate whether the cost per lead is competitive compared to traditional portals and decide whether to scale investment. To understand which metrics to analyse and how to interpret them, you can review the guide on how to measure the performance of your Google Vehicle Ads campaigns.
More than 750 dealerships already use Dealcar to manage their daily operations
Dealcar is an official Google partner for Vehicle Ads in Spain. Merchant Center configuration, inventory feed generation, automatic stock synchronisation, and campaign management are all done from the same platform where you manage stock and documentation. No additional technical configuration required from the dealership.
If you want to see how it works, you can book a free demo at dealcar.io.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does the full configuration take?
With all requirements met (website with vehicle listings, verified Google Business Profile, documentation available), technical setup can be completed in 2-3 hours. Verifying the business as a dealership may take an additional 1 to 5 business days.
Can I configure VLA if my website is on Framer, Webflow, or WordPress?
Yes. What matters is that the website has individual listings per vehicle with a unique URL, visible price, and contact form. The underlying technology does not affect the ability to use VLA, though Google tag installation may vary by platform.
What happens if the feed has errors on some vehicles but not all?
Only vehicles with errors will be excluded from ads. The rest will publish correctly. Feed errors are shown in Merchant Center with the number of affected vehicles and the type of error, allowing you to fix them selectively.
Can I use VLA and standard Google Shopping at the same time?
Yes. They are different feed types and campaigns. If you have accessory or merchandise products as well as vehicles, you can have a standard Shopping feed for those products and a vehicle feed for stock, managed independently in Merchant Center.
Do VLAs work on mobile?
Yes, and in many cases, most traffic comes from mobile. It is essential that vehicle listings load quickly on mobile and that the contact form is easy to use on a small screen. A listing that takes more than 3 seconds to load on mobile causes drop-off before the user takes any action.
Index
Before you start: requirements and necessary accounts
Step 1: Create and configure Google Merchant Center
Step 2: Verify the business as a dealership
Step 3: Prepare the vehicle inventory feed
Step 4: Upload the feed to Merchant Center and resolve validation errors
Step 5: Link Merchant Center with Google Ads
Step 6: Create the Performance Max campaign for VLA
Step 7: Configure conversions and tracking
What to do during the first few weeks
Frequently Asked Questions
Before you start: requirements and necessary accounts
Before starting the configuration, check that you have everything you need. Attempting to configure VLA without meeting any of these requirements generates blocks that can take days to resolve.
What you need:
A Google account (Gmail or business account with Google Workspace). The dealership's own website with individual listings per vehicle: each car in stock must have its own page with a unique URL, visible price, and accessible contact form or telephone number. Google crawls these pages to verify that the price in the feed matches the price published on the web.
A verified physical establishment in Google Business Profile where buyers can view the vehicles. Without verification of a physical establishment, Google does not approve VLA campaigns.
Documentation proving activity as a dealership or professional dealer. Google may request this during the verification process.
Admin access to Google Merchant Center and Google Ads (or the ability to create them from scratch).
To understand the full context of what VLAs are and how they work before entering the technical configuration, you can review the complete Google Vehicle Ads guide for dealerships.
Step 1: Create and configure Google Merchant Center
Google Merchant Center (merchant.google.com) is the platform where the inventory feed is managed. It is the central point of the entire VLA configuration.
Create the account:
Access merchant.google.com and log in with the dealership's Google account. If you do not have a Merchant Center account, click "Get started" and complete the form with the business name (the commercial name of the dealership as it appears on Google Business Profile), the country of operation (Spain), and the time zone.
Configure business information:
Once the account is created, go to "Business info" in the side menu and complete all fields: physical address of the dealership, contact telephone number, and website URL. This info must exactly match what appears on Google Business Profile.
Verify and claim the website:
In "Business info" → "Website", enter the URL of the dealership's website. Google offers four verification methods: adding an HTML tag in the <head> of the web, uploading an HTML file to the server, verifying via Google Analytics (if already installed and linked to the same Google account), or verifying via Google Tag Manager. The fastest method is usually Google Analytics if already installed.
Once the domain is verified, you must "claim" it: indicate that you are the owner of that website and that you have the right to use it to advertise in Merchant Center. Verification and claiming are separate steps in the interface.
Step 2: Verify the business as a dealership
Google requires verification that the advertiser is a dealership or professional dealer before allowing VLA ads. This step does not exist in standard Google Shopping and is specific to Vehicle Ads.
The verification process is initiated in Merchant Center from "Programs" → "Vehicle Ads" or from the business identity verification section. Google may request documentation proving activity: business licence, registration in the tax census/IAE with the vehicle sale heading, or equivalent documentation.
The review time varies between 1 and 5 business days. If the request is rejected, Google indicates the reason and allows the documentation to be resent. The most common reasons for rejection are illegible documentation, the business name on the documentation not matching that registered in Merchant Center, or a lack of clear evidence of vehicle sales activity.
Step 3: Prepare the vehicle inventory feed
The feed is a structured data file containing info for all vehicles in stock. It is the most critical element of the setup because it determines which ads are shown and with what information.
Basic feed structure:
The vehicle feed has a specific format distinct from the standard Google Shopping feed. The minimum mandatory attributes are:
Attribute | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Unique text |
|
| Text (max 150 characters) |
|
| Text (max 5000 characters) | Vehicle description |
| URL |
|
| Image URL |
|
| Number + currency |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Text |
|
| Text |
|
| Number (4 digits) |
|
| Number + unit |
|
| 17 alphanumeric characters |
|
Recommended optional attributes:
fuel_type (petrol, diesel, hybrid, electric), transmission (manual, automatic), body_style (sedan, suv, hatchback, etc.), color, additional_image_link (up to 10 additional images), vehicle_registration_date (first registration date in YYYY-MM-DD format).
Good habits for titles:
The title is what most influences which searches trigger the ad. The recommended format is: [Brand] [Model] [Version/Engine] [Year]. For example: "Seat Leon 1.5 TSI FR 2021" is better than "Used grey Seat Leon Madrid". Geographical modifiers in the title do not improve targeting (Google already does this via ad location) and use up useful characters.
To get a ready-to-use feed template with all attributes, you can download the free Google VLA guide for dealerships.
Step 4: Upload the feed to Merchant Center and resolve validation errors
Upload the feed:
In Merchant Center, go to "Products" → "Feeds" → "+" (add feed). Select Spain as the country, Spanish as the language, and "Vehicles" as the feed type (not standard "Products"). Assign a name to the feed and indicate the upload method.
There are three upload options. Scheduled URL upload is the most recommended: you enter the URL where the feed is hosted (a publicly accessible XML or CSV file from your server or DMS) and configure how often Google downloads it (every 6 hours, every 24 hours). Manual upload is valid for small stocks or initial testing. Google Sheets allows linking a spreadsheet directly.
Resolve validation errors:
After uploading the feed, Merchant Center takes between 30 minutes and several hours to process it. Errors are shown in "Products" → "Product status" broken down by type. The most frequent:
Image error: The image does not meet the minimum resolution requirements or has a watermark. Solution: ensure all feed images are at least 400×300 pixels and have no overlaid text.
Price does not match website: The feed price differs from the price visible on the vehicle listing on the website. Google crawls both and compares them. Solution: synchronise feed prices with those on the web or check if VAT included/excluded is causing the discrepancy.
Invalid VIN: The VIN number does not have the correct format (17 alphanumeric characters, without I, O, or Q). Solution: verify the VIN in the vehicle documentation and correct the feed.
URL not accessible: The vehicle listing URL returns an error or does not load. Solution: verify that the feed URLs correspond to active pages on the web.
To understand in depth how to keep your feed updated automatically, you can review the guide on how to synchronise your dealership's stock with Google VLA.
Step 5: Link Merchant Center with Google Ads
Before creating the campaign, you need to link the two accounts.
From Merchant Center: Go to "Settings" → "Linked accounts" → "Google Ads". Click "Link account" and enter the Google Ads Customer ID (a 10-digit number shown at the top of the Google Ads interface). Send the request.
From Google Ads: Go to "Tools and settings" → "Linked accounts" → "Google Merchant Center". The pending request from Merchant Center will appear. Approve the link.
Once linked, Google Ads campaigns can access the Merchant Center inventory to create VLA ads.
Step 6: Create the Performance Max campaign for VLA
VLAs are managed exclusively through Performance Max campaign types in Google Ads. You cannot create a VLA campaign using other campaign types (search, standard Shopping, etc.).
Create the campaign:
In Google Ads, click "New campaign". Select the goal "Leads" (for lead generation) or "Sales" (if you have sales conversion tracking set up). In the campaign type, select "Performance Max".
In the campaign settings, activate "Use product data source" and select the linked Merchant Center account. Make sure the selected feed type is "Vehicles".
Set the budget:
Define the daily budget. The recommended minimum for the algorithm to optimise itself is £10-15 a day. With less budget, the data volume is insufficient for system learning.
Configure bidding strategy:
For new campaigns without conversion history, the recommended strategy is "Maximize conversions". Once the campaign has enough recorded conversions (at least 30-50 per month), you can switch to "Target CPA" by setting a maximum cost per lead.
Asset groups:
Performance Max requires at least one asset group with images, ad copy, and audience signals. For VLA, the asset group is less critical than in other Performance Max campaigns because ads are automatically generated from the feed. Even so, Google recommends adding high-quality images of the dealership or the sales process and texts that reinforce the business value proposition.
Step 7: Configure conversions and tracking
Without conversions set up, the Performance Max algorithm cannot optimise. This step is essential for the campaign to function correctly.
Configure the conversion action:
In Google Ads, go to "Tools and settings" → "Conversions" → "New conversion action". For a dealership, the most relevant conversions are submitting the contact form on the vehicle listing page and telephone calls initiated from the ad.
For the contact form, the simplest way is to configure the conversion as a "Page view" and indicate the URL of the confirmation page that appears after submitting the form (the "thank you" page). When a user reaches that URL after clicking on the ad, Google records a conversion.
For calls, Google Ads offers call conversions that trigger when the user clicks the telephone number in the ad.
Install the Google tag:
For conversions to be recorded correctly, you need to install the Google tag (Google Tag) on all pages of the website. The easiest way is via Google Tag Manager if already installed, or by adding the code snippet directly into the <head> of the web.
Verify conversions are working:
Before launching the campaign, use the "Tag Assistant" Google Chrome extension to verify that the tag is active on the relevant pages and that conversions trigger correctly when the form is completed or the phone number clicked.
To integrate VLA conversion tracking with other business KPIs, you can consult the guide on essential KPIs for used car dealerships.
What to do during the first few weeks
Week 1-2 (learning phase): Do not make changes to the budget or bidding strategy. The algorithm needs data to optimise, and changes during the learning phase reset it. Check daily that the feed has no new errors in Merchant Center.
Week 3-4: Start reviewing key metrics: impressions, clicks, CTR, and initial conversions. If the CTR is very low (less than 2%), review the quality of feed images. If there are clicks but no conversions, review the user experience on the listings of the most-clicked vehicles.
From month 2 onwards: With enough data, you can evaluate whether the cost per lead is competitive compared to traditional portals and decide whether to scale investment. To understand which metrics to analyse and how to interpret them, you can review the guide on how to measure the performance of your Google Vehicle Ads campaigns.
More than 750 dealerships already use Dealcar to manage their daily operations
Dealcar is an official Google partner for Vehicle Ads in Spain. Merchant Center configuration, inventory feed generation, automatic stock synchronisation, and campaign management are all done from the same platform where you manage stock and documentation. No additional technical configuration required from the dealership.
If you want to see how it works, you can book a free demo at dealcar.io.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does the full configuration take?
With all requirements met (website with vehicle listings, verified Google Business Profile, documentation available), technical setup can be completed in 2-3 hours. Verifying the business as a dealership may take an additional 1 to 5 business days.
Can I configure VLA if my website is on Framer, Webflow, or WordPress?
Yes. What matters is that the website has individual listings per vehicle with a unique URL, visible price, and contact form. The underlying technology does not affect the ability to use VLA, though Google tag installation may vary by platform.
What happens if the feed has errors on some vehicles but not all?
Only vehicles with errors will be excluded from ads. The rest will publish correctly. Feed errors are shown in Merchant Center with the number of affected vehicles and the type of error, allowing you to fix them selectively.
Can I use VLA and standard Google Shopping at the same time?
Yes. They are different feed types and campaigns. If you have accessory or merchandise products as well as vehicles, you can have a standard Shopping feed for those products and a vehicle feed for stock, managed independently in Merchant Center.
Do VLAs work on mobile?
Yes, and in many cases, most traffic comes from mobile. It is essential that vehicle listings load quickly on mobile and that the contact form is easy to use on a small screen. A listing that takes more than 3 seconds to load on mobile causes drop-off before the user takes any action.
