Understanding Google Ads Remarketing and the Google Listings & Ads Plugin

If you've been contacted by Google Ads support asking about remarketing tags on your site, you're not alone. This is a common point of confusion for store owners using the Google Listings & Ads plugin for WooCommerce. This article will clarify what the plugin does and does not do regarding remarketing, helping you understand the source of those tags.

The Core Question: Does the Plugin Create Remarketing Tags?

Based on community discussions and user experiences, the Google Listings & Ads plugin itself does not create traditional remarketing campaigns or the associated tracking tags used for dynamic ad retargeting.

When Google Ads support mentions "triggers and tags," they are typically referring to the pieces of code (like the Google Ads tag or Google Tag Manager code) that track user behavior on your site to build audiences for remarketing campaigns. The primary function of the Google Listings & Ads plugin is to sync your product catalog and manage Shopping campaigns and free listings, not to implement site-wide remarketing pixels.

Why Might Google Ads Support See Tags on Your Site?

If you haven't placed any remarketing code yourself, but Google Ads support can see it, here are the most likely explanations:

• Another Plugin: Another plugin on your site, such as a dedicated Google Ads, Google Analytics, or marketing tag management plugin, could have added the remarketing code.
• Theme Integration: Sometimes, themes have built-in options to insert tracking codes in the header or footer of your website, which can be easy to overlook.
• Manual Code Snippet: The code may have been added manually by you or a developer in the past via a custom code section in your theme or a plugin like a code snippets manager.

How to Investigate the Source of the Tags

To solve this mystery, follow these steps:

1. Review Your Active Plugins: Deactivate any other Google-related or marketing plugins one by one (on a staging site if possible) and check if the tags disappear. This can help you identify the culprit.
2. Check Your Theme Settings: Look through your active theme's customization options for any fields related to header/footer scripts, Google Ads, Google Analytics, or custom code.
3. Inspect Your Site's Source Code: View the page source of your website (right-click on your homepage and select "View Page Source") and search for terms like "googleads," "gtag," or "googletagmanager." This can help you find the exact code snippet.

Once you've identified the source, you can properly manage or remove the code based on your advertising needs. If you wish to run a remarketing campaign, you will likely need to implement the correct tag yourself, either manually or through a dedicated plugin.

Understanding the distinct roles of different plugins is key to managing your WooCommerce store's marketing effectively. The Google Listings & Ads plugin is a powerful tool for product feeds and Shopping ads, but for standard site-wide remarketing, a separate implementation is required.