Case study 05
Replacing scripts and spreadsheets with an automated product labeling engine
How I turned a manual, script-based workaround used by a fraction of customers into a scalable, rule-driven labeling system — generating $500K MRR within months and pulling in customers from competitors.
$500K↑ MRR
Generated within a few months of launch
0 scripts
No Google Ads scripts or spreadsheet imports required
Enterprise
Unlocked for large accounts that hit script timeout limits
Solo PM
Google Shopping
Custom labels
Budget strategy
Enterprise & agency
The problem
Without product labels, budget allocation is guesswork
In Shopping advertising, there are no keywords to segment by — Google matches search queries to your Merchant Center product data directly. The only lever advertisers have to control budget distribution across their catalogue is campaign structure, driven by product labels.
The strategy is well understood: identify which products give the best returns, allocate the most budget there, and make deliberate decisions about everything else.
Star
Top performers
Best returns, highest ROAS — maximum budget, aggressive bids. These drive the majority of revenue.
Potential
Mid-tier products
Performing but not leading — moderate budget, watch for movement into top tier.
Low
Low performers
Minimal budget — enough to capture demand if performance improves, not enough to drain overall spend.
Suppress
Budget drains
No returns — excluded from campaigns entirely until performance changes.
The market gap
Scripts worked — until they didn't
The industry solution was Google Ads scripts: custom JavaScript that runs against your account, labels products, and exports results to a spreadsheet. For small accounts, this worked. For everyone else:
Script-based approach
- 30-minute timeout — enterprise accounts never finish
- Results exported to spreadsheets for manual import
- Chaotic to manage across multiple client accounts
- Limited rule customisation
- No visibility inside the platform
Smart labeler
- Runs server-side — no timeout constraints
- Results ready to upload directly, no spreadsheet step
- Multi-account management from one place
- Extensive, customisable rule sets with automation
- Full visibility and audit trail inside the platform
Impact
$500K MRR in months — including customers switching from competitors
The product was an immediate market hit. $500K MRR generated within a few months of launch — driven not just by existing customers adopting the tool, but by advertisers actively switching from competitor script-based solutions.
The enterprise unlock was the key differentiator. Advertisers with large catalogues had no viable alternative — scripts simply didn't work at their scale. For them, this wasn't a better version of something they already had. It was the first tool that actually solved the problem.
This became one of the fastest revenue-generating launches in the product portfolio — validating the decision to invest in a proper rule engine rather than incrementally improving the script-based approach.