Michael McBride
Founder & CEO, Michael McBride
Michael McBride
Founder & CEO, Michael McBride
In a category like this, performance and compliance are the same project. We made the advertising safer and the data cleaner, and the account got more efficient because of it, not in spite of it.
In a category like this, performance and compliance are the same project. We made the advertising safer and the data cleaner, and the account got more efficient because of it, not in spite of it.
The Challenge
KeraFactor came to Atelier Commerce with Google Ads already running, but without the control a trust-sensitive, claims-regulated category requires.
Compliance risk inside live ads. Because KeraFactor operates in hair loss, scalp, and hair-health concerns, certain direct medical-style claims cannot be used in advertising. During the audit we found risky formulations live inside the account, an exposure on legal, platform-policy, and customer-expectation fronts at once. This had to be fixed before anything else. A weak data foundation. Product data relied too heavily on Google's automatic classification, which threatened Shopping visibility, ad relevance, and Merchant Center health. Browser-side tracking alone was unreliable: cookie restrictions, ad blockers, and bot traffic were distorting the very signals the optimization depended on. Budget going to the wrong places. Low-intent accessories were being advertised to cold audiences, and a separate non-brand Search and Shopping effort was spending at near-zero return. The brief: make the advertising safe and compliant, give Google accurate and structured data, separate brand from acquisition, and concentrate spend on what genuinely drives profitable revenue.
The Challenge
KeraFactor came to Atelier Commerce with Google Ads already running, but without the control a trust-sensitive, claims-regulated category requires.
Compliance risk inside live ads. Because KeraFactor operates in hair loss, scalp, and hair-health concerns, certain direct medical-style claims cannot be used in advertising. During the audit we found risky formulations live inside the account, an exposure on legal, platform-policy, and customer-expectation fronts at once. This had to be fixed before anything else. A weak data foundation. Product data relied too heavily on Google's automatic classification, which threatened Shopping visibility, ad relevance, and Merchant Center health. Browser-side tracking alone was unreliable: cookie restrictions, ad blockers, and bot traffic were distorting the very signals the optimization depended on. Budget going to the wrong places. Low-intent accessories were being advertised to cold audiences, and a separate non-brand Search and Shopping effort was spending at near-zero return. The brief: make the advertising safe and compliant, give Google accurate and structured data, separate brand from acquisition, and concentrate spend on what genuinely drives profitable revenue.
The System
A paid search rebuild, from the feed up.
Compliance first. We removed risky medical-style claims from live ads and replaced them with safer, policy-compliant messaging. Performance did not depend on risky language: after the cleanup, click-through rate roughly doubled. The ads became more engaging while the brand became safer. Product feed rebuilt with Channable. Instead of passing raw Shopify data into Google, we used Channable to clean, structure, categorize, filter, and enrich the feed before Merchant Center. Feed rules improved categorization, and we deliberately excluded low-priority accessories from paid Shopping so budget concentrated on commercial-intent products. Merchant Center optimized for trust. We corrected brand and store information, worked toward the Top Quality Store signal, integrated loyalty value where possible, and ran promotions. Because Merchant Center also powers free listings, this lifted visibility beyond paid clicks. Account restructured around intent. Campaigns were rebuilt by product group and type so budget followed business priority. Brand was separated from acquisition, and a low-return non-brand effort was paused so spend moved to proven performers. Tracking made trustworthy with Littledata. We implemented Littledata for server-side tracking, sending accurate transaction and event data from Shopify into analytics and the ad platforms, reducing the impact of cookie loss, ad blockers, and bot traffic. Cold-audience testing, measured properly. We extended into Demand Gen and YouTube alongside the client's influencer work, applying a proprietary creative-scoring system (Hook Score, Video Score, and relative-performance and data-sufficiency checks) so creative decisions were made on signal, not vanity metrics. One system, connected. The cleaner Channable feed sharpens Shopping and PMax, Littledata's server-side data feeds reporting and optimization, and Merchant Center quality lifts paid and free visibility together. Microsoft Ads (Bing) is queued as the next channel, the validated Google structure replicated onto a lower-competition surface.
The System
A paid search rebuild, from the feed up.
Compliance first. We removed risky medical-style claims from live ads and replaced them with safer, policy-compliant messaging. Performance did not depend on risky language: after the cleanup, click-through rate roughly doubled. The ads became more engaging while the brand became safer. Product feed rebuilt with Channable. Instead of passing raw Shopify data into Google, we used Channable to clean, structure, categorize, filter, and enrich the feed before Merchant Center. Feed rules improved categorization, and we deliberately excluded low-priority accessories from paid Shopping so budget concentrated on commercial-intent products. Merchant Center optimized for trust. We corrected brand and store information, worked toward the Top Quality Store signal, integrated loyalty value where possible, and ran promotions. Because Merchant Center also powers free listings, this lifted visibility beyond paid clicks. Account restructured around intent. Campaigns were rebuilt by product group and type so budget followed business priority. Brand was separated from acquisition, and a low-return non-brand effort was paused so spend moved to proven performers. Tracking made trustworthy with Littledata. We implemented Littledata for server-side tracking, sending accurate transaction and event data from Shopify into analytics and the ad platforms, reducing the impact of cookie loss, ad blockers, and bot traffic. Cold-audience testing, measured properly. We extended into Demand Gen and YouTube alongside the client's influencer work, applying a proprietary creative-scoring system (Hook Score, Video Score, and relative-performance and data-sufficiency checks) so creative decisions were made on signal, not vanity metrics. One system, connected. The cleaner Channable feed sharpens Shopping and PMax, Littledata's server-side data feeds reporting and optimization, and Merchant Center quality lifts paid and free visibility together. Microsoft Ads (Bing) is queued as the next channel, the validated Google structure replicated onto a lower-competition surface.
Latest projects
Moonglow Jewelry: SEO & AEO, One Data Layer, Three Surfaces
We cleaned up a sprawling Shopify Plus catalog and enriched the product data behind it, structured for search engines and answer engines alike. The result: the blue link, the star-rating rich result, a seat in the AI Overview. Same data. Built to be found. Built to be cited.
Moonglow Jewelry: SEO & AEO, One Data Layer, Three Surfaces
We cleaned up a sprawling Shopify Plus catalog and enriched the product data behind it, structured for search engines and answer engines alike. The result: the blue link, the star-rating rich result, a seat in the AI Overview. Same data. Built to be found. Built to be cited.
Alicia Adams Alpaca: A Hundred-plus Colorways For Every Season, Every Channel, and Not A Single Studio Booked
Alicia Adams Alpaca crafts heirloom throws and home pieces earning its place in Architectural Digest, Vogue, and Veranda. Lifestyle photography is the industry's costliest bottleneck. So we built the room instead of renting it. Photorealistic scenes, art-directed like editorial photography. Every color, every season, at a fraction of the cost.
Alicia Adams Alpaca: A Hundred-plus Colorways For Every Season, Every Channel, and Not A Single Studio Booked
Alicia Adams Alpaca crafts heirloom throws and home pieces earning its place in Architectural Digest, Vogue, and Veranda. Lifestyle photography is the industry's costliest bottleneck. So we built the room instead of renting it. Photorealistic scenes, art-directed like editorial photography. Every color, every season, at a fraction of the cost.
Latest projects
Moonglow Jewelry: SEO & AEO, One Data Layer, Three Surfaces
We cleaned up a sprawling Shopify Plus catalog and enriched the product data behind it, structured for search engines and answer engines alike. The result: the blue link, the star-rating rich result, a seat in the AI Overview. Same data. Built to be found. Built to be cited.
Alicia Adams Alpaca: A Hundred-plus Colorways For Every Season, Every Channel, and Not A Single Studio Booked
Alicia Adams Alpaca crafts heirloom throws and home pieces earning its place in Architectural Digest, Vogue, and Veranda. Lifestyle photography is the industry's costliest bottleneck. So we built the room instead of renting it. Photorealistic scenes, art-directed like editorial photography. Every color, every season, at a fraction of the cost.
