Starting August 24th, 2026, Google will update Merchant Center performance reports to enhance clarity and consistency across Google platforms.
This update aims to unify reporting definitions between Merchant Center, Google Ads, and YouTube, providing a more comprehensive view of product performance.
Key changes include:
- Separation of YouTube affiliate results from organic traffic, allowing creators to earn commissions from featured products. A new traffic value, “YouTube affiliate,” will be reported distinctly. This may lead to a one-time drop in organic traffic but will clarify free listing performance.
- Updated definitions of YouTube organic traffic will align reporting standards, potentially affecting organic click and impression metrics.
- Expanded product-level reporting for Google Ads, now encompassing all ads channels and formats to give a centralized product performance overview, including metrics from Performance Max campaigns.
- Future segmentation capabilities for performance analytics will introduce a new “Network” dimension for better efficiency analysis across channels.
Both the separation of YouTube affiliate results and updated YouTube organic definitions will also affect historical data starting from July 1st, 2026.
Visit the official help page: Merchant Center performance reporting updates.