Custom Labels and Internal Label: Guide for Smarter Ad Campaigns

In today’s competitive digital landscape, success isn’t just about having the right products — it’s about putting those products in front of the right people at the right time. That’s where custom labels come in.

Custom labels and internal label may look like small technical details inside a product feed, but in reality, they act like secret signposts guiding your ads. Whether you’re running Google Ads campaigns, scaling Meta ads and TikTok Ads, optimizing for Criteo and RTB House, or building audiences on Pinterest, labels can transform a chaotic product catalog into a well-orchestrated strategy.

In this article, we’ll explore what custom and internal labels are, why they matter, and how you can use them to unlock smarter targeting, tighter budget control, and higher returns across multiple platforms.

What are Custom Labels? (Across Platforms)

At their core, custom labels are user-defined fields in your product feed. They don’t show up on your website, and customers will never see them. Instead, they live behind the scenes, giving advertisers the flexibility to tag products with attributes that matter most to their business.

Think of them as sticky notes you attach to your products — invisible to shoppers, but invaluable to you. While a standard feed attribute might tell an ad platform the brand, price, or availability of an item, a custom label tells your marketing system how you want that item to be treated.

• In Google Ads, advertisers get five slots (custom_label_0 through custom_label_4) to tag products.

• On Meta (Facebook & Instagram), custom labels and internal label work in a similar way, helping you organize products inside dynamic ads.

• On TikTok Ads, you can use five custom labels to tag the products similar to Google Ads and Meta Ads.

• Criteo allows custom attributes for grouping and segmenting product sets, improving retargeting efficiency.

• On Pinterest, custom labels can refine Product Groups, allowing granular control over how ads are targeted.

What makes them powerful is their flexibility. You decide what each label represents — from “high margin” to “seasonal,” “clearance,” or even “bestseller.” That freedom lets you create campaign structures that reflect your business priorities, not just the rigid data already in your catalog.

What is Internal Label? (Facebook/Instagram Specific)

While custom labels are available across multiple platforms, internal label is unique to Meta’s advertising ecosystem (Facebook and Instagram). They serve the same purpose as custom labels — helping you segment and organize your products — but with one big difference: they never go through Meta’s policy review process.

That makes them incredibly agile. Think of internal label as your private notes inside Meta’s catalog manager. They’re invisible to customers, invisible to the ad system’s compliance checks, and entirely under your control.

Here’s why advertisers use them:

• Speed: Internal label can be updated instantly, without waiting for approval.

• Flexibility: You can tag products with campaign-specific notes like “Valentine2025,” “Clearance,” or “TestGroupA.”

Precision: They make it easier to build custom product sets for different campaigns or A/B testing.

Benefits of Using Custom Labels & Internal Label

Custom labels may look like small details in your product feed, but their impact on campaign performance is anything but small. Whether you’re advertising on Google Ads, Meta, TikTok, Yandex, Bing, Criteo, RTB House or Pinterest, labels act as your control levers — giving you the ability to shape campaigns around what matters most to your business.

Here are the key benefits:

Smarter Campaign Segmentation

Instead of lumping thousands of products into one broad campaign, labels let you create granular product groups. This means your “Winter Jackets” can be managed separately from “Summer T-Shirts,” even if both come from the same feed.

Better Budget Allocation

Not all products deserve the same ad spend. With labels, you can shift budget toward high-margin, high-performing, or seasonal products while reducing spend on underperformers.

Precision Bidding & Optimization

Labels allow you to fine-tune bids based on product attributes. For example: increase bids for “Bestsellers,” lower them for “Clearance” items, or test different bidding strategies for different price buckets.

Easier Performance Analysis

When campaigns are segmented by labels, reporting becomes much more actionable. You don’t just see “how your store performed” — you see how each segment performed: which collections, price ranges, or promotions are really driving ROI.

Agility for Seasonal & Promotional Campaigns

Want to launch a Valentine’s Day, Back to School, or Black Friday campaign? Labels allow you to quickly group the right products, spin up new ad sets, and capture seasonal demand without restructuring your entire feed.

Cross-Platform Consistency

By using a similar label framework across advertising platforms, you ensure consistent segmentation everywhere. This means you can run parallel strategies on multiple platforms without reinventing the wheel each time.

Platform-Specific Custom Label Strategies

The real power of labels comes to life when you apply them strategically within each advertising platform. While the concept is the same — adding hidden attributes to your feed — the way you use them can (and should) differ depending on whether you’re running Google campaigns, Meta ads, Criteo retargeting, or Pinterest product groups.

Google Ads

Google Merchant Center gives you five custom label slots (custom_label_0 through custom_label_4). Successful advertisers use these slots to build campaign structures that mirror business priorities.

Example strategies:

• Performance segmentation: Label products as “Bestseller” or “Low Performer” to guide bidding strategies.

• Price buckets: Divide products into ranges (e.g., “$0–50,” “$50–100”) for more precise targeting.

• Promotion-based labels: Mark products as “Black Friday Deals” or “Clearance” to push seasonal campaigns.

• Stock levels: Flag “Low Stock” products to create urgency or exclude them from campaigns.

Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram)

Meta supports both custom labels and internal label. Together, they give advertisers powerful flexibility for dynamic ads.

Example strategies:

• Seasonal campaigns: Tag items with “Summer Collection” or “Valentine2025” for quick campaign launches.

• A/B testing: Use internal labels like “TestGroupA” and “TestGroupB” to split product sets for experimentation.

• Fulfillment tags: Highlight items with “Free Shipping” or “2-Day Delivery.”

• Margin segmentation: Boost exposure for “High Margin” items while lowering spend on less profitable ones.

Criteo Ads

Criteo thrives on personalization and retargeting. Custom labels allow you to push the right products to the right users in remarketing campaigns.

Example strategies:

• Product performance segmentation: Label “Viewed but not purchased” products to retarget interested shoppers.

• Promotion tags: Use labels like “Discounted” or “New Arrival” for dynamic creative optimization.

• High-value products: Prioritize “Premium Items” for audiences with higher purchase intent.

Pinterest

Pinterest ads revolve around Product Groups, and custom labels make those groups more powerful.

Example strategies:

• Occasion-based: Tag “Back to School” or “Holiday 2025” products for seasonal inspiration boards.

• Lifestyle curation: Group items under labels like “Work From Home Essentials” or “Wedding Must-Haves.”

• Performance tiers: Use “Bestseller” or “Clearance” to control which items get promoted.

Cross-Platform Common Strategies

Across all platforms, advertisers often rely on the following label categories:

• Performance: Bestsellers, low performers, trending products

• Margin/Profitability: High vs. low margin products

• Promotion/Discount: Sale, clearance, special offer

• Seasonal/Occasion: Black Friday, Summer, Valentine’s Day

• Price Buckets: Low, mid, and high-price ranges

• Fulfillment/Shipping: Free shipping, express delivery

Step-by-Step: Setting Up Custom Labels

A good label system is part taxonomy, part automation. Below you’ll find crisp, platform-by-platform steps plus a few guardrails so your setup scales cleanly.

Before You Start (Label Taxonomy & Guardrails)

• Decide your 5 buckets: e.g., Performance, Margin, Season, Promotion, PriceRange.

• Name consistently: prefer short values like Bestseller, HighMargin, BF2025, Clearance, 0-50.

• One meaning per slot: don’t put season + margin in the same custom_label_0.

• Keep a map: a simple sheet that lists slot → meaning → allowed values saves headaches later.

💡 Feed optimization tools like Optifeed make this stage far easier by letting you build rules once and apply them dynamically across thousands of products. Instead of editing feeds manually, you can set up conditions like “IF price > 1000 THEN custom_label_1 = Price > 1000” and let the tool handle it automatically.

Google Ads

1. Choose the strategy (what each slot means).

2. Add columns to your feed (CSV/XML/API): custom_label_0, custom_label_1 ,custom_label_2 ,custom_label_3 , custom_label_4.

CSV example (minimal):

3. (Optional) Use Feed Rules in Optifeed to set labels by conditions

• IF brand = "Acme" AND price > 100 → set custom_label_1 = "100-200".

• ⚡ With feed optimization tools like Optifeed, this process becomes dynamic: when prices or stock change, labels update automatically without you touching the file.

4. Upload / fetch your feed and check Diagnostics for errors or empty values.

5. Build structure in Google Ads:

• Standard Shopping or PMax → create Listing Groups filtered by your labels (e.g., custom_label_0 = Bestseller).

• Dynamic Search Ads or PMax with Page Feed → Create a page feed to use with your Search or PMax campaign, allowing you to dynamically target people who search for keywords related to the URLs in your feed.

6. Report & iterate: use product/label views to tune bids and budgets per segment.

Meta (Facebook/Instagram) — Custom Labels and Internal Label

1. Agree on the slot meanings (mirroring Google helps with cross-platform consistency).

2. Add custom_label_0..4 to your catalog feed (CSV/TSV/XML/API) or map them via Data Feed Rules in Commerce/Catalog Manager.

3. Create Product Sets filtered by those labels (e.g., custom_label_0 = SummerCollection or internal_label = discounted_products).

4. Use in Dynamic Ads: target or exclude sets, vary budgets/creatives per label.

💡 Again, Optifeed shine here: you can set automated rules like “IF discount > 20% THEN custom_label_2 = Clearance.” Every time the discount changes in your e-commerce backend, the label updates instantly in Meta.

Criteo

1. Define the attributes you’ll pass for segmentation (align with your 5-slot taxonomy if possible).

2. Extend your feed with one or more custom fields (e.g., custom_label_0..4 or tool-specific custom attributes).

3. Map fields in your feed tool / Criteo setup so they’re available for Product Set rules and bidding strategies.

4. QA in Criteo (or your feed platform) to ensure values are populated and usable in campaign filters.

Tip: If you already run Google/Meta labels, mirror the same values in Criteo so reporting & optimization logic stays uniform. With feed optimization tools, one set of rules can update all three platforms simultaneously.

Pinterest (Catalogs + Product Groups)

1. Add custom_label_0..4 to the Pinterest catalog feed (or compute via rules in your feed optimization tool).

2. Upload / schedule fetch and check Catalogs → Data sources → Diagnostics.

3. Create Product Groups using label filters (e.g., custom_label_2 = Clearance).

4. Activate in Shopping campaigns and tailor bids/creative by group.

QA & Ongoing Maintenance

• Spot-check coverage: avoid empty label slots for key categories (e.g., at least 90% products labeled for Season during peak).

• Rotate seasonals: archive or replace values like BF2025 to prevent stale targeting.

• Version control: when changing logic, note the date & reason in your taxonomy sheet.

• Measure impact: track ROAS/CVR by label segment to promote/demote groups quickly.

⚡ Optifeed in Action

Instead of manually tagging products, Optifeed allows you to set smart rules once and let automation do the rest. For example:

• Rule: IF Add-to-Cart rate (last 7 days) > 5% THEN custom_label_3 = HotProduct

• Result: Any product gaining traction automatically gets labeled as HotProduct.

• Campaign Impact: Those products can be prioritized with higher bids across advertising platforms without you ever touching the feed again.

This kind of dynamic labeling is what turns a static feed into a living, self-optimizing system — and it’s the key to scaling campaigns efficiently.

Contact us today: https://www.optifeed.com/contact

Advanced Tactics & Pro Tips with Custom Labels and Internal Label

Once you’ve mastered the basics of custom and internal labels, the next step is using them as dynamic levers for optimization. Labels don’t need to be static tags — with the right setup, they can evolve in real time, reflecting performance, seasonality, and business goals.

Dynamic Labeling with Performance Data

Don’t just label based on product attributes like price or category. Use performance signals such as:

• ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): IF ROAS > 4 THEN custom_label_0 = “HighROAS”

• Conversion Rate: IF CVR > 3% THEN custom_label_1 = “TopPerformer”

• Click-Through Rate: Highlight products with unusually high engagement.

💡 Pro Tip: Pair your labels with GA4 metrics (views, add-to-cart, purchases) to create labels that reflect actual customer behavior. Use for this Optifeed. :)

Automating Labels via Optifeed

Manually updating thousands of products is impossible. Feed optimization platforms like Optifeed let you:

• Build rules once and apply them across advertising platforms

• Automatically refresh labels when product attributes (price, stock, discount) change.

• Create advanced triggers such as:

• IF stock < 10 THEN label = “LowStock”

• IF discount > 30% THEN label = “Clearance”

• IF Cart-to-view rate ↑ over 7 days THEN label = “TrendingNow”

💡 Pro Tip: Always keep one label slot free for short-term campaigns (e.g., flash sales). It keeps your structure flexible without breaking the taxonomy.

Cross-Platform Label Consistency

Running multi-channel campaigns? Align your label taxonomy across platforms. Example:

• Google → custom_label_0 = HighMargin

• Meta → custom_label_0 = HighMargin + Internal label for “Valentine2025”

• Pinterest → custom_label_0 = HighMargin inside Product Groups

• Criteo → Map the same attribute for retargeting sets

💡 Pro Tip: Build a master label taxonomy spreadsheet and enforce it across all ad platforms. Consistency reduces errors and simplifies reporting.

Seasonal & Event-Driven Campaigns

Internal labels on Meta and dynamic custom labels across platforms allow you to launch seasonal promos with a flip of a switch.

• Example: IF date = November AND product_type starts with “Electronics” THEN custom_label = BlackFriday

• Result: All electronics automatically join your Black Friday campaign without re-uploading feeds.

💡 Pro Tip: Schedule seasonal labels in advance with automated rules so you never miss key retail events.

Advanced A/B Testing with Internal Labels (Meta)

Internal labels are perfect for test-and-learn campaigns.

• Group A = Internal Label: TestGroupA

• Group B = Internal Label: TestGroupB
  Run the same creative with different targeting or pricing logic, then optimize based on which set performs better.

💡 Pro Tip: Use consistent naming like “TestA_2025” to track tests historically. This makes post-campaign analysis easier.

Quick Example

• Rule (Optifeed): IF product views ↑ 50% in last 7 days AND conversion rate < 1% THEN label = “HighInterestLowConv”

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even though custom labels and internal label are simple to set up, many advertisers make mistakes that reduce their effectiveness. Here are the pitfalls to watch out for:

Over-Labeling Products

Too many labels = chaos. If every product gets a unique label, the structure becomes unmanageable, and the data loses meaning.

Inconsistent Naming Conventions

Mixing formats like “bestseller,” “Best Seller,” “Best-Sellers” leads to confusion and misreporting.

Forgetting to Rotate Seasonal Labels

Labels like “BlackFriday2025” or “SummerSale2025” often get left in feeds long after the campaign ends, muddying reports.

Using Labels for Everything

Not every segmentation belongs in a label. If a product already has attributes like brand, category, or size, don’t duplicate them as labels.

Confusing Custom vs. Internal Labels (on Meta)

A common trap is trying to use custom labels for quick seasonal tests on Meta. Internal labels are better suited since they bypass review delays.

Ignoring Data-Driven Labeling

Relying only on static attributes (price, category) means you miss dynamic opportunities.

💡 Pro Tip: Tie labels to performance data — e.g., IF ROAS > 4 THEN HighROAS. This makes campaigns adaptive, not static.

✅ Do’s & ❌ Don’ts of Custom Label Management

Conclusion

Custom labels and internal label may look like small technical details, but in reality, they’re the quiet architects of powerful campaigns. By tagging products with smart, strategic labels, you transform a static product catalog into a dynamic growth engine.

• For beginners, labels are the easiest way to bring structure and focus into large product sets.

• For advanced marketers, they unlock automation, dynamic optimization, and cross-platform consistency at scale.

The key is simple: start small, stay consistent, and keep optimizing. Labels are not a “set it and forget it” tactic — they’re a living framework that grows alongside your campaigns.

👉 Start experimenting with labels today across advertising platforms. The sooner you build a clean label strategy, the faster you’ll see sharper insights, smarter spending, and stronger results.

⚡ Optifeed makes this process effortless — by dynamically assigning labels based on performance, seasonality, or custom rules, it turns complex feed management into a scalable strategy. With Optifeed, you don’t just keep up with your campaigns — you stay ahead.