Google has announced that they will transition Google Product Search away from being free for merchants to list their products into a commercial model built on the Product Listing Ads program. The new paid program will simply be called Google Shopping.
What this means is that the free traffic merchants have been getting for nearly a decade through what was called Froogle/Google Base will no longer be free, and essentially turn into a paid comparison shopping engine.
Google Product Search has ranked as the top comparison shopping engine because of its ability to send large quantities of high-converting traffic.
The change of Google Shopping to a paid comparison shopping engine will definitely have major negative consequences to ecommerce merchants.
One Big Change: New Shopping SERPs on the WayGoogle says they are already experimenting with new Shopping SERPs which include bigger images and a sponsored label to indicate that someone is paying to be there. Check it out:
Why The New Google Shopping Sucks for Ecommerce MerchantsThe new Google Shopping creates a rift to PPC management firms and merchants who are accustomed to using Google AdWords – bidding at the keyword level and creating product text ads for certain ad groups. The new Google Shopping will not work like that. Why?Merchants and Agencies will be required to use a merchant’s Google Product Search data feed to submit to the new Google Shopping. Most merchants and PPC agencies don’t have experience with data feeds.Bidding is product based, not keyword based. You can only submit your feed and bid via attributes in the feed in Google’s Product Listing Ads interface.Some small merchants won’t adapt fast enough to take advantage of the program and will lose out on traffic and sales.The potential for more sales is there, but at what cost? The new Google Shopping will require a high level of technical management with the data feed and constant optimization of the product bids in the campaign. This time and money suck will put a strain on merchants.Get a Jump Start [Deadline: August 15]Join the program to get $100 off. Create your first new Google Shopping ad and get 10 percent off your clicks for the rest of the year.
What do you think about the new Google Shopping? Post your thoughts in the comments below.
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