Google announced today that Google Product Listing ads will replace Google Product Search in the UK and around the world staring on the 13th February 2013.
In the US, Google completed the transition from the free Google Product Search to the commercial for Google Product Listing ads on the 17th October. Now the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Brazil, Australia and Switzerland will all be migrated to the paid for model of advertising products on Google.
Time Line
In order to give merchants time to make this transition and optimize their campaigns Google will be rolling out the new model in several steps. The first major change will take place on the 13th February 2013, when visually cleaner results for shopping queries, including some new commercial formats on Google will replace current search results. These new commercial formats will be labeled as “Sponsored” and appear in the space currently occupied by Adwords ads
The transition to the commercial model will be complete by the end of Q2 2013.
ChannelAdvisor Support
ChannelAdvisor quickly announced their expanded support for Google Shopping in EMEA, their dynamic Google Shopping feature was launched on the heels of Google’s announcement today.
ChannelAdvisor has supported Product Listing Ads since its inception and also supports Google Shopping. In light of Google’s changes, ChannelAdvisor has developed additional capabilities and features that will set a new standard for product-driven advertising. This tried and tested feature has already been helping customers in the US manage their Product Listing Ads since September of this year, following on from Google’s changes in that region.
Find out more about Google Product Listing Ads
You can find our more about Google Product Listing ads from the Google help pages. They will be managed through Google Merchant Center alongside your AdWords campaigns.
ChannelAdvisor are also running a free webinar on Tuesday, 20th of November at 4:00pm. You’ll need to register in advance to reserve a place, and you can also submit any questions you have in advance by email or on twitter @ChannelAdvisor.
Why it’s good for you to pay for what once was free!
Google say that these changes will create a better shopping experience that will benefit both shoppers and merchants. Shoppers will find products in one convenient place and quickly be able to compare features, find the best prices, read reviews, and identify great merchants — while advertisers will be given more granular control over product listings and traffic.
Why it’s good for Google
There’s no question that mobile internet usage is rising rapidly and when you’re searching on Google on a mobile you simply don’t see that list of 10 Google AdWords ads that you do on a desktop browser. Some 96% of Google’s revenues come from paid advertising and that’s a big chunk of revenue to lose on mobile.
By changing to Product Listing Ads instead of free Google Product Search, Google can start to monetise traffic from shoppers looking to purchase. If you want your products to be seen then you’re going to have to start paying for the traffic. Google Product Search has for years been the best Shopping Comparison engine out there, and it was free. It will still be worth using, but you’ll want to get smarter about managing it now that you have to pay for the service.
3 Responses
Will this mean that eBay and amazon feature less in the listings? We definitely seen amazon become a larger part of our business but without any overall increase in sales.
I don’t think there’s much left for Google to monetise.
(But I’m sure they’ll find something)