Google Shopping

When users search for a specific product, Google displays a widget that shows relevant products from different retailers, priced based on an auction-based CPC model. The most important publicity is the Shopping Ads (PLA). Learn more about Google Shopping in this glossary article.

Google Shopping: prevalence and market share

According to Searchmetrics SERP Features Monitor, about 17% of German searches show a widget advertising a product offer. For mobile search, this figure is almost 13%. In the UK, around 15% of desktop and mobile searches show a retail ad box.

Google purchase history

To better serve users' interest in transactional searches and to counter Amazon's main product search engine, Google has restructured and expanded its shopping service in recent years. The service was originally called Google Froogle and was paid for by retailers until it was rebranded as Google Shopping in 2013. Then it switched to an auction-based advertising model, where retailers can advertise their products through the feed in the Google Merchant Center and various pieces of information, including the maximum price they're willing to pay Google for a user click. The highest bidder will see your item in a Shopping ad.

Google Shopping will be largely free in 2020

In April 2020, Google announced that Google Shopping would be largely free. Beginning in late April 2020, free and organic shopping lists will appear in U.S. search results for the first time, with a global rollout planned for late 2020. Google said this wouldn't mean the end of paid advertising for product listings. The background of this Google pivot is probably Google Shopping's dispute with the European Commission, product comparison portals and competition from Amazon, which is widely used as a search engine.

Google Shopping Review: EU Antitrust Violation and Openness to External CSS

Since Google is responsible for ad management and receives a commission of about 20%, several product comparison sites have sued Google for abusing its dominant position. The European Commission upheld the lawsuit in 2017, fined €2.4 billion and asked Google to offer more competition.

In response, Google has allowed third-party price comparison services (CSS) to bid on retail advertising and, as a market player, is now bidding alongside third-party comparison sites for advertising spaces. By the way, merchants can't advertise on Google Shopping with external CSS, or Google has to intervene. To be approved, the third-party CSS must manage auctions in at least 50 online stores. They use lower CPCs to attract online sellers, meaning their margins are often significantly lower than the 20% commission Google charges for ads.

Since then, the variety has increased. In Searchmetrics Google Shopping 2019, we estimate that Google itself has a 51.1% market share and 35.1% of ads are served by marketing agencies that also provide CSS services and buy on behalf of sellers. Advertise on Google Shopping. According to the research, price and product comparison portals such as Idealo, PriceRunner and RedBrain have an average market share of 13.8% in the UK, Germany and France.

Competition has increased compared to last year. In Searchmetrics Google Shopping 2018, Google accounted for 68% of the Shopping ads served, of which 32% came from external CSS.

What about the quality of this match? New comparison sites, mainly online marketing agencies participating in the Google auction on behalf of retailers, have the largest share of the Google Shopping outdoor advertising market, while typical product/comparison stores have filed complaints against Google Shopping in the EU which have disappeared. a considerably smaller proportion.

Google Shopping ad formats: PLA, Smart Shopping ads and Display ads

A promotional product offer (PLA) contains an image of the product, as well as reviews and information about the retailer and its price. This traditional form of sales ads also includes information about CSS, which posted ads for keyword gardening tools in our example, Google comes first, second and fourth, smarketer and product caster third and fifth:

Currently, there are other forms of commercial advertising that will be briefly listed below.

Google Smart Shopping ads

Google Smart Shopping ads are classic product information ads created as part of a remarketing campaign. These ads appear not only in typical shopping widgets in Google search results, but also on the Google Display Network, YouTube and Gmail. Google also manages the bidding process for these campaigns.

Google Shopping Display Ads

In storefront ads, when users click a standard product information ad in search results, they are not redirected to the store itself. Instead, the ad expands to show products related to the search term. Does it look like this:

The advantage of this shop window advertising is that retailers can use it to advertise multiple products or an entire category of products in their range. This gives users a lot more options before clicking on a specific product and directing them to the store. Here dealers have to pay per click on an ad.

Google Shopping Registration

To create a Google Shopping ad, online retailers must register with the Google Merchant Center or CSS of their choice. As mentioned above, CPC with external CSS can be cheaper than registering an ad with Google.

Merchants then need to set up a product feed and upload it to Merchant Center or CSS. Ad placement on Google Shopping is based on product data accessible through a product feed. This data includes the item name, description, price, brand and ID, product image, URL, inventory quantity, condition, and GTIN or EAN number.

Literal Meanings of Google Shopping

Shopping:

Meanings of Shopping:

Visiting stores or stores to view or research products, especially with the intention of purchasing such products.
Buy products (assortment or catalog, etc.).
To report activity or a person's whereabouts to a government agency.
To prison.
To let Photoshop digitally edit an image or photo.
The process of buying goods or services or finding the right one to buy.
Recently purchased items.
A mix of retail space and other infrastructure and products available for people to buy.