Google Product Search Transitions To Google Shopping

Google Announced on May 31st, 2012 that over the next several months they will be overhauling Google Product Search into a pay-per-click (PPC) environment, and will rebrand this product as Google Shopping. Google Shopping will rely heavily on the Google AdWords Product Listing Ad format which VersaFeed has supported for over a year (Google PLA's, Google AdWords Product Listing Ads, Product Listing Ads: Google AdWords Done Right).

Google's official announcements:

• http://googlecommerce.blogspot.com/2012/05/building-better-shopping-experience.html
• http://www.google.com/ads/shopping/index.html

With change comes opportunity, and this event will be no different. Most retailers are not going to be ready for this; you will be. Retailers could very well find themselves with significantly reduced competition when and if Google deploys these changes.

Retailers have between 1-3 months to prepare themselves for this change (and possibly longer if history repeats itself). During this time retailers should:

• Install Google Analytics and verify that the ecommerce (revenue) tracking section is working
• Create a Google AdWords account and signup for VersaFeed Product Listing Ads (if you are a VersaFeed client, contact your account rep to get started)

VersaFeed already has a solid software base built around Google Product Listing Ads (the new PPC format), and we'll be adding to it heavily over the next 60 days. Should Google force a 100% PPC environment, we'll ensure your products are bid appropriately: high revenue items bid up, and low revenue items bid down or removed.

Lastly, our advice is to watch these Google transitions with some skepticism. Google has made "major" changes in the past to feed requirements and layout, and it has usually not made all that much difference in the long run (although this could be different). In addition, Google's announced deployment schedules are often very optimistic, with the actual deployments/requirements occurring significantly after the projected date. Nobody knows exactly what these changes will bring, but VersaFeed will be watching the situation closely.

VF Team