Google Product Search (Shopping) is No Longer a Free Service!

As of May 31, 2012, the Google Products Search will no longer be free. According to an email from a Google representative, he says that they are launching an initiative to create a better shopping experience on Google. As a first step, they are testing new formats on Google.com that make it easier for people to find products. Over the next few months, they’re transitioning from a free model to a commercial model, based on product listing ads, that they’re calling Google Shopping.

Starting May 31st, Google Shopping will gradually begin go into effect with the following changes:

• Better shopping experience on Google. To improve the shopping experience on Google, we will gradually introduce visually cleaner results for shopping queries, where Product Listing Ads and Product Search will be integrated and displayed in a single unit above the search results, and labeled as “Sponsored”. We expect to be fully transitioned to this new experience this summer.
• Over the next few months, we will be transitioning to a paid model based on Product Listing Ads. Similarly to the changes in Google.com, we’ll gradually begin transitioning Product Search to a fully commercial model. Starting May 31st, ranking for products featured in Product Search will gradually begin taking bid into account, marking the beginning of the transition to Google Shopping. Items that currently display for free may still appear in Google Shopping until October 30th, which is when the transition to Google Shopping should be fully completed. From that moment on, only paid Product Listing Ads will display in Google Shopping.

If your PPC campaign is already using Product Listing Ads, you are well prepared for the transition, and your products will show more prominently on Google Shopping as they move to a fully paid model.

They recommend you create an “All Products” Product Target to ensure you are promoting all the products in your feed, bid competitively, and continuously optimize your product feed to ensure high quality, and error free product feeds.

To learn how seo4anyone can help you with this transition in your PPC Management, contact us for a free evaluation.