On May 31, we announced a new initiative to improve our shopping experience over time. We designed this initiative to help shoppers better research purchases, compare different products and their features and prices, and then connect with merchants to make their purchases.
As part of this new initiative, called Google Shopping, we transitioned Google Product Search in the U.S. to a commercial model built on Product Listing Ads. We made this transition because we believe that having a commercial relationship with merchants will lead to better, more up to date product data — which will mean better shopping results for users and in turn, higher quality traffic for merchants.
We completed the transition in the U.S. on October 17 and have seen a great deal of success so far.
Google Shopping — International rollout
With that success in mind, we are pleased to announce that we are rolling out this commercial model for Google Shopping, built on Product Listing Ads, in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Brazil, Australia and Switzerland. We think this will bring the same high-quality shopping experience to people — and positive results to merchants — around the world.
In order to give merchants time to make this transition and optimize their campaigns, we're rolling out the new model gradually, via several steps. The first major change will take place on February 13 2013, when visually cleaner results for shopping queries, including some new commercial formats on Google.com that will display products in a single unit, will replace current search results. These new commercial formats will be labeled as "Sponsored" and appear in the space currently occupied by Adwords ads.
These visually cleaner results for shopping queries will enable shoppers to refine a search by brand or price, and feature larger product images to provide a better sense of a product's attributes. Starting today, we'll begin testing this new format for a small percentage of searches.
The transition to the commercial model will be complete by the end of Q2 2013. We'll also be offering some incentives; details will follow, on this blog and via email, in the coming weeks.
To learn more and get started, merchants can visit
http://support.google.com/adwords/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2456103
Ranking in Google Shopping, when the full transition is complete in the countries listed above, will be based on a combination of relevance and bid price.
A better shopping experience
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.
We look forward to continuing to evolve the experience with the help of our merchant partners, to help people find what they're looking for at lightning speed — and to help businesses of all sizes reach people at the moment of interest, with helpful information.
Posted by Sameer Samat, Vice President of Product Management, Google Shopping
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Deck the halls with tools for shopping
I love shopping for gifts for my family and friends, but it’s not always easy. Fortunately, the Google Shopping team has built several new tools to help you (and me!) get an early and stress-free start on holiday shopping.
Explore products in 360-degree detail on Google Shopping
Having trouble imagining what a toy actually looks like from the online picture? Now, when searching for toys on Google Shopping, you can see 360-degree photos of the products. These interactive images bring the in-store feeling of holding and touching a product to your online browsing.
Look for the “3D” swivel icon on the product image to see the toy in 360-degree view, on HTML5 enabled browsers. We’ve also put together a Holiday Toy Collection featuring this enhanced imagery—explore the collection on this site. 360-degree imagery is coming for other types of products soon.
If you’re a retailer or manufacturer interested in displaying these rich images of your products on Google Shopping, please fill out this form.
Use Shortlists to stay organized and collaborate with friends
New in Google Shopping, Shortlists make it easier to research products and plan purchases with friends and family. Instead of using bookmarked websites and docs containing long lists of URLs, or back-and-forth emails with friends, you can now consolidate all your shopping research in one place. With Shortlists, you can easily:
Create a Shortlist by visiting google.com/shopping/shortlists or clicking the “Add to Shortlist” button as you browse products on Google Shopphng.
Discover great deals and store promotions on Google Shopping
To help you make the most of your holiday budget, Google Shopping now shows discounts or promotions on the products you're viewing. If discounts or promotions are available, you can click on the link and visit the retailer’s site to redeem the offer.
That’s not all...a few more new Google Shopping features
Here are a few of the other tools we’ve created to make your holiday shopping a little easier:
Explore products in 360-degree detail on Google Shopping
Having trouble imagining what a toy actually looks like from the online picture? Now, when searching for toys on Google Shopping, you can see 360-degree photos of the products. These interactive images bring the in-store feeling of holding and touching a product to your online browsing.
Look for the “3D” swivel icon on the product image to see the toy in 360-degree view, on HTML5 enabled browsers. We’ve also put together a Holiday Toy Collection featuring this enhanced imagery—explore the collection on this site. 360-degree imagery is coming for other types of products soon.
If you’re a retailer or manufacturer interested in displaying these rich images of your products on Google Shopping, please fill out this form.
Use Shortlists to stay organized and collaborate with friends
New in Google Shopping, Shortlists make it easier to research products and plan purchases with friends and family. Instead of using bookmarked websites and docs containing long lists of URLs, or back-and-forth emails with friends, you can now consolidate all your shopping research in one place. With Shortlists, you can easily:
- Keep track of products you like from Google Shopping and across the web
- View product photos, prices and specs side by side
- Share your Shortlist with friends, who can add their own ideas
Create a Shortlist by visiting google.com/shopping/shortlists or clicking the “Add to Shortlist” button as you browse products on Google Shopphng.
Discover great deals and store promotions on Google Shopping
To help you make the most of your holiday budget, Google Shopping now shows discounts or promotions on the products you're viewing. If discounts or promotions are available, you can click on the link and visit the retailer’s site to redeem the offer.
That’s not all...a few more new Google Shopping features
Here are a few of the other tools we’ve created to make your holiday shopping a little easier:
- Not sure you’ve found the perfect gift? Read reviews from people you know and write your own product reviews on Google Shopping.
- Found an item that’s almost perfect but not quite? Now you can view “visually similar” results for even more types of products and categories, including jewelry, coats, handbags and more.
- Buying an important gift? Look for the Google Trusted Store logo as you shop. It indicates a store ships quickly and delivers excellent customer service.
- Shopping on the go? Browse for gift ideas, find local sales and research products with the new and improved Google Shopper 3.0, currently available for Android.
- Still need some inspiration? Browse holiday catalogs from the top retailers directly on Google Shopping.
Monday, November 12, 2012
See more relevant reviews and share feedback with your friends on Google Shopping
Reading product reviews has become an important part of how people research products and decide what to buy; in fact, last holiday season, 67% of shoppers read product reviews before making a purchase. This means that it’s more important than ever to give users the ability to quickly find the reviews they trust the most -- those from friends and family.
So today, we’re announcing two new Google Shopping features that help savvy shoppers better find the reviews that will best help them make shopping decisions. The first feature lets you see if a product you’re looking for has been reviewed by someone you know. The second enables you to write product reviews on Google Shopping, to help friends and other Google users make smart purchases.
Read reviews from people you know
Now you can easily see if someone you've connected with on Google has reviewed a product that is in your Google Shopping search results.
So today, we’re announcing two new Google Shopping features that help savvy shoppers better find the reviews that will best help them make shopping decisions. The first feature lets you see if a product you’re looking for has been reviewed by someone you know. The second enables you to write product reviews on Google Shopping, to help friends and other Google users make smart purchases.
Read reviews from people you know
Now you can easily see if someone you've connected with on Google has reviewed a product that is in your Google Shopping search results.
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| See reviews from people you know in your Google Shopping search results |
When you click on a particular product and scroll down to the ‘Reviews’ section, reviews from your friends and contacts will appear at the top of the list.
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| Reviews from friends and contacts appear at the top of the "Reviews" section |
Share your own reviews
We’ve also made it easy to write your own product reviews on Google Shopping. To write a review, login with your Google+ account, click on the product you’d like to review, then click the ‘write a review’ button at the top of the page.
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| Click 'Write a review' when viewing a product on Google Shopping |
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| Rate the product, write your feedback, and click 'Publish' |
Once you submit your review, it will be publicly available to anyone who views that product on Google Shopping. You can also choose to post your review to your Google+ stream.
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| You can choose to share your review in your Google+ stream |
And, of course, when people who are connected to you search for or click on that product, your review will be highlighted.
Happy Shopping!
Posted by Karen Corby, Product Manager, Google Shopping
Friday, November 9, 2012
Google Shopper 3.0 - New features to help with your holiday shopping
As you hit the mall this holiday season, chances are you’ll be accompanied by a reliable personal shopping companion: your mobile phone. Four out of five mobile phone and tablet owners plan to use their device for holiday shopping - for comparing prices, locating nearby stores, and searching for coupons. Today, with the launch of Google Shopper 3.0 for Android, you can easily browse for gift ideas, research products, and locate great deals on the go.
Search for products and get gift ideas on the redesigned home page
The app’s redesigned home screen features a bigger search box for easier navigation. When you browse curated gift ideas and latest trends on the home page or search for apparel and accessories, larger photos let you view product designs in more detail.
Search for products and get gift ideas on the redesigned home page
The app’s redesigned home screen features a bigger search box for easier navigation. When you browse curated gift ideas and latest trends on the home page or search for apparel and accessories, larger photos let you view product designs in more detail.
Find great sales and special offers with Google Shopper
Shopper now makes it quick and easy to find great deals at local and online stores. From the new Sales page, you can view weekly circulars from nearby stores, along with a handful of featured current promotions which you can redeem online or in person. Shopper also shows you store promotions, such as ‘30% off’ or ‘free shipping’, as you search for products in the app.
Shopper now makes it quick and easy to find great deals at local and online stores. From the new Sales page, you can view weekly circulars from nearby stores, along with a handful of featured current promotions which you can redeem online or in person. Shopper also shows you store promotions, such as ‘30% off’ or ‘free shipping’, as you search for products in the app.
Find great deals on the new Sales screen and as you search for products
Use GoodGuide rating to Identify healthy, safe, and eco-friendly products
Whether you shop with a conscience or would like a reason to start, Shopper now features GoodGuide ratings, a rating system that indicates on a scale of one to ten whether a product is healthy, safe and environmentally friendly. When GoodGuide ratings are available for a product, you can view these by scrolling down the product detail screen, as shown below. You can learn more about the GoodGuide rating system here.
Whether you shop with a conscience or would like a reason to start, Shopper now features GoodGuide ratings, a rating system that indicates on a scale of one to ten whether a product is healthy, safe and environmentally friendly. When GoodGuide ratings are available for a product, you can view these by scrolling down the product detail screen, as shown below. You can learn more about the GoodGuide rating system here.
GoodGuide product ratings
You can download Shopper 3.0 for your Android device from Google Play.
Posted by John Shriver-Blake, Product Manager, Google Shopper
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Save time when purchasing things on your phone with Google Wallet
Making purchases on your mobile phone can be a lot easier. Starting today, on sites that accept Google Wallet, you don’t need to enter your credit or debit card number, billing address or other payment information — it’s already securely stored in your Google Wallet.
Typically, on mobile websites, you need to key in 17-20 fields of information on a small screen while having to click and scroll through multiple pages to provide shipping and billing information. It’s no wonder up to 97% of mobile shoppers abandon their mobile shopping carts. Google Wallet makes it easy and secure for you. Simply click the Buy with Google Wallet button, log into Google Wallet and click to complete your order. That’s it — you’re done in 3 steps.
With Google Wallet, you can buy flowers and gifts at 1-800-Flowers.com quickly and easily on your mobile phone. You can also use Google Wallet to buy on Rockport.com and FiveGuys.com (at select locations).
With Google Wallet you can:
Limited time — Save money at 1-800-Flowers.com and Rockport.com
Not only does Google Wallet save you time, it can also save you money. For a limited time, buy with Google Wallet on your mobile device and get $10 off at 1-800-Flowers.com and $20 off at Rockport.com (some restrictions apply).
We are working with a number of other exciting retailers to integrate Google Wallet on their mobile sites, including Finish Line, MovieTickets.com, Seamless, SwimOutlet.com and more, so stay tuned for more announcements.
Posted by Barak Turovsky, Head of Mobile Commerce, Google Wallet
Typically, on mobile websites, you need to key in 17-20 fields of information on a small screen while having to click and scroll through multiple pages to provide shipping and billing information. It’s no wonder up to 97% of mobile shoppers abandon their mobile shopping carts. Google Wallet makes it easy and secure for you. Simply click the Buy with Google Wallet button, log into Google Wallet and click to complete your order. That’s it — you’re done in 3 steps.
With Google Wallet, you can buy flowers and gifts at 1-800-Flowers.com quickly and easily on your mobile phone. You can also use Google Wallet to buy on Rockport.com and FiveGuys.com (at select locations).
With Google Wallet you can:
- Pay without entering your credit or debit card number, billing address, or other payment information — it’s already securely stored in your Google Wallet.
- View your credit and debit cards, shipping addresses and transaction history conveniently in one place at wallet.google.com/manage.
- Set a default card for future purchases on your Google Wallet account, making future transactions even faster.
- Shop with confidence as all your payment and related information is encrypted and stored on secure servers and not shared with anyone.
Limited time — Save money at 1-800-Flowers.com and Rockport.com
Not only does Google Wallet save you time, it can also save you money. For a limited time, buy with Google Wallet on your mobile device and get $10 off at 1-800-Flowers.com and $20 off at Rockport.com (some restrictions apply).
We are working with a number of other exciting retailers to integrate Google Wallet on their mobile sites, including Finish Line, MovieTickets.com, Seamless, SwimOutlet.com and more, so stay tuned for more announcements.
Posted by Barak Turovsky, Head of Mobile Commerce, Google Wallet
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Showcase your promotions and get your customers’ attention
Shoppers are savvier than ever. They use social recommendations, web searches and smartphone apps to make informed purchase decisions. So how can a retailer stand out and get a shopper’s attention?
Today, we're rolling out a new way for retailers to reach shoppers at the moment of interest. Retailers can now add promotions to their product listings on Google Shopping to make them stand out. In addition, they can distribute their promotions on other Google properties such as Google Maps for Android and the Google Offers app, and attract shoppers to their store.
In a few simple steps retailers can create a promotions list, map it to the right products in Google Shopping and upload to Google Merchant Center. Our system supports user specific redemption codes and associated reporting, enabling retailers to measure the performance of each promotion.
This is one of the many steps we’re taking to provide traffic, technology and tools to help retailers grow their business. Over 25 well-known U.S. retailers, including 1-800-flowers.com, OfficeMax®, Inc., Tommy Hilfiger, Express, Chico’s, Overstock, Guitar Center, Drugstore.com and Wayfair, are already part of this program. In the coming months, we plan to expand the program to include more retailers. If you are interested in featuring your promotions on Google properties, you can learn more here.
Posted by Nitin Mangtani, Group Product Manager, Google Offers and Michaela Feller, Product Manager, Google Shopping
Today, we're rolling out a new way for retailers to reach shoppers at the moment of interest. Retailers can now add promotions to their product listings on Google Shopping to make them stand out. In addition, they can distribute their promotions on other Google properties such as Google Maps for Android and the Google Offers app, and attract shoppers to their store.
Promotions are highlighted in product listings on Google Shopping
In a few simple steps retailers can create a promotions list, map it to the right products in Google Shopping and upload to Google Merchant Center. Our system supports user specific redemption codes and associated reporting, enabling retailers to measure the performance of each promotion.
Shoppers can see nearby promotions while searching in Google Maps for Android
This is one of the many steps we’re taking to provide traffic, technology and tools to help retailers grow their business. Over 25 well-known U.S. retailers, including 1-800-flowers.com, OfficeMax®, Inc., Tommy Hilfiger, Express, Chico’s, Overstock, Guitar Center, Drugstore.com and Wayfair, are already part of this program. In the coming months, we plan to expand the program to include more retailers. If you are interested in featuring your promotions on Google properties, you can learn more here.
Posted by Nitin Mangtani, Group Product Manager, Google Offers and Michaela Feller, Product Manager, Google Shopping
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
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