Google has announced a shopping integration with e-commerce platform PrestaShop, the company announced Thursday. The integration is available now via the “PrestaShop Marketing with Google” add-on, available in France and in countries where Shopping campaigns are available.
Why we care
This new integration gives PrestaShop’s 300,000 merchants an easy way to make their product listings more discoverable across Google properties, such as Search, the Shopping tab, Image search and YouTube.
Making it easier for retailers who may not be working with an agency to show their products on Google strengthens the search engine as an e-commerce destination, which will help it compete against other e-commerce platforms and may also help it attract more retail advertisers.
Google Merchant Center is now automatically showing retailers when their products are eligible for badges, a Google spokesperson has confirmed to Search Engine Land. Available badges include, but are not limited to, the “sale price,” “price drop,” “amount off,” “percent off,” and “buy quantity, get percent off” badges.
Tip of the hat to Kirk Williams, who first posted about this new feature.
Image: Kirk Williams.
Why we care
Badging isn’t new. However, the column showing which badge your products are appearing with is new and it can help merchants understand how potential customers are seeing their ads, without needing to manually figure it out for themselves. This can help retailers identify the types of promotions that are (or aren’t) working out for their business.
Google has published its annual Shopping Holiday 100, a list of the top 100 consumer products that are predicted to trend the most on Google in the U.S. this holiday season. The predictions are based on the last several months of query data and are bucketed into seven categories: gaming, health & beauty, fragrances, kitchen gear, sports & fitness, tech and toys & games.
The top three products in the kitchen gear category. Image: Google.
Why we care
Knowing which products are going to be most sought out by consumers is always crucial for retailers, but this holiday season, it’s even more important due to challenges stemming from the pandemic: Consumers are shopping online more than ever, while supply chain delays impact inventory and prices.
If you’re selling some of these trending products, you might want to evaluate your inventory with respect to the heightened demand — more than one-third of U.S. shoppers say they’ll look for other retailers that carry the same product if items are out of stock, according to Google. For underdog retailers, this might also be an opportunity to increase awareness and attract new customers. And, all retailers should ensure that their product feeds are up to date so that they can show up in Google’s free Shopping results.
Google has updated its Merchant Center policy now allows you to list your medical test kits both at-home results or lab results and over-the-counter test kits in both free and paid Google Shopping.
What is new. Google’s new policy states “medical test kits with at-home results or lab results are now allowed on Shopping ads and free listings. This includes over-the-counter test kits. Every medical test kit must adhere to country-specific regulations.”
What is not new. Google said what is not changing with this policy is that merchants are still responsible for ensuring their products are in compliance with applicable laws and policies. Google said “for example, test kits sold in the U.S. must be FDA-approved or emergency use authorized. Medical test kits will also continue to be classified as Medical Devices.”
More details. You can learn more details about this policy change in the Google support area around healthcare and medicines in Google Merchant Center.
Why we care. If you sell these types of goods and services, you can now have them listed in Google Shopping through Google Merchant Center. You can also use Google Ads to promote them in Google Shopping.
Google is changing the enforcement policy around unique product identifiers for Google Merchant Center from immediate disapproval to limited performance capabilities for free listings. “Products that are missing such attributes will remain eligible to serve but their performance may be limited,” the company said.
What are unique product identifiers (UPIs). Google said a unique product identifier, also known as UPIs, are considered products that include Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs), Manufacturer Part Numbers (MPNs), and brand names in the product feed you submit to Google Merchant Center.
Previous enforcement. In September, Google said if a product listing was missing these required attributes, the product was immediately disapproved and no longer shown in free listings. Google said “in order to unify the enforcement of UPIs across programs, specifically the enforcement for multiple different products that use the same GTIN, we’re expanding this enforcement and applying it to products listed in free listings.” Google said then, “beginning September 15, 2021, the following enforcement will apply to products shown in free listings.”
New rules. Now, starting in November 2021, “with the introduction of limited performance enforcements, products that are missing such attributes will remain eligible to serve but their performance may be limited,” the company said.
Why we care. If you are taking advantage of the free Google Merchant Center and you are not using UPIs on your products in those feeds, you previously may have seen those products being rejected and disapproved. Now, instead, those product listings will likely continue to be served but their performance in Google Search may be limited.
Google has rolled out an integration with BigCommerce, the company announced Thursday. Similar to Google’s integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, GoDaddy and Square, which were announced earlier this year, this partnership will enable BigCommerce merchants to show their products for free on Google, create ad campaigns and review performance metrics from their BigCommerce store.
Why we care
The new integration provides BigCommerce retailers with an easy way to make their listings more discoverable across Google properties, which can help drive traffic to their products. This may be especially helpful for merchants that can’t or aren’t able to dedicate extra staff or enlist the help of an agency.
For Google, all these integrations may mean more product listings it can show to users, which strengthens it as a shopping destination and helps it compete with other e-commerce platforms. If Google is able to generate value for merchants via these integrations, then merchants may also be inclined to try the platform’s advertising tools, which is also good for Google.
While MUM was the highlight of Google’s Search On event, the company also announced a number of changes to the search results that are important for search marketers to understand. These changes include the launch of larger and more visually browsable search results for some queries, enhancements to the “About this result feature,” a more “shippable” Google search interface, in-person shopping experiences from home and more.
Visual browsing with larger images
Google has rolled out a new, more “visually browsable” interface for some search results pages. You can see them for some searches that contain a keyword plus the term “idea” after it, like [painting ideas] or in the example GIF below, [pour painting ideas]. Google said this interface makes “it easier to visually browse to find what you are looking for.”
This launched earlier this week and I believe Google calls these large image blocks “image universal blocks.” Not only will they appear for idea-related queries but they can also be displayed for apparel queries.
Image: Google.
About this result enhancements
Google initially launched the About this result box in February 2021 and then in July added more details like ranking information to the box. Now, Google is showing even more information in the About this result box: The additions include what the source says about themselves, which can be pulled from places like the site’s about us page. Google can also show web results about the site or page, such as what others are saying about the result and also related results about the topic from other sites.
Google told us that you cannot control what information is being shown from the related results or what others are saying about the result. The search engine uses a set of undisclosed queries to find this information and only sites that meet a certain quality bar can show up in those sections of the About this result box. Google said it will keep an eye on abuse or manipulation of these features but currently, there is no way to tell Google if the information in the box is incorrect and should be removed. Technically, you can probably use the submit feedback button but it is unclear how quickly Google can react to such requests.
Currently, Google said the About this result feature has been used over 400 million times, which translates to a small percentage of searchers.
Image: Google.
Shoppable search
Google has made the Google search experience more “shoppable” for apparel-related queries. This new experience should make it easier to browse for apparel on mobile right from your search results, the company said. Google’s example is when you search for “cropped jackets,” Google Search will show you a visual feed of jackets in various colors and styles alongside other helpful information like local shops, style guides and videos. Google said this is powered by the Google Shopping Graph, which was announced at Google I/O earlier this year.
Image: Google.
In-person shopping at home
Google is adding new in-store inventory in order to make the online at-home shopping experience feel more like shopping in-person at the store. Google said people want to experience in-person shopping from home so now you can filter the results using an “in stock” filter to see if nearby stores have specific items on their shelves.
This is launching in English in the U.S. and select markets, including the UK, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland on September 29th.
Image: Google.
Shopping with Google Lens
Soon, Google app users on iOS will see a new button that makes all the images on a page searchable via Google Lens. This feature will be arriving soon, but it is currently planned only for users in the U.S.
Image: Google.
Similar functionality will also be arriving on Chrome for desktop: Users will be able to select images, video or text on a site to see search results in the same tab. Unlike the iOS version of this feature, Lens in Chrome will be available globally in the coming months.
Image: Google
More MUM In Google
Google has announced a slew of new features around the expanded use of MUM in Google Search. This includes Google Lens and video search features, plus how Google will use MUM in the new “Things to Know,” refine this search and broaden this search and more. See our article over here for more details.
Why we care
Review these new changes Google has rolled out and will be rolling out. See how you and your clients can leverage some of these changes to generate more business and traffic. The one area of concern is the About this result section having third-party information outside of Wikipedia that may be hard to change if it doesn’t have the most positive or accurate information about your company.
Google announced new applications of its MUM technology, including multimodal search with Google Lens, Related topics in videos and other new search result features, at its Search On event on Wednesday. While these announcements are not an overhaul of how Google Search works, they do provide users with new ways to search and give SEOs new visibility opportunities as well as SERP and search changes to adapt to.
What is MUM?
Google first previewed its Multitask Unified Model (MUM) at its I/O event in May. Similar to BERT, it’s built on a transformer architecture but is reportedly 1,000 times more powerful and capable of multitasking to connect information for users in new ways.
In its first public application in June, MUM identified 800 variations of COVID vaccine names across 50 languages in a matter of seconds. That application, however, did not show off the technology’s multimodal capabilities. The announcements made at Search On provide a better glimpse at MUM’s multimodal potential.
MUM enhancements to Google Lens
Google demoed a new way to search that combines MUM technology with Google Lens, enabling users to take a photo and add a query.
An example of a multimodal search in which users provide an image and text. Image: Google.
In the “point-and-ask” example above, a user takes a photo of an unknown bicycle part and asks how to fix it. Google is able to match the search to an exact moment in a video, which helps users find the right information without having to manually research bike parts and then conduct a separate search for a tutorial.
A commerce-driven example of multimodal search. Image: Google.
In its announcement, the company provided another potential use case (shown above): Users can take a picture of a pattern on a shirt and ask Google to find the same pattern on socks. While users could simply describe the pattern they’re looking for with text, they may not find the exact pattern or they may have to filter through many results before locating the right one. This capability will be arriving in early 2022, a Google spokesperson told Search Engine Land.
Related topics in videos
Google is also applying MUM to show related topics that aren’t explicitly mentioned in a video.
MUM technology is used to identify related topics within a video and suggest queries to the user. Image: Google.
In the example above, the video does not explicitly say “macaroni penguin’s life story,” but Google’s systems are able to understand that the topics are related and suggest the query to the user. This functionality will be launching in English in the coming weeks, and the company will add more visual enhancements over the coming months. It will first be available for YouTube videos, but Google is also exploring ways to make this feature available for other videos.
Features that will eventually leverage MUM
Google also unveiled some new SERP features that are based on other technologies, but the company expects to improve them with MUM over the coming months.
“Things to know.” This feature lists various aspects of the topic the user searched for. Things to know can enable users to see the different dimensions other people typically search for, which may help them get to the information they’re looking for faster.
Things to know can help users find the right path for their search query. Image: Google.
In the example above, Google shows aspects of the query (“acrylic painting”) that searchers are likely to look at first, like a step-by-step guide or acrylic painting using household items.
“The information that shows up in Things to know, such as featured snippets, is typically information that users would see by directly issuing a search for that subtopic,” a Google spokesperson said. This feature will also be launching in the coming months.
Refine and broaden searches. The “Refine this search” and “Broaden this search” features enable users to get more specific with a topic or zoom out to more general topics.
The “Refine this search” and “Broaden this search” features. Image: Google.
Continuing with the “acrylic painting” example from above, the Refine this search section shows suggestions for acrylic painting ideas, courses and so on, while the Broaden this search section shows related, but more general topics, like styles of painting. These features will also launch in English in the coming months.
More announcements from Search On
In addition to the MUM-related announcements above, Google also previewed a more “visually browsable” interface for certain search results pages, enhancements to its About this result box, a more “shoppable” experience for apparel-related queries, in-stock filters for local product searches, as well as the ability to make all images on a page searchable via Google Lens. You can learn more about those features in our concurrent coverage, “Google search gets larger images, enhances ‘About this result,’ gets more ‘shoppable’ and more.”
Why we care
When Google first unveiled MUM, it touted the technology’s multimodal capabilities and power with abstract examples and no rollout dates. Now, we have a better idea of what MUM can actually do and a roadmap of features to expect.
The enhancements to Google Lens are a new, and perhaps more intuitive, way to leverage multimodal search than the industry has seen before. The e-commerce example Google provided shows how this feature may help the search engine become more of a player in that sector while making it even more important for merchants to apply product schema and submit accurate data feeds so that their products can show up on Google.
The other MUM-related announcements (Related topics in videos, Things to know, Refine this search and Broaden this search) are all about enabling users to learn more through related topics. These features may present SEOs with the opportunity to get in front of users by connecting a search to another related search or a video to another related video or search that they’re ranking for.
The interconnectivity of Google’s search results and features may offer new ways for users to arrive at whatever they’re seeking. If Google discloses how someone arrives on a publisher’s content (such as through Refine this search suggestions, for example), this could reveal new user journeys (and the business opportunities that may come with them) to optimize for. These features are also another step further away from the ten blue links of old, and SEOs will have to adapt to the changes while making the most out of the new visibility opportunities these features have to offer.
In addition, these announcements, along with the other Search On announcements (visual browsing with larger images and more shoppable search features) may provide users with new and more intuitive ways to search, which can help the company maintain its position as the market leader.
Visitors to your website come from an investment in search marketing. Failing to convert them is a missed opportunity. Conversion rate optimization (CRO) plays a significant role in ecommerce. Improving your conversion rate from 2% to 2.1%, for example, represents a 5% increase in online sales.
How can you improve your Google Shopping conversion rates? In this guide from Bidnamic you’ll learn about:
Ecommerce conversion rate benchmarks, including average, poor and exceptional conversion rates in the major ecommerce sectors
Top tips to personally enhance your website for CRO
Technologies used by leading ecommerce companies to personalise the shopper experience and drive up conversion rates
As retailers prepare for the holiday shopping season, Google is launching new sections in its search results to showcase deals, rolling out tools to highlight promotions and expanding reporting capabilities in Google Merchant Center, the company announced Wednesday.
The new deals sections. The new “Deals related to your search” section shows discounted or competitively priced products from retailers across the web. This section is live now and can be found in the Shopping tab.
The “Deals related to your search” section in the Google Shopping tab. Image: Google.
Additionally, when users search for deals during major retail sales events, such as Black Friday or Cyber Monday, Google will show a new carousel that highlights relevant deals, alongside other related sales information. This new SERP feature will be available in October — right in time for the aforementioned shopping holidays.
The deals section that may appear when users search for major retail sales events. Image: Google.
Promotions and deals uploaded via Google Merchant Center are automatically shown to users on the Shopping tab, even if the retailer or manufacturer isn’t running ads on Google. “Offers are shown based on factors such as the discount itself, how popular a product is, how popular the site it’s listed on is and more,” Google said in the announcement.
New promotions tools. Google is rolling out two new ways for merchants to attract new customers and highlight their promotions:
Merchants can now indicate that a promotion is only available to first-time customers (for example, a “10% off for new customers” promotion). These promotions will still be shown to everyone, but only eligible shoppers will be able to access the promotional price.
Promotions can now be highlighted on free listings in the Shopping tab. To do so, navigate to the promotions tab in Google Merchant Center and select which promotions you want to have appear in free listings (or, alternatively, supported by ad spend).
Expanded best sellers report. Historical best seller data and relative demand data are coming to the best seller report in Google Merchant Center.
The best seller report in Google Merchant Center. Image: Google.
This report can be accessed once a merchant opts into market insights in Merchant Center or Google BigQuery.
Why we care. The new deals sections may present retailers with opportunities to showcase their competitively priced products. This may also help retailers attract new customers during their most important times of the year, major shopping holidays. Additionally, the deals carousel will appear on the main results page, so users are more likely to see those deals since they don’t have to move over to the Shopping tab first.
The new promotional tools can help merchants draw attention to their sales and attract first-time customers.
Historical best seller data can be used to inform decisions ahead of upcoming shopping holidays. And, relative demand data can help merchants compare demand between products in the same category and country, which may help them stock the right products.
