Google Makes It Free To List Products on Google Shopping

Until now, businesses that wanted to sell their products through ‘Google Shopping’ had to pay for shopping ads. Google, however, recently announced that it will now allow retailers to list their products on Google Shopping for absolutely free. 

In what is a significant step taken by Google, Google Shopping will now allow organic results to be displayed in its search result listings.

This new feature has been slated to be made available in the United States by the end of the month. Google has further plans to release it globally by the end of the year.

Why did Google take this decision?

Google is conscious of the millions of shopping searches made by users on Google each day. Thus, it wants users to quickly find the products they need in Google Shopping Results.

Here is what Google had to say regarding this massive change

“With hundreds of millions of shopping searches on Google each day, we know that many retailers have the items people need in stock and ready to ship but are less discoverable online.”

However, the issue was that these retailers needed to pay to be included in Google Shopping results. For struggling businesses, this was not profitable, which discouraged them from opting for Google Shopping. 

Google understood this issue and has thus transitioned its take on allowing organic listings to appear in Google Shopping. 

Here’s what Google said in addition

“And as consumers increasingly shop online, they’re searching not just for essentials but also things like toys, apparel, and home goods. While this presents an opportunity for struggling businesses to reconnect with consumers, many cannot afford to do so at scale.”

The Coronavirus pandemic has forced several businesses to adhere to an e-commerce strategy to sell their products. Google acknowledges this immediate requirement for retailers under such a worldwide crisis and has thus accelerated its plans to allow free listing in Google Shopping results.

What do we know about this update so far?

Google has given us an idea of what to expect once this feature of organic listings on Google Shopping is live.

• Allocation of Paid and Free Listings in Google Shopping

Just like the main Google SERP, the shopping ads will appear at the top and bottom of the page. Followed by this, will now be the organic results. The Google Shopping Tab Layout might be changed by Google, post the update. But nothing is confirmed yet.

No changes will be seen in the main Google SERP as of now. The main Google SERP will show a carousel of products of paid ads only. Organic listings will not be shown in the main SERP but only on the Google Shopping page. This might change in the future.

• Partnership with PayPal

Google also announced that it would be partnering up with PayPal to allow retailers/merchants to link their accounts with Google Merchant Center. Google believes that this will ensure that its users get high-quality results in Google Shopping. Furthermore, it will ease the process for businesses to onboard their products.

Key Learnings

This update by Google is significant for all merchants and retailers. It is evident that Google wants to compete with the likes of Amazon in the e-commerce domain. And this new update to let retailers sell products on Google Shopping for free will surely help their cause.

This is a win-win situation for retailers, shoppers, and advertisers. Being able to list products for free on the Google Shopping platform will guarantee transactions and better discovery.

To be fully prepared for this new change, you need to have a Google Merchant Center set up for your business. If you already have a Merchant Center account, you need to make sure all your products are uploaded with the accurate details. 

Let us know what you think about this announcement by Google, and what will it mean for your business.

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