Google Shopping is a pay to play service where retailers advertise their products on a carousel at (1) the top of search queries, (2) in the Google Shopping tab, and (3) within Google search partner sites. The service was released in New Zealand in 2017, making it still relatively new.
Google Shopping benefits retailers and consumers as it offers a unique price comparison tool for similar products from a range of suppliers within relevant Google searches.
Google Shopping is powered by two platforms, AdWords and Google Merchant Centre. The Merchant Centre is where your product feed is uploaded and managed, and AdWords is where you create the Shopping campaigns, set budgets, and view performance.
When setting up a Shopping campaign, you will first have to create a feed. This requires either a manual feed or API. One will suit you better than another depending on your requirements, such as the number of products your site has or what your site is built with.
Google restricts advertising material on the Shopping network, so when making a campaign you also have to take into account Google Shopping ad policies around prohibited content. Prohibited goods on this network are:
Some of these rules vary between countries so check out the Google Support Centre to clarify which products can and can’t be promoted in your region. Failing to follow these rules will result in disapproved items and a suspended account.
For New Zealand businesses, the Google Shopping platform is a great opportunity. There is a lot of room for retailers to jump on the platform and increase paid traffic with cheap clicks due to a lack of competition. The Google Shopping service currently operates at a very low cost per click as it is still relatively new and companies have not had the time or the knowledge to adopt the service. People signing up to Google Shopping are seeing great results with high conversions and click-through rates complemented by a low cost per click on each add.
Google Shopping adds a new advertising experience to consumers and generates better-qualified leads for retailers. When someone clicks on a shopping ad they can tell what the product looks like and how much it costs. This way of advertising matches consumer preference far more efficiently than a text ad could ever do. Google Shopping has been proven to put consumers further down the purchasing funnel, making them more likely to make a purchase.
Moving forward, we expect to see this platform grow worldwide with new countries being added to the Google Shopping network regularly. Pure SEO specialises in Google Shopping feed generation and Google AdWords setup. Unlike other agencies, we give our clients full access to their account. We also set up a Google Analytics account for all new customers to track all sales from paid searches. which lets you know your return on investment on your marketing campaigns.
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