Over the last 4 months, your Froogle data feed, I mean Google Base data feed, I mean Google Product Search data feed…ummm…I really mean Google Merchant Center data feed got a lot more important as Google is doing more and more with that data feed.
Background: Google Merchant Center recently replaced Google Base, the place where merchants submit and manage their product data feeds. There is some new functionality in the Google Merchant Center compared to Google Base, but the core function of the Google Merchant Center feed is still to manage products listings on Google Product Search, Google’s shopping search engine. Merchants know Google Product Search as a significant source of free traffic, partly because of the powerful product OneBox results.
For years, the Google Base data feed had been used solely for populating Google Product Search, but recently, the power of that structured data feed has come to light. Google now uses the Google Merchant Center data feed for the Google Affiliate Network (GAN), Product Listing Ads – Beta (which is run through the GAN), Extension Ads (which is an AdWords product), and the newly launched Commerce Search (which is an Enterprise product).
A picture is worth a thousand words, so here goes.
Google Product Listing Ads – Beta:
Google Product Listing Ads – Beta are run through the Google Affiliate Network (GAN), which can leverage product information from Google Merchant Center data feed. A merchant sets a commission amount per sale and Google, acting as a publisher, can display these ads where it sees fit (the merchant doesn’t have control). If a sale happens, Google gets paid a commission.
The screenshot above represents one example of Product Listings. In this case, there are a number of merchants represented in each Ad. You’ll also notice the OneBox 5 pack listings right under the Sponsored Listings.
Here’s an example of Product Listings with just one merchant listed:
Product Extensions:
Product Extensions is a Google AdWords product which was just opened up to all Google Merchant Center accounts. Merchant’s have control over where (for which keyword searches) Extensions are displayed. As Extensions is an AdWords product, normal AdWords CPC charges apply. You’ll see a ton of these Extensions marked by a little + underneath AdWords listings for most any product searches on Google.
Google Affiliate Network (GAN):
GAN came out of Google’s Performics acquisition in 2008. GAN can tap into a merchant’s Google Merchant Center data feed. In allowing this, a merchant is providing publishers access to a wealth of product information which allows publishers to provide a much deeper and richer experience than just banners or buttons.
Google Commerce Search:
This is a specialized site search for merchants that launched a couple weeks back. Google Commerce Search leverages the Google Merchant Center data feed. Watch the Google Commerce Search video intro or download the data sheet. Benefits of on-site search should be pretty obvious. An ecommerce focused site search is a smart move as retail is much different than any other verticals as consumers are looking for attributes like promos, sales, and categories. A regular site search product might be able to highlight some of these attributes, but using the Google Merchant Center data feed enables Google Commerce Search to provide a much more specialized (deeper and richer) on site search experience.
As with any Google product, expect OneBox listings, Product (Listing) Ads, Product Extensions, Google Affiliate Network, and Google Commerce Search to morph in the coming year, but the thing that will not change is the importance of the Google Merchant Center data feed. If you’re not submitting a high quality data feed, now is the time!
I was informed that prior to my employment at this company, they used to have Google data feeds and was supplied this link:
http://comparisonengines.com/2009/12/15/the-importance-of-the-google-merchant-center-data-feed/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ComparisonEngines+%28Comparison+Engines%29&utm_content=Bloglines
i wanted to know if i can update my items and data with you. thanks
I assume that my singlefeed fee is a ‘high quality data feed’, but i’m not getting onebox listings. Could you tell your customers what they can do to optimize their feeds to take advantage of this?
I think Google product listings are a great way to bring traffic and conversions to your ecommerce site. People searching there are more likely to convert and make purchases.
Our web development company, http://www.rapidfyre.net, has been using Magento for a number of our web stores. Magento has made automated submission to Google much easier since it is built into the shopping cart. We have learned a lot working with Singlefeed as a client and will be doing business with you in the future where multiple data feeds are necessary.
We are getting OneBox listings and have had them for a least 3 years. I find that it depends on the competitiveness of your product. We have at least 20 competitors selling the product, but for some reason, we come up at least 10% of the time. Optimizing your feed for google guidelines is essential, but no guarantee.
If you have, or would like UK or German traffic, you have the opportunity try a great new data feed driven product called SmartShoppingAds.co.uk and SmartShoppingAds.de, both publishers and advertisers can take advantage of this tool. All feed back very welcome!
Google Commerce Search:
This is a specialized site search for merchants that launched a couple weeks back. Google Commerce Search leverages the Google Merchant Center data feed. Watch the Google Commerce Search video intro or download the data sheet. Benefits of on-site search should be pretty obvious. An ecommerce focused site search is a smart move as retail is much different than any other verticals as consumers are looking for attributes like promos, sales, and categories. A regular site search product might be able to highlight some of these attributes, but using the Google Merchant Center data feed enables Google Commerce Search to provide a much more specialized (deeper and richer) on site search experience.
[...] does this work? Well, my friend Brian Smith at ComparisonEngines.com has detailed it in all its glory – basically Google takes your Google Merchant feed and – if you are running your [...]