In case you don’t know, the European Commission ruled earlier this year (and handed out a record $2.7 billion fine) against Google for the way Google Shopping results were perceived to be favoured within Google search results.
The ruling went further, requiring Google to make changes to Shopping and provide ‘equal treatment’ to competitors – i.e. Comparison Shopping Engines. The best known examples being Shopzilla and Kelkoo in the UK.
This week Google rolled out some visual changes to comply with the ruling.
In short, they haven’t fundamentally changed the design of Shopping results, they’ve simply added an extra line. As you can see below, all the results here state ‘by Google’ – but over time (this was only announced yesterday!) other results from 3rd party sites will be shown as part of the auction.
What does this mean for current Shopping advertisers?
It’s too early to be sure, but we suspect very little.
Selling a non-branded product?
If the product you are selling is unique or NOT a branded retail good, it’s unlikely that a Comparison site has a listing for the same search/ or much crossover – so they won’t be competing with you for space on Shopping.
Selling branded products?
If you ARE selling a branded product, which appears on these sites – then the Comparison sites may bid on some searches in competition with you. But, the likelihood is that given the differing business model they employ, their bids are likely to be very low (essentially buying up spare inventory) and won’t affect your average positions or max CPC’s.
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Watch this space.
Posted by
Gerard McHugh
Gerard McHugh - PPC Expert based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire UK
Gerard has spent the best part of ten years working on Pay Per Click Marketing campaigns for companies operating in the UK and USA. He is AdWords Certified in Search, Display and Shopping and a Bing Certified Professional.
