Google Shopping global transition is underway

On February 13, Google Shopping results in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Brazil, Australia, Switzerland and the Czech Republic began to transition to a new commercial experience built on Product Listing Ads. If you're a merchant in one of these countries and you're currently promoting your products on Google Shopping for free, you'll need to create a Product Listing Ad campaign to maintain your traffic and presence. You can learn more about this transition in our recent announcement.

Keep your products visible
To ensure that your products remain eligible for promotion on Google Shopping, we've built an easy way for you to create Product Listing Ads.

You can complete the following three simple steps in Merchant Center:

1. Set up a basic Product Listing Ad campaign. You'll be able to create a new AdWords account in Merchant Center if you don't already have one.
2. Customize your campaign. Set a daily budget and one single maximum cost-per-click bid. You can modify these settings any time after you create your campaign.
3. Provide your billing information. You'll be taken to your AdWords account to provide or confirm your billing information.

For a detailed step-by-step guide to getting started with Product Listing Ads and to apply for a promotional credit (available for a limited time only), please visit this page.

Promote your products across devices

With the recent launch of AdWords enhanced campaigns, it's now easier than ever to promote your products across devices. This is crucial in a world where people are constantly connected and moving from one device to another. We encourage you to upgrade existing product listing ad campaigns to an enhanced campaign with appropriate bid adjustments. 

If you need help getting started with Google Shopping, please visit the Google Shopping website or email us through this form.

Posted by Sameer Samat, Vice President of Product Management, Google Shopping

 

Easily find Google Trusted Store advertisers via new badges in Google Affiliate Network

We're excited to announce an easy way for publishers to identify advertisers within Google Affiliate Network that have earned the Google Trusted Store badge. Starting today in Google Affiliate Network, a badge will appear next to Google Trusted Store merchants in the U.S. that are also Google Affiliate Network advertisers.

About Google Trusted Stores
The Google Trusted Stores program helps shoppers buy online with confidence. The Google Trusted Store badge is only awarded to stores with a proven track record of reliable, on-time shipping and excellent customer service. So when shoppers see the Google Trusted Store badge on e-commerce websites, they know they’re buying from a store that provides a consistently excellent shopping experience. They also know that Google stands behind them when they shop, providing up to $1,000 of purchase protection in the rare event of a problem.

Benefits for publishers
The Google Trusted Store badge is a helpful tool you can use when considering advertiser affiliate programs to join. Look for the Google Trusted Store logo when browsing the Advertisers tab to find advertisers that are validated and certified by Google as providing a great shopping experience for consumers.

Benefits for advertisers
Advertisers have benefited from higher average order sizes and improved conversion rates after becoming a Google Trusted Store. If you’re an advertiser that delivers an excellent shopping experience and would like to learn more about the program, check out the Google Trusted Stores website for more information. If you earn the badge, it will automatically appear within your Product Listing Ads on Google.com and Google Shopping, as well as within the Google Affiliate Network interface.

We’re looking forward to hearing your feedback about this new feature, so don’t hesitate to share feedback via our Google Affiliate Network forum.

Posted by Bill Goudie, Systems Engineer

Introducing Zavers by Google — helping retailers and manufacturers deliver relevant coupons to shoppers

Today we’re excited to introduce Zavers by Google—a digital coupon solution that enables retailers and manufacturers to reward loyal customers with coupons that are relevant to them -- increasing basket size and redemption rates. So dog owners don’t get cat food coupons and parents of teenagers don’t get diaper coupons.

Unlike traditional media, Zavers’ real-time data gives manufacturers new ways to measure coupon redemptions and analyze consumer preferences so they can manage distribution, tailor campaigns, and optimize budgets for maximum ROI. Zavers also offers access to an extensive network of manufacturer coupons, opening up new retail revenue streams.

With Zavers, shoppers find manufacturer discounts on their favorite retailer websites, and save the digital coupons to their accounts. Then they simply shop for those products and check out as usual. Redemption occurs in real time, with savings automatically deducted at checkout when shoppers provide their rewards cards or phone numbers—no scanning or sorting necessary. Manufacturers only pay when a product is moved off the shelf.

Zavers by Google is growing fast. This month we are thrilled to welcome New York’s Original Grocer, D’Agostino, as the latest partner in our retail network. In the coming months, we will be announcing partnerships with a number of other major retailers.

Retailers and manufacturers can see first-hand how Zavers works by visiting our demonstration booth at the annual NRF Convention & Expo, January 14-15 (booth #2281).

If you are a U.S.-based retailer or packaged goods manufacturer, let us show you how Zavers by Google can help. To get started, please contact our sales team at g.co/contact-zavers or visit our website at google.com/zavers.

Posted by Spencer Spinnell, Director, Emerging Platforms, Google Commerce

Google Catalogs has the Trends You're Shopping For

While long lines at the mall and holiday shipping times can be daunting, knowing what to shop for can be the most challenging part of the holiday shopping season. Armed with Google Catalogs, Google Trends and a couple of experts from the Google Shopping team, we've come up with a list of some of the most searched-for items on Google Shopping, to give you some ideas as to what your loved ones really want this season.

Here are some of the most searched for electronics, toys and home goods on Google Shopping, and the catalogs where you can find them...and more!



Electronics

• Roku 2 XD searches have reached an all time high in search popularity this season
• Google Nexus 7 searches are up 21% since the device launched in June
• Sony Nex 5R searches are up 76% since October
• Kindle Fire HD searches are up 68% since mid-October
• Samsung Galaxy SIII searches have risen by 44% in the past 12 months
Browse the Crutchfield and Brookstone catalogs for more of this season's host gadgets

Toys

• Furby searches have risen 88% in the past 12 months
• Skylanders: Giants searches have risen 90% since September
• Nabi 2 searches are up 92% in the past 30 days
• Vtech Innotab 2 searches have doubled since October
Browse the Mills Fleet Farm catalog for these and other toys they'll love

Home

• Nespresso Pixie searches are up 36% in November as compared to October
• KitchenAid Stand Mixer searches have been up in 2011 and 2012 over previous years by as much as 60%
• Roomba 780 searches are up 87% since it's launch in December 2011
• Cake Pop Maker searches are up 70% since September
Browse the Williams-Sonoma and Sur La Table catalogs for more fabulous home items

Sometimes it's nice to get ahead of the crowd and see what will be the next hot trends. Here are some apparel fashion trends that are gaining traction and the Catalogs where you can browse these looks...and more!

Women's Apparel

• Women's Puffer Jackets searches are up 32% over November 2011
Browse Puffer Jackets in the Eddie Bauer catalog
• Fair Isle Knits searches are up 20% over last year and continue to rise in popularity 
Browse Fair Isle Knits in the Sundance catalog
• Searches for the color Oxblood have peaked in search popularity this season, over all holiday seasons since 2004
Browse Oxblood accessories in the Bloomingdale's catalog
• Ankle Boots searches are up 20% over last year
Browse Ankle Boots in the Solestruck catalog

Men's Apparel

• Chelsea Boots searches have reached an all time high and are still rising
Browse Chelsea Boots in the Johnston & Murphy catalog
• Toggle Coats searches are up 35% in searches over last year
Browse Toggle Coats in the Saks Fifth Avenue catalog
• Cable Knit Sweaters searches have reached an all time high
Browse Cable Knit Sweaters in the Brooks Brothers catalog

Need more gift ideas? Check out Google Catalogs for great gifts for everyone on your list and let Google Shopping help you outshine Santa this year! Happy Shopping!

Posted by Meghan Brock, Fashion & Style Specialist, Google Shopping

Google Shopping: Promotional Credit and Update to Feed Spec for International Merchants

Last month, we announced the international rollout of the new Google Shopping model built on Product Listing Ads. Starting in February 2013, Google Shopping in ten more countries will be transitioning to a new experience built on Product Listing ads. We believe these changes, and the improved user experience, will create new opportunities for merchants and help retailers of all sizes attract more customers to their stores. The new model will be rolled out completely by the end of Q2 2013.

To encourage merchants in Australia, Japan, Brazil, Spain, Italy, France, Netherlands, U.K., Germany and Switzerland to make this transition to Google Shopping, we are offering promotional credit. Merchants who apply and create a Product Listing Ad campaign promoting all of their products in Merchant Center by 12 April 2013 could qualify for this credit. They could also qualify for a monthly credit for 10% of their total Product Listing Ad spend.

To learn more and apply for promotional credit, please visit this page.

Feed Specification Updates

In an effort to improve the data quality on Google Shopping, we have updated our international feed specifications. These changes will take effect in March 2013. They will align our global product feeds more closely and enable us to surface better results to users. Advertisers who are using the reduced Product Ads feed spec will need to bring their feeds into compliance with these new requirements. For more information on the upcoming changes, please visit the Help Center.

In addition to the update, we will also be releasing a new set of Google Shopping program policies. The detailed policies will be announced in January next year.

Posted by Sameer Samat, Vice President of Product Management, Google Shopping 

Use Google Offers to help you save while having fun during the holidays

As always, this holiday season you are probably juggling multiple things: family to feed, out of town guests to entertain, presents to buy, all without breaking the bank! Google Offers wants to help you achieve that to-do list with maximum convenience and savings. Which is why we are excited to announce a new revamped Google Offers site that makes it easier to discover great offers from the brands you love. Offers are now presented in ten popular categories, including food & drink, shopping and travel, to help you quickly discover great deals that match your interests and needs.

Browse through the categories on the Offers site to find offers relevant to you

In addition to offers that can be purchased immediately, you can now discover and save over thousands of offers from both national and local merchants. You don't need to be at your desktop, simply use Google Maps for Android while you are on the go to find and save offers near you. Then quickly redeem your offer by showing it to the merchant on your phone — eliminating the need to fumble around in your purse or pockets, looking for that elusive paper coupon.

Save and quickly redeem the offer directly on your Android device

If you're spending a day out with family, check Google Offers to score a deal on a tour of one of the city's iconic attractions. If you crave a bite while you are out and about, use Google Maps for Android to quickly check which nearby restaurants are offering specials. And if there is time after for some holiday shopping, Google Offers can help you find great promotions at well-known brands or favorite local stores.

Please visit Google Offers to start saving today!

Posted by Robert Kim, Product Manager, Google Offers

Google Shopping goes global

On May 31, we announced a new initiative to improve our shopping experience over time. We designed this initiative to help shoppers better research purchases, compare different products and their features and prices, and then connect with merchants to make their purchases.

As part of this new initiative, called Google Shopping, we transitioned Google Product Search in the U.S. to a commercial model built on Product Listing Ads. We made this transition because we believe that having a commercial relationship with merchants will lead to better, more up to date product data — which will mean better shopping results for users and in turn, higher quality traffic for merchants.

We completed the transition in the U.S. on October 17 and have seen a great deal of success so far.

Google Shopping — International rollout
With that success in mind, we are pleased to announce that we are rolling out this commercial model for Google Shopping, built on Product Listing Ads, in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Brazil, Australia and Switzerland. We think this will bring the same high-quality shopping experience to people — and positive results to merchants — around the world.

In order to give merchants time to make this transition and optimize their campaigns, we're rolling out the new model gradually, via several steps. The first major change will take place on February 13 2013, when visually cleaner results for shopping queries, including some new commercial formats on Google.com  that will display products in a single unit, will replace current search results. These new commercial formats will be labeled as "Sponsored" and appear in the space currently occupied by Adwords ads.

These visually cleaner results for shopping queries will enable shoppers to refine a search by brand or price, and feature larger product images to provide a better sense of a product's attributes. Starting today, we'll begin testing this new format for a small percentage of searches.

The transition to the commercial model will be complete by the end of Q2 2013. We'll also be offering some incentives; details will follow, on this blog and via email, in the coming weeks.

To learn more and get started, merchants can visit
http://support.google.com/adwords/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2456103 

Ranking in Google Shopping, when the full transition is complete in the countries listed above, will be based on a combination of relevance and bid price.

A better shopping experience
These changes will create a better shopping experience that will benefit both shoppers and merchants. Shoppers will find products in one convenient place and quickly be able to compare features, find the best prices, read reviews, and identify great merchants — while advertisers will be given more granular control over product listings and traffic.

We look forward to continuing to evolve the experience with the help of our merchant partners, to help people find what they're looking for at lightning speed — and to help businesses of all sizes reach people at the moment of interest, with helpful information.

Posted by Sameer Samat, Vice President of Product Management, Google Shopping

Deck the halls with tools for shopping

I love shopping for gifts for my family and friends, but it’s not always easy. Fortunately, the Google Shopping team has built several new tools to help you (and me!) get an early and stress-free start on holiday shopping.

Explore products in 360-degree detail on Google Shopping
Having trouble imagining what a toy actually looks like from the online picture? Now, when searching for toys on Google Shopping, you can see 360-degree photos of the products. These interactive images bring the in-store feeling of holding and touching a product to your online browsing.

Look for the “3D” swivel icon on the product image to see the toy in 360-degree view, on HTML5 enabled browsers. We’ve also put together a Holiday Toy Collection featuring this enhanced imagery—explore the collection on this site. 360-degree imagery is coming for other types of products soon.

If you’re a retailer or manufacturer interested in displaying these rich images of your products on Google Shopping, please fill out this form.

Use Shortlists to stay organized and collaborate with friends
New in Google Shopping, Shortlists make it easier to research products and plan purchases with friends and family. Instead of using bookmarked websites and docs containing long lists of URLs, or back-and-forth emails with friends, you can now consolidate all your shopping research in one place. With Shortlists, you can easily:

• Keep track of products you like from Google Shopping and across the web
• View product photos, prices and specs side by side
• Share your Shortlist with friends, who can add their own ideas

Create a Shortlist by visiting google.com/shopping/shortlists or clicking the “Add to Shortlist” button as you browse products on Google Shopping.



Discover great deals and store promotions on Google Shopping
To help you make the most of your holiday budget, Google Shopping now shows discounts or promotions on the products you're viewing. If discounts or promotions are available, you can click on the link and visit the retailer’s site to redeem the offer.

That’s not all...a few more new Google Shopping features
Here are a few of the other tools we’ve created to make your holiday shopping a little easier:

• Not sure you’ve found the perfect gift? Read reviews from people you know and write your own product reviews on Google Shopping.
• Found an item that’s almost perfect but not quite? Now you can view “visually similar” results for even more types of products and categories, including jewelry, coats, handbags and more.
• Buying an important gift? Look for the Google Trusted Store logo as you shop. It indicates a store ships quickly and delivers excellent customer service.
• Shopping on the go? Browse for gift ideas, find local sales and research products with the new and improved Google Shopper 3.0, currently available for Android.
• Still need some inspiration? Browse holiday catalogs from the top retailers directly on Google Shopping.

Happy holiday shopping!

Posted by Vineet Buch, Group Product Manager, Google Shopping

See more relevant reviews and share feedback with your friends on Google Shopping

Reading product reviews has become an important part of how people research products and decide what to buy; in fact, last holiday season, 67% of shoppers read product reviews before making a purchase. This means that it’s more important than ever to give users the ability to quickly find the reviews they trust the most -- those from friends and family.

So today, we’re announcing two new Google Shopping features that help savvy shoppers better find the reviews that will best help them make shopping decisions. The first feature lets you see if a product you’re looking for has been reviewed by someone you know. The second enables you to write product reviews on Google Shopping, to help friends and other Google users make smart purchases.

Read reviews from people you know
Now you can easily see if someone you've connected with on Google has reviewed a product that is in your Google Shopping search results. 

See reviews from people you know in your Google Shopping search results

When you click on a particular product and scroll down to the ‘Reviews’ section, reviews from your friends and contacts will appear at the top of the list.

Reviews from friends and contacts appear at the top of the "Reviews" section

Share your own reviews
We’ve also made it easy to write your own product reviews on Google Shopping. To write a review, login with your Google+ account, click on the product you’d like to review, then click the ‘write a review’ button at the top of the page. 

Click 'Write a review' when viewing a product on Google Shopping

Rate the product, write your feedback, and click 'Publish'

Once you submit your review, it will be publicly available to anyone who views that product on Google Shopping.   You can also choose to post your review to your Google+ stream.

You can choose to share your review in your Google+ stream

And, of course, when people who are connected to you search for or click on that product, your review will be highlighted.

Happy Shopping!

Posted by Karen Corby, Product Manager, Google Shopping

Google Shopper 3.0 - New features to help with your holiday shopping

As you hit the mall this holiday season, chances are you’ll be accompanied by a reliable personal shopping companion: your mobile phone. Four out of five mobile phone and tablet owners plan to use their device for holiday shopping - for comparing prices, locating nearby stores, and searching for coupons. Today, with the launch of Google Shopper 3.0 for Android, you can easily browse for gift ideas, research products, and locate great deals on the go.

Search for products and get gift ideas on the redesigned home page
The app’s redesigned home screen features a bigger search box for easier navigation. When you browse curated gift ideas and latest trends on the home page or search for apparel and accessories, larger photos let you view product designs in more detail.

                 

Find great sales and special offers with Google Shopper
Shopper now makes it quick and easy to find great deals at local and online stores. From the new Sales page, you can view weekly circulars from nearby stores, along with a handful of featured current promotions which you can redeem online or in person. Shopper also shows you store promotions, such as ‘30% off’ or ‘free shipping’, as you search for products in the app.

      
Find great deals on the new Sales screen and as you search for products    

Use GoodGuide rating to Identify healthy, safe, and eco-friendly products
Whether you shop with a conscience or would like a reason to start, Shopper now features GoodGuide ratings, a rating system that indicates on a scale of one to ten whether a product is healthy, safe and environmentally friendly. When GoodGuide ratings are available for a product, you can view these by scrolling down the product detail screen, as shown below. You can learn more about the GoodGuide rating system here.

GoodGuide product ratings

You can download Shopper 3.0 for your Android device from Google Play.

Posted by John Shriver-Blake, Product Manager, Google Shopper

           

Save time when purchasing things on your phone with Google Wallet

Making purchases on your mobile phone can be a lot easier. Starting today, on sites that accept Google Wallet, you don’t need to enter your credit or debit card number, billing address or other payment information — it’s already securely stored in your Google Wallet.

Typically, on mobile websites, you need to key in 17-20 fields of information on a small screen while having to click and scroll through multiple pages to provide shipping and billing information. It’s no wonder up to 97% of mobile shoppers abandon their mobile shopping carts. Google Wallet makes it easy and secure for you. Simply click the Buy with Google Wallet button, log into Google Wallet and click to complete your order. That’s it — you’re done in 3 steps.

With Google Wallet, you can buy flowers and gifts at 1-800-Flowers.com quickly and easily on your mobile phone. You can also use Google Wallet to buy on Rockport.com and FiveGuys.com (at select locations).

With Google Wallet you can:

• Pay without entering your credit or debit card number, billing address, or other payment information — it’s already securely stored in your Google Wallet.
• View your credit and debit cards, shipping addresses and transaction history conveniently in one place at wallet.google.com/manage.
• Set a default card for future purchases on your Google Wallet account, making future transactions even faster.
• Shop with confidence as all your payment and related information is encrypted and stored on secure servers and not shared with anyone.

Limited time — Save money at 1-800-Flowers.com and Rockport.com

Not only does Google Wallet save you time, it can also save you money. For a limited time, buy with Google Wallet on your mobile device and get $10 off at 1-800-Flowers.com and $20 off at Rockport.com (some restrictions apply).

We are working with a number of other exciting retailers to integrate Google Wallet on their mobile sites, including Finish Line, MovieTickets.com, Seamless, SwimOutlet.com and more, so stay tuned for more announcements.

Posted by Barak Turovsky, Head of Mobile Commerce, Google Wallet