{"id":13275,"date":"2012-06-06T11:14:23","date_gmt":"2012-06-06T18:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/content26.com\/?p=13275"},"modified":"2017-02-14T11:19:52","modified_gmt":"2017-02-14T19:19:52","slug":"google-tells-merchants-to-pay-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/987654321.space\/c26_dev\/blog\/google-tells-merchants-to-pay-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Tells Merchants to Pay Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his comparison shopping engines blog Channel Dollars<\/strong>, Kevin Packler calls Google<\/strong>‘s recent decision to replace its free Google Product Search with a paid Google Shopping Platform a “defining moment” that will impact “every merchant with a significant online presence.”<\/p>\n

<\/a>Over at Search Engine Land<\/a><\/strong>, Danny Sullivan called the move “shocking” and “unprecedented.” This is the first time Google has switched from a free to a pay model for one of its services. It also represents a change of heart for Google, which until recently had publicly opposed the idea of “paid inclusion.”<\/p>\n

Better Results?<\/h2>\n

Google believes making merchants pay will improve search results by encouraging companies to “keep their product information fresh and up to date.”<\/p>\n

Here’s the company’s take on it<\/a>: “Higher quality data\u2014whether it’s accurate prices, the latest offers or product availability\u2014should mean better shopping results for users, which in turn should create higher quality traffic for merchants.”<\/p>\n

Small Retailers Could Lose Out<\/h2>\n

“For publishers, there’s a whole lot of worry here,” Sullivan notes. “If Google can turn one search product to an all-paid basis, nothing really prevents it from doing the same for others.\u00a0Could Google News only carry listings from publishers that want to pay? Will Google Places… be changed to a pay-or-don’t-play yellow pages-style model?”<\/p>\n

Not only that, but Sullivan worries that the “ability to get into the nooks and crannies of the retail web” will be lost.<\/p>\n

Packler agrees, noting that the change will give large, well-recognized brands an advantage over their smaller competitors.<\/p>\n

“Google will need to be treated more like a normal paid channel, with a careful eye on return when calculating ad spend costs,” Packler notes.<\/p>\n

You will find more on the Google Shopping changes at channeldollars.com<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his comparison shopping engines blog Channel Dollars, Kevin Packler calls Google‘s recent decision to replace its free Google Product…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[789],"tags":[714,19],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n