Google’s pay-for-play shopping is in full swing since October 17. The company recently, during its earnings call, shared its thoughts on this feature and outlined its plan for its future. Google executives also spoke of the status and future of its other advertising products.
Nikesh Arora, Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer said that presently the company lists more than a billion products from hundreds of thousands of merchants and sellers. He believes that product listing allows Google to get an insight into the reader or searchers intent. For example if someone types the word Nikon D800 Google knows the person is looking for information on this product and that the same person is likely to buy it also. Google then proceeds to show the searcher pictures, prices, and reviews of the same product thereby getting closer to the action. Google believes that this approach gives them an opportunity to monetize the engagement rather than show plain blue links that would normally send the viewer to ten different locations/websites.
According to Google executives product listing ads have resulted in a phenomenal increase of almost 175% in the click through rates and increased conversions by a stupendous 100% as compared to June 2011. Google CEO, Larry Page, promises more changes to Google Shopping.
Goals for Google Shopping
One major goal Google is hoping to achieve is to reduce the number of steps from search to transaction. This will make it easy for both shoppers and marketers. Google however, will not host the transaction. One example how this speeding of transaction is happening is Google mobile click-to-call ads. Today more than 20 billion calls a month are made to AdWords advertisers by potential customers.
The future of AdWords across devices
Google plans to make its advertising products such that they can deliver an advertisement across several types of screens (tablets, PCs, mobiles, and smartphones). The advertising products are going to be optimized for such multi-screen delivery. So, advertiser will have to make one ad and it will be delivered to all sorts of devices automatically by Google.
Today advertisements are such that they are device specific. Therefore advertisers have to design and create ads for campaigns that target PC users, mobile users, tablet users, and smartphone users. Google wants to make this simple. They would ideally like the advertisers to focus on target audience while Google does all the hard work to deliver the advertisement across different devices.
As of now we are not sure how this is going to pan out. However, we are confident that Google will leverage technology and optimize advertisements across all platforms. Advertisers and marketers are surely not going to complain if Google achieves this!