The Importance of Google Shopping Campaigns

Recently, we've seen substantial client successes with Google Shopping campaigns, so we thought we'd share some insights. Since its introduction in 2012, Google Shopping has rapidly become the single most effective way to sell retail products via paid search. What follows is a brief overview of what these campaigns are, why they work, and how you can take advantage of them. Here goes!

What is Google Shopping?

Google Shopping’s history lies in a number of products, including Google Product Search and Froogle (a price comparison service that took advantage of Google to serve results). In 2012, Google made the decision to change the way that price comparison and visual product search worked, introducing a pay-to-play model that was directly managed through AdWords.

Today, Google Shopping allows merchants to feature their products visually at the top of search results, showing accurate pricing as well as shipping results. Google Shopping campaigns are powered by AdWords and Google Merchant Center, and are an invaluable element within any advertiser’s modern arsenal.

How are Google Shopping ads displayed?

In many cases, you may see a carousel selection of ads for the top of the search results for a specific product. Below, you’ll see a standard search for a fire pit that displays a handful of Google Shopping results above regular text-based ads and organic search results:

Another example is when you search directly from the “Shopping” tab within Google. In that case, you’ll get results including prices, photos, and product descriptions. Here’s an example of the result for a specific product search in List mode:

Here’s an example of the results one might see searching for “change pouches” in Grid mode:

Why is it crucial to run Google Shopping campaigns?

1. Google Shopping campaigns allow you to land at the top of the page within very valuable real estate, with a visual representation of your product for high-intent searches—i.e. people who are in the market for your particular product.
2. If you sell your products both directly and through outside vendors, we can almost guarantee that your resellers are utilizing platforms like these. Ensuring that you appear at the top of Google Shopping results will help you sell more of your products from your direct channel, saving on margin.
3. If you sell a wide variety of products, these are managed via a feed (which we often automate, depending on the platform of your store), pulling product details and images directly from your store feed. This means that when you introduce a new product, you can start marketing it without creating specialized banners. It also means that you can synchronize your inventory with your advertising, so you’re not paying to advertise products you no longer have in stock.
4. It just plain works! We’ve seen returns of up to 600% for certain clients via Google Shopping campaigns.