Google Shopping news often slows down after the holiday stats come out, and there are rarely many AdWords updates that affect Shopping Ads – until now! April seems to have been a news heavy month for AdWords Shopping and we think a few of these things are worth noting.
Here are three Google Shopping-related updates and news during April:
1. Shopping Product Insights Within AdWords
Good news guys – Google recently added new columns in AdWords that makes managing Shopping campaigns a little easier.
The new columns show product insights that were previously only visible within Merchant Center, and that provide an overview of inventory status and product visibility. To see the new columns, go to the Products Group tab, modify the columns, and then add the Shopping metrics.
Bam – like that you have key product insights including:
- Products Submitted: the total products in the linked Merchant Center account.
- Products Approved: the total Submitted Products approved by Google.
- Products Ready to Serve: the active products that are in stock.
- Products Active: approved products with a bid.
This update allows advertisers to easily see top-level information and analytics about the product feed without the pain of going in to the Merchant Center.
The update also includes a new Effective Max CPC column that shows the set bid on products within the product group, making it easier to find an individual product’s bid.
2. Product Ads Spotted at the BOTTOM of Search Results
We have mourned the recent disappearance of right-side ads, and we have seen ad position testing in mobile and desktop search results, now it appears that Google is also testing Product Listing Ads.
The SEM Post shared a screenshot of a Product Listing Ad carousel after the organic results, but before the text ads on the bottom of the page. The full impact of these ads being shown at the bottom of the page aren’t known yet, but may be something to keep an eye on in future months as we build toward the annual holiday season.
I have looked but not yet seen it in the wild yet, have you?
3. Google Shopping Sales Grew by 52% Year Over Year
A study from Sidecar found that revenue from Product Listing Ads increased by 52% year over year during the first quarter of 2016. The largest factor of this growth is mobile.
Mobile Product Listing Ads saw:
- 171% increase in clicks
- 171% increase in orders
- 23% increase in ROAS
- 164% growth in sales
- 45% increase revenue from mobile devices
If numbers like that don’t encourage you to have a mobile friendly site, and/or invest in Shopping ads, then I’m not sure what will. It’s been the year of mobile for a decade now. It’s about time you hop onboard. The caboose is about to leave the station.
What updates or news have you seen around Shopping Ads this spring? Do you think any of these will have major impacts on your strategies? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
