We’re still a fair few months out from the busy Christmas shopping season, but Google is gearing up for it with new tools and ways for businesses to showcase their wares when you search.
There’s a range of new additions for retailers, which will be extended to businesses from the US, UK, and Australia including a new Showcase Shopping ad style, currency conversions and tools for selling in YouTube.
The Showcase Shopping ad will show a range of products that match a search query. For example, a search for ‘summer dresses’ will allow a company such as ASOS to create a collection based on that term. The Showcase Shopping ad will then feature in a roll of other compatible results at the top of search. Customers can then tap in for a gallery of compatible products.
Showcase Shopping ads be available to retailers in the coming weeks, with retailers in the US, UK, and Australia eligible to have their products automatically appear in Showcase ads. A premium feature that will allow companies to curate the products in the showcase is in development.
Google is introducing new tools for companies using YouTube to advertise products, introducing new tools for TrueView for shopping. The tools are aimed at giving more control of branding to companies:
- Companion banner: We’re adding a new interactive banner appearing next to the video that lets viewers scroll through products while the video is playing next to it. The banner also shows viewers the most up-to-date product information.
- Product picker: Our new feature lets advertisers easily choose and prioritize which of their products are featured as cards in a TrueView for shopping campaign. This optional feature lets advertisers show specific products for specific campaigns, or they can still let the format dynamically feature products from their Merchant Center.
Finally, Google is working on incorporating a currency convertor into ads to make getting a local price for an item available overseas a little easier. This means the ad rolls at the top of a search results page will soon show a local price as well as the price in the country it’s on sale in.
The currency conversion for ads will roll out over the next few weeks to Australia, Switzerland, Canada, and the UK.
