Amazon recently began serving product ads via Google Shopping, positioning Amazon.com product results alongside (or frequently above) the rest of the ecommerce world within Google’s powerful PLA platform.
Like most things the ecommerce behemoth does, Amazon’s foray into Google Shopping could significantly impact other online retailers who had previously enjoyed Amazon’s conspicuous absence from this space.
Amazon Avoided Google Shopping for Years
Prior to 2012, Google provided its unique shopping-related search results for free, just like Google’s regular organic search results. But in 2012, Google switched to a pay-to-play model in which online retailers must bid to have their product ads appear when people search Google specifically for products, just like Google does for the search results that appear in Google’s AdWords ad positions.
Until now, Amazon was unwilling to pay Google to show product ads via Google Shopping. Google is Amazon’s competitor as a destination for people searching for products to buy, so at least some of Amazon’s rationale was likely that if Amazon participated in Google Shopping, people would be more likely to start their product search with Google instead of Amazon.
But times are changing.
Amazon’s Now Testing Google Shopping
Merkle identified Amazon ads on Google Shopping in late 2016, and that new reality seems to be continuing in early 2017:
Competition on Google Shopping Will Increase
If Amazon likes the results of their test and continues to advertise via Google Shopping, ongoing competition within Google Shopping is necessarily going to increase.
That’s hardly rocket science — whenever a new competitor begins using Google Shopping, other advertisers promoting the same products via that platform have to work harder / bid higher to get their products featured.
However, Amazon will have an outsized impact because of its massive name recognition and existing customer base, likely translating into a click-through rate that’s far higher than the average.
Win By Advertising Smarter and Harder
Amazon’s reentrance into Google Shopping will probably make life for ecommerce companies more difficult, but merely complaining about that fact won’t help make your own efforts more profitable.
Instead, this is a great — and critical — opportunity for you to begin using Google Shopping strategically and putting in the hard work required to make your campaigns better and more successful.
Whether you redouble your own efforts, or whether your hire an expert Google Shopping agency like StubGroup Advertising to help you compete against the likes of Amazon and everyone else who’s gunning for your target audience, is up to you. But definitely don’t take this new marketplace reality lying down.
Better Data
The quality and quantity of the product data you send Google massively affects your Google Shopping performance. Unlike with regular Search campaigns, you don’t get to granularly select which keywords you want to target with your product ads. Instead, Google uses all the product data you provide, and particularly your product titles, descriptions, and categories, to decide which people should see your ads.
To compete with Amazon you’ll need every edge you can get, and that starts with sending Google as much product information as possible — and making sure that data is formatted in exactly the way that Google wants to see. At StubGroup, we use sophisticated third-party tools to help our clients do precisely that.
Strategic Pricing and Niche Products
Now that Amazon and its low product prices are in the mix, it will become even more important to be strategic about which of your own site’s products you feature via Google Shopping.
We already know that many people click a Google Shopping ad for one product and end up purchasing another product. Strategically deciding which of your products to show shoppers, based upon their prices and upsell potential, will become even more important when you’re competing against Amazon.
And of course, your best-case scenario is that you don’t have to compete with Amazon in Google Shopping.
Businesses that can create and/or source niche products that Amazon doesn’t sell (or that Amazon isn’t able to sell at a below-market price) will also gain a competitive edge.
Plan, Don’t Panic
Everyone in ecommerce knows that Amazon is a force to be reckoned with. But many, many businesses of all sizes and shapes successfully advertise and grow their companies via PPC in our Amazon world. And so can you.
Read StubGroup’s blog and other great PPC advertising resources to help you stay on top of the PPC and marketplace changes that are happening every day. Then plan and execute accordingly, and as we like to say, Keep Calm and Optimize On.