What is Google Shopping?

Google Shopping, formerly Google Product Search, Google Products and Froogle, is Google’s service which allows users to search for products to buy online from shopping websites and compare the different prices between the vendors.

When was Google Shopping Launched?

In April 2020, Google announced Free Google Shopping Results This will allow anyone with a website or online retail business to place products on the company’s shopping platform for free.

The California-based search giant is opening up the market, helping retailers connect with their audiences and lowering barriers to entry in order to better compete with companies like Amazon. It hopes that eliminating fees will open up its platforms and encourage a significant number of businesses to want to sell their products on the internet.

Google’s move will not generate revenue from the free listings, but they will make money by charging for advertisements and featuring promoted products, as it does on other services.

Google Shopping is now a free platform (since April 27th 2020), offered by Google that allows users to search for, compare, and shop for physical products in its database. Google shopping results are shown to the user separately to the normal organic search results and are in effect its own shopping database which you can explore. Shopping results will reflect the closest match to the user’s search terms, with paid promoted products appearing separately from free organic results.

The History of Google Shopping

Google Shopping was initially called Froogle and was little more than a search facility. Users would type in the name of a product and then see a bunch of links to related websites.

Over time, however, the company improved the format to offer an alternative to eBay and Amazon. Google made it easier for shoppers to compare items and prices in its databases. Then, in the year of 2012, it moved to the paid advertising model. From that point onwards, the platform became an extension of Google Ads – a paid advertising service eCommerce retailers could use to reach out on its platform.

Utilization rates, however, flagged in recent years due to the barriers to entry. Firms must pay high costs to appear on the platform, discouraging use.

With changes in the global economy due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, Google re-introduced effectively what was known as Froogle by restoring free Google Shopping results on April 27^th, 2020. The new system reverses this trend, by providing users and retailers with more options, something the company hopes will grow the ecosystem.

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Additional Link:

What is Google Shopping Ads?