Google started testing it’s search within a search feature more than a month ago. As I said in my initial post, the important things to note about the new functionality were 1) the Google Shopping link and 2) the ever-present Google Adwords listings.

In Bob Tedeschi’s NYTimes article on March 24, he went with the shocker of a headline: A New Tool From Google Alarms Sites. In the article, industry pundits like Alan Rimm-Kaufmann expressed concern over the feature. Ice.com’s ever-present VP of Marketing, Pinny Gniwisch said “Google’s new feature did not appear when users searched for Ice.com, but he said he would object if it did.” And the article pretty much stated that Amazon had requested that Google remove the Amazon search within a search feature.

When the feature first launched, Borders, BestBuy, and OfficeMax were the other large retailers discovered to have the feature active. BestBuy is the only retailer that still seems to have the functionality live.

The main point I picked up from Bob Tedeschi’s article was that the basic problem publishers/retailers had with the new functionality was that Google is selling Adwords ads against brand names. A big no no in the eyes of so many.

But the most important line in the article is Alan Rimm-Kaufmann’s quotation: “Some of our retail clients have pretty horrible site search,” he said. “So for them, this will be a benefit.”

Well, I’ll go a step further and say that this will be an extremely popular and well accepted program for 1000s of retailers.

Why?

Because it’s not only that some retailers have horrible site search, it’s that 10s of 1000s of retailers have a long way to go to providing a smart shopping experience. When sites don’t have proper site search, proper categorization, and don’t provide a logical UI, consumers can’t find anything or at least give up fairly quickly.

There are a lot of factors which contribute to a low conversion rate for retailers, but with Google search within a search, 10s of 1000s of poorly thought out sites can benefit because Google will bring consumers directly to product pages.

And while I agree that the creme de la creme of the brand name retailers will not put up with Google Adwords ads featuring competitors next to their precious content, the creme de la creme might represent less than 1% of all internet retailers (there are only 400 IR top 400 retailers out of about 300,000 online merchants).

Some portion of the other 299,600 merchants on the web are going to be fine seeing competitor product listings right next to their own. In fact, 1000s are already are used to it. Amazon might not want Google to display competitor listings in Adwords ads next to Amazon search within a search content, but Amazon enables a similar ability on Amazon.com through its Marketplace and Product Ads programs.
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New Blog
It’s always great to see merchants blogging about their internet marketing experiences. I’ve mentioned Preston Wily’s blog before, and I’d like to introduce you to John Middleton’s blog, which has been added to the ComparisonEngines.com Blogroll. John doesn’t list an ‘about us’ section on his site, so I’ll leave it up to him to decide if he wants to share his bio/company information (John, you can post a comment below), but his tag line states: ‘Read as John learns about what it means to be a web analyst for a small company in Portland, Oregon.’ John has been focusing on the shopping engines, but I’m sure there’s more to come.

New Google Base Resource
Tom the Developer, a frequent contributor to the Google Base Help Discussion Group, has launched a great little app using the Google Base API. The competitor analysis tool allows you to see the attributes being submitted for each listing. GREAT resource for anyone doing Google Product Search focused data feed optimization (DFO) (yes, that’s a link to SingleFeed b/c that’s what we do!).

As TechCrunch reported earlier today, Google is testing secondary search boxes for top retailers like Amazon, Borders, BestBuy, and OfficeMax. While I couldn’t get the searches to work properly, if you search in the Amazon search box (see screenshot below), Google will keep you on Google.com, display the normal AdWords listings, and display Amazon’s content in place of Google’s normal organic results. Also important to note, at least in my searches using the Amazon box, Google highlights its own Shopping search results through its universal search link for Shopping (see screenshot below).

I could only get the Amazon, OfficeMax, etc. search boxes to come up in IE.

Amazon search box on Google:

Results page - Searched for ‘red sweater’ - the Amazon ‘organic’ listings are at the bottom of the page as something is wrong with the UI (see next screenshot). The important thing to note is the use of Google’s own Shopping link and those ever present AdWords listings:

Obviously Amazon’s ‘organic’ listings are supposed to be displayed as Google’s organic listings usually are displayed, but the UI seems to be off:

On Sunday, the Google Base Blog announced the launch of the Google Product Search Partner Program.

ChannelAdvisor, Channel Intelligence, and SingleFeed (the data feed optimization company I run) are the inaugural partners of the program.

Here are the details of the partner program.

As one of the partners, I’m obviously thrilled to be included in this launch.

As I said in our press release “While there are many online marketing channels for merchants to test, Google Product Search is one of the most effective, but least utilized marketing channels. With the assistance of SingleFeed [or CA, CI], merchants can properly list their products in Google Product Search and be visible in areas of Google.com search results that display structured product data.”

I think this is a great move for Google. Yes, I’m a bit biased, but…if you look at the Google Base help groups you’ll see that merchants need some assistance with getting up and running on Google Product Search. Furthermore, I’ve personally reviewed hundreds of different feeds being sent to Google Product Search and know that merchants and agencies aren’t even submitting the minimum required product attributes, let alone testing data feed optimization (DFO) strategies.

Most established etailers have someone dedicated to SEO and someone dedicated to PPC. These employees constantly analyze and optimize organic and paid listings. Yet marketing through shopping engines is still usually an afterthought. Way too many companies ’submit it [a data feed] and forget it’. Hopefully CA, CI, and SingleFeed, as well as future Google Product Search Partner Program partners will lead the way in evangelizing the benefits to proper data feed submission, as well as data feed management and data feed optimization (DFO).

Thank you Cynthia, Jessica, April, and Jassim for including SingleFeed. We look forward to working with you!

Froogle is being replaced by Google Product Search. I’m waiting for the site to launch (it still says Froogle) to write up my comments. In the meantime, check out Elinor Mills’ take or Danny’s take.

A search for ‘engineering jobs in san francisco’ brings up a google base search box:

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A search for ‘new york apartment’ brings up a google base search box:

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Does it make any sense that a search for a product (Plantronics CS50/HL10 Wireless Convertible Headset) brings up Froogle listings as opposed to a Google Base search box or at least Google Base results?

The vertical search results on the main shopping engines should not be ignored. We’re all very familiar with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), but you can also get to the top of Google through Google Base. I estimate that over 30,000 merchants are taking advantage of Google Base, but only a very small percentage have actually done anything to improve their results on Google Base.

Over at SingleFeed, I discuss the concept of Data Feed Optimization (DFO) to help submitters get listed higher on Google Base and therefore have the opportunity to show up as a Google OneBox result, above Google’s organic listings.

Here’s a summary of the post entitled Google Base & Data Feed Optimization - How to Succeed on Google Base:
-Google Base is for almost anything. You can submit products (which I focus on), job listings, housing listings, recipes, blog posts, personal ads, and more.

-Most product submissions happen through an automated program that only submits the bare minimum requirements. This usually results in mediocre traffic to those listings. Google Base Store Connector and automated XML feed submissions through major ecommerce platforms remind me of the Submit It service of the early Web 1.0 days. Submit It would submit a URL to hundreds of different directories/engines for a small fee, but in my opinion, it didn’t matter if your URL was submitted if the page wasn’t search engine friendly. The same thing goes with data feed submission. Submitting a data feed is just one step. Merchants must optimize the data feed to get significant results.

-Introduction to Google Base Custom Attributes. Google Base has over 80 pre-defined optional product attributes, but will never be the expert in any particular product, so Google Base allow users to submit Custom Attributes. With this extra information, searchers will have a better idea of what the merchant sells and therefore the merchant has a better chance of attracting targeted visitors and converting those visitors into buyers. For example, a ski retailer might add a custom attribute for ’ski length’ because it’s a critical attribute for a consumer making a ski buying decision. A energy bar retailer might add a custom attribute for ‘ingredients’ because it’s a critical attribute for people with allergies.

-When does Google Base matter? No one currently goes directly to base.google.com, although millions do go to Froogle which is made up of Google Base product listings. Hundreds of millions more go directly to Google and are sometimes exposed to OneBox product results, which are populated through Froogle (via Google Base). I think OneBox results will get a lot more prominent on Google this year. However, Google isn’t going to display just any Google Base listings in that prized OneBox area. The OneBox listings will be reserved for information that is more relevant than anything else on the search engine result page (SERP). Relevance means a lot of things to a lot of people/engines, but Google has already made it clear that the more information you provide to Base, the better your results will be. If a merchant spends time optimizing a feed and adds Custom Attributes, then the data could be more relevant than anything else Google has in its index.

After giving a number of examples of Google Base Custom Attributes last week over at SingleFeed, it seemed that people wanted more. We’ve had a post in the works about Google Base Optimization through Google Base Custom Attributes for a while, but now seemed like a good time to share it:

Google Base Optimization

Key Takaways:

-Most people are submitting to Google Base through an automated XML feed which is not optimized

-Adding more information to your Google Base feed (bulk upload) might help you get exposure through Google OneBox results

-The more information Google Base gets through feeds which contain Google Base Custom Attributes, the more likely I think Google is to display OneBox results for related search engine queries, as the data provided through the feed will be more relevant than what Google can crawl.

Related Posts:
Google Base - The Comparison Shopping Story of Q1 2007 - January 12, 2007
Google Base Optimization - Why Those Attributes Matter - September 4, 2006

Not many merchants are using Google Base Custom Attributes (GBCA) yet, but I’ve had a ton of people ask me to provide instructions and more importantly, examples beyond what Google Base has posted.

With that in mind, check out Google Base Custom Attributes - Examples And How To Create over at SingleFeed.

I predict that Google Base refinement options on Google will be rolled out over the next 2 months. Yes, we’ve been waiting for this to happen for a while…and there were signs that the implementation would take place last quarter. I don’t know what’s causing the delay, but if I were Google, I wouldn’t have made any major changes during the holiday season…so it just makes sense that changes will start to show up now. Also, Google has been much better about kicking out eBay affiliates which were spamming Base and shutting down duplicate accounts (to the dismay of many many etailers - especially b/c both accounts are basically de-activated at once).

Even though smart search marketers have been giddy over Google Base for a while and have been using Froogle effectively for a year or 2 or 3, adding a Google Base search refinement option to Google.com will dramatically increase the visibility of the service (I love my obvious statements). I estimate that there are currently about 30,000 merchants actively submitting feeds to Google Base. That number could easily double as search marketing firms wake up to the opportunity and companies like SingleFeed announce full support of Google Custom Attributes.

But it’s not just Google Base that will be the story, it’s Google’s steady march toward supremacy of small and medium size merchants. Ok, I guess Google already is a leader in servicing small and medium sized businesses (in my estimates, aprx. 125K merchants - not affiliates - currently use Adwords), but the web it’s weaving with Google.com, Adwords, Base, Checkout, and Analytics is pretty awesome.

Base listings get premium placement on Google OneBox results. Adwords clients that support Checkout get higher clickthroughs (and therefore higher placement) because of that little shopping cart icon. Base users can already create individual Adwords ads for their listings on Base or through their feed and are being pushed to sign up for Adwords and Checkout. Checkout orders can be approved through Base. Adwords users have a tab for Analytics. Analytics automatically recognizes Adwords clicks. More merchants will adopt Google Checkout as credit card processing is free for 2007 and that $10 coupon for first time consumers is kicking ass for the merchants who have implemented it well (looking for a home improvement plumbing?).

I’ve said numerous times that Google Checkout is a wonderful and scary proposition for merchants However, I think that most small and medium sized merchants are short-sighted enough not to care. If they can increase sales tomorrow by implementing Checkout, they’ll do it. Google.com feeds Adwords. Google Base feeds Adwords. Analytics feeds Adwords. Checkout feeds Adwords.

I’ve never been a cheerleader for Google, but I have to admit that the Google (search), Adwords, Base, Checkout, and Analytics package is coming together better than I ever expected.

While Google has never confirmed or denied its numbers, my educated guess is that Adwords has aprx. 125,000 merchants (not affiliates), Base has aprx. 30,000 active merchants (active = submitted feed in the last 30 days), and Checkout has aprx. 1,000 merchants. As for Google search…a couple people using that. Analytics…not really sure. But imagine when Base refinement options show up on Google. As I said earlier, that could double the number of active merchants submitting feeds…which leads to more Adwords clients…which leads to more Checkout clients. This should also lead to more Analytics clients, although Google has a ways to go in educating merchants how to effectively use the Analytics software.

The debate over whether to use Checkout will go on in the hearts and blogs of people like myself as I still have major concerns about the lack of up-sell options and the idea that Google potentially controls the customer relationship, but I don’t think small and medium sized merchants are going to pay any attention. They see dollar signs and that’s it. I just really wish that these small guys would talk to a couple airlines about their excellent relationship with the GDSs.

I could have stopped this post after the first paragraph as that contains the main point - Google Base is going to be one of two huge stories in the comparison engines world in the next couple months. I hope merchants are paying attention and asking their data feed managers what they are doing to ensure feeds are optimized for Base. However, there’s a bigger picture in terms of how all Google’s properties in search and commerce are coming togetherintermingling…something to pay attention to as shopping engines continue to rely on Google Adwords crack, new entrants such as Shopwiki and TheFind figure out their place in the ecosystem, and all engines try to figure out how to deal with that little concept called loyalty.

Some screenshots (click to enlarge):
to share or not share your email?

pushing adwords and checkout in base

pushing adwords for base listings


analytics and adwords…the happy couple

Related links:
Google Base Gets a Facelift - December 11, 2006
Conversion Tracking and Google Checkout - December 20, 2006
When Google Checkout Adoption for Merchants Makes Sense - November 8, 2006
Google Checkout Should Capture Small-to-Midsize Market by Jeff Molander - November 28, 2006

You run a great group for Google Base. I get daily updates and appreciate it when you jump into the conversation. However, I think it would be beneficial to you

Google Base seems to be having some trouble keeping up with merchant (and other) uploads this holiday season. Merchants are used to feed (bulk upload) processing taking about 30mins, but for most accounts processing time now seems to be more like 2-3 days.

While frustrating, things like this happen. And Google Base is in Beta.

Unfortunately, though, this delay in processing causes other problems. Back in October, Google removed its upload limit, allowing feeds to be uploaded more than once per hour. Well, processing latency plus no upload limit causes more headaches for uploaders who can’t update their products. And because Google Base doesn’t have a robust customer service staff, I have a feeling a lot of merchants are not too happy right now as they can’t figure out what they’re doing wrong (nothing).

As one industry insider stated in an email, Froogle’s new layout is “very comparison engine-esque!”

Froogle quietly updated its site yesterday. Scroll down for before and after pictures. There are a number of changes, but here are the basics:

1) The sponsored links (Google AdWords) are no longer flooding the right side of the page (note to Froogle: you need to update your About Us section to reflect this change), but rather have been more elegantly placed across the top of most Froogle pages (the ads do not show up on Merchant Ratings pages). This simple change makes the site a hell of a lot cleaner.

2) Search result pages and product pages have been streamlined and now look more like the pages of other comparison engines. See pictures below.

3) Google has moved beyond text links! Froogle is using a ‘Compare prices’ button as opposed to the standard text link.

4) If you type in iPod, an iPod actually comes up first. This is a major improvement. In the past, iPod accessories would show up above iPods. Hmmm…maybe Froogle has finally worked out some relevancy issues.

Froogle old search result page - Note AdWords ads on right hand side, clutter underneath product listings:

Froogle new search result page - Note AdWords ads on top of page, new button to compare prices, sorting options in drop down box, option to add to shopping list:

Froogle old product page - Note multiple listings (including images and descriptions) of same product, only 2 choices of how to sort (price low to high and price high to low):

Froogle new product page - Note single listing of image and expanded description at top of page, more choices of how to sort results, a much more standardized comparison engine approach:

After SES, I sat down with Debbie Jaffe, Sr. Product Marketing Manager at Google to talk about Froogle. Here’s what she had to say. Thanks to Sonya Boralv for setting up the meeting.

Where did Froogle come from?
It started three and a half years ago. A lot of searches are related to shopping, and we probably weren’t servicing the user as well as possible. It was the first opportunity for anyone to actually submit information to Google and there certainly was a need for merchants to submit feeds. [Froogle] is a good exercise in learning those technologies. We’re organizing more of the world’s information, but when looking at online shopping, there’s certain type of information that’s important; picture, price, reviews, etc.

How does Froogle operate within Google?
Google is functionally organized. We hire athletes, not shortstops.

How many people work on Froogle? Who works on Froogle?
We don’t disclose that information. Lots of resources are shared across different Google products.

Are you building a customer service team?
We have an online operations team. People do look at feedback. With Froogle, in particular, we’ve worked with the support team to look at problems.

What are your strengths?

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The seventh edition of Froogle News just came out. It’s refreshing to see any news come from the Froogle team…

1. Feed Uploads
“The feedback to our survey question from last quarter was overwhelming: Uploading your FTP feed is the hardest part about getting your products on Froogle. In response, we’ve created a quick and easy alternative for uploading your feed. The Merchant Center upload gives you the ability to upload your feed directly through the Froogle Merchant Center. ”

“No need to sign in to your FTP account or drag and drop your file into Internet Explorer. All you have to do is log in to the Merchant Center, select your feed file, and upload.”

Why does this matter? While you techies out there might be laughing, submitting a product feed through FTP can be so trying that many merchants just give up. This is a much better solution (for some) which I’ll test out in the next couple days. It’s important to note that Froogle is not the only merchant which offers this option.

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