New York – Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced on Tuesday the launch of the new Showcase Shopping ads, aimed to make it easier for users to find the products they’re looking for. The PLA works even when the search query is broad and generic. The new updates also improved hotel and flights searches. The update arrives forward to the coming holiday season.
Google says that over 40% of product searches make use of broad and imprecise terms, and search results would not always satisfy the user with the Product Listing Ads (PLA) displaying few specific items. Now, the Showcase Shopping ads will let the customer search through a wide variety of products from different brands, in a more visual and satisfying way, especially for the mobile platform. The enterprise mentioned that mobile searches have been increasing 30% every year.
Showcase Shopping ads will be available for all merchants running Shopping Campaigns in the US, UK, and Australia. Merchants will have the possibility to customize how their brand appears in a premium version of the Showcase ads. Google is improving the mobile experience as its usage keeps increasing, particularly for travel research and booking.
The new feature also helps users with hotel and flight searches
According to the company, during the first quarter of 2016, portable travel sites reached about 40% of the total travel web traffic. Mobile conversion rates have also grown about 10%. For the coming holiday season, Google is offering a series of new features to facilitate flight and hotel bookings.
The new Hotel Smart Filters will allow users to delimit their search as they specified prices, ratings, preferences or special needs, so they find their perfect hotel for them. This option is currently available only in the United States, but it is expected to reach a global level soon. The Hotel Deals feature will automatically show customers what hotels are offering discounts or significantly lower prices so that they can pick the most suitable deals. Real-time tips will also be provided to users, letting them know when better rates are available.
TrueView for shopping got a couple of updates for brands and customers
The TrueView for shopping feature, introduced earlier this year by Google, improved viewers’ experience while looking of for information of a product through YouTube, and buying products while watching ads.
After a 50% increase of usage by advertisers since January, Google has introduced the Companion banner. An interactive banner will appear in the video, so customers can scroll through the brand’s products while the video is playing. The new Product picker will allow advertisers to choose which products will display in the TrueView campaign.
As for global availability, Google is working on offering the new updates around the globe. The company is also working on a tool which will allow people from Australia, Switzerland, Canada and the UK perform currency conversions. This way, customers can see the product prices in their local currencies while the advertiser’s website stills the same.
Source: Google Blog