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Alphabet Inc.’s chief subsidiary Google revealed Tuesday that merchants can soon have free listings on its Google Shopping tab.
No-cost listings will become available in the United States next week and elsewhere before the end of 2020, Bill Ready, president of commerce at Mountain View, Calif.-based Google, said in a blog post. Ready, formerly chief operating officer at PayPal Holdings Inc., portrayed the development as another counter-measure for merchants hit hard by the new coronavirus, or Covid-19 pandemic, especially those with brick-and-mortar operations that are now closed.
“The retail sector has faced many threats over the years, which have only intensified during the coronavirus pandemic,” Ready said in his post. “With physical stores shuttered, digital commerce has become a lifeline for retailers.”
Merchants typically pay to advertise on Google Shopping by bidding to get the most prominent placements. Google, which was planning to add a free component to Google Shopping even before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, will continue with paid ads for some Google Shopping placements and on its many other platforms that include Buy on Google and YouTube.
“For retailers, this change means free exposure to millions of people who come to Google every day for their shopping needs,” Ready said. “For shoppers, it means more products from more stores, discoverable through the Google Shopping tab. For advertisers, this means paid campaigns can now be augmented with free listings.”
Ready also said Google plans to make the onboarding of new merchants on Google Shopping easier by enabling them, if they already accept PayPal as a payment option, to link their Google and PayPal accounts. This linkage will spare merchants from having to enter data with Google if it’s already on file with PayPal.
“Solutions during this crisis will not be fast or easy, but we hope to provide a measure of relief for businesses and lay the groundwork for a healthier retail ecosystem in the future,” Ready said.
E-commerce researcher Thad Peterson, a senior analyst at Boston-based Aite Group LLC, says the connection with PayPal “is a really logical evolution, particularly with Bill Ready at the helm at Google. It adds a very popular payment alternative to a merchant’s offering, potentially increasing sales,” Peterson tells Digital Transactions News by email. “It increases PayPal’s transaction volume, and it creates a powerful online alternative to Amazon and Apple.”
