Google Product Ads Beta?

Someone who’d like to remain anonymous forwarded an email from Google, confidentially referring to a product called “Google product ads beta”. From the mail:

We are pleased to invite you to participate in an exciting beta program with the Google Affiliate Network to show product ads on Google. Product ads are paid product listings that appear when users search for products on Google. Through participation in the Google Affiliate Network product ads beta program, you can promote your products to users actively searching for your products and pay only when users make a purchase on your site.

This opportunity is a very tangible benefit of the integration of our affiliate platform into Google. Google is constantly experimenting with new features and visuals to improve ad effectiveness and advance the end user experience.

Google product ads will feature product specific information directly in the ad such as price and product image. During the beta program, Google will be testing to identify the most effective ad formats. Google product ads will complement standard text ads on Google.com and will run independently during the beta. All reports on the performance of Google product ads can be seen through your Google Affiliate Network account.

The Google product ads beta program relies on your Google Base feed. Minimum pricing is your standard publisher rate, plus the network fee. To maximize your competitiveness among advertisers participating in product ads, you are encouraged to increase the CPA rate for your product ads relationship.

The FAQ goes on to say (my embolding):

Where would my product appear on Google?
Your product would appear as Sponsored Links on Google when users search for products that match the items in your feed. Beta testing is for US / English.

How much does it cost?
You specify the commission rate for conversions that take place via clicks on Google product ads. Minimum pricing is your standard publisher rate, plus the network fee. To maximize your competitiveness among advertisers participating in product ads, we recommend a higher commission with the Google product ads relationship.

How do I see reports during the beta testing?
Through your Google Affiliate Network account, you will see reports for Google similar to other tracking publisher reports. Please keep in mind that our initial experiments will be limited to a small percentage of traffic until our full launch.

Do product feeds need to be submitted through Google Base?
Yes, these ads use information from your Google Base product feed. Google Affiliate Network is integrating with Google Base to create product ads with trackable product links.

How do these ads compare with free product listings via Google Base?
Product ads appear as a Sponsored Links on the page and Google will use a variety of prominent placements and additional display options to optimize and drive targeted traffic to your product ads. You pay only for qualified conversions that take place through Google product ads. Product listings that appear in the search results will continue to be free.

How do these ads different from AdWords text ads?
Product ads represent individual offers with product information directly in the ad itself. Unlike keyword targeted text ads, product ads appear when the user’s query matches information provided in your product feed. During the beta, product ads are shown independently from text ads.

Can I add keywords to my ads?
No. Google categorizes and matches the items from your product feed to the user’s search query for you. Please make sure your product information is complete and accurate in your product feed to Google Base.

How are these ads ranked?
Ad Rank = Commission × Quality Score. The quality score takes into account the relevance of your product to the user’s query, conversion rate of the query and the matched product ad on Google, your account history, and other relevant factors.

[Thanks Anonymous!]

Original Post by Philipp Lenssen

D & D Media Group E-Commerce google base, google product ads

E-Commerce

seowordplay E-Commerce D & D Media Group, E-Commerce, e-mail marketing, internet, S.E.O, shopping cart websites

“Organizations will become both smaller and bigger at the same time; they will be flatter, more flexible, and more dispersed…Life will be unreasonable in the sense that we shall have to make things happen for us rather than wait for them to happen.” Charles Handy, British academic, business consultant and author.

For businesses there are many advantages to using e-commerce; one of the greatest advantages is that online commerce is a great equalizer, allowing small businesses to compete on an even playing field with larger businesses. However, do not take on the big players; you need to differentiate yourself from them. For small businesses it is essential that a site is created and then registered properly, so that it shows up on premier search engines and other sites that attract your target market. It is equally important that, if you are on a premier search engine, you show up on the first or second page of search results, because most people are unlikely to look any further. Either you need to learn the necessary skills to achieve this, or pay someone with sufficient IT capability.

Having a website up and running is not the end of the matter, the site and business still needs to stand out from the crowd; that is, it needs to communicate your competitive advantage. With more flexibility than larger counterparts, small businesses can usually successfully compete in a niche product area, in a niche location, or in a niche service . D-Mediastore is a good example of a company providing a niche service in a niche location. Being located in Columbus Ohio and offering CD Duplication and DVD Duplication Services gives D-Mediastore an advantage over larger companies who may not focus on a smaller city like Columbus Ohio. Another example is D & D Media Group, also located in Columbus Ohio. D & D Media Group offers Columbus Ohio website design, E-Commerce website design, and Ohio Internet Marketing. D & D Media Group follows the sample lead as D-Mediastore offering web services in a niche location.

The point is to make sure you have focused on a particular market, and that you can serve it better than the bigger players. Specialised sites, focusing on a particular good or service or with a good understanding of their market are most likely to benefit from word-of-mouth promotion and have better chances of being found by search engines. Real Groovy is a great example of combining niche products and an understanding of the local market. Real Groovy, the record store has some of the largest physical music stores in the country, but also has a website that covers 18,000 titles, both new and used; but their greatest success was their ability to make money from their site after one month!

It is important that small businesses market their websites offline through traditional media, as well as online. Your business’ URL (website address) should appear in all communication produced by your business; it should be in your print and broadcast advertisements, on your letterheads, emails and business cards. Your URL should be included in all white and yellow page listings. If your product has packaging - put it on your package. If you print brochures, put it on those. Put your web address on everything!

In addition to more invasive offline advertising, you will need some internet marketing, which (thankfully) is just as cost-effective and efficient for little businesses as for the big players. E-Commerce Times reports that opt-in e-mail programs have been found to be effective in helping small businesses attract targeted and interested customers to their sites. Note though that we are not talking about email spam, or unsolicited commercial email, which often backfires and repels potential customers. Once the visitors arrive at your site, appropriate website technology can offer personalized service, track orders, handle returns and perform other essential tasks. If you provide good personalized customer service, particularly following-up to ensure customers got what they wanted; you will build a loyal customer base and will begin to see repeat purchasing!

D & D Media Group E-Commerce cd and dvd duplication, D & D Media Group, E-Commerce, Website Design