Google is giving merchants who use the Shopify ecommerce platform a leg up in search results, not only on Google and Google Shopping, but on YouTube, Google Images, and more.
Bill Ready said a new simplified process will let Shopify’s 1.7 million merchants feature their products across Google in just a few clicks, enabling merchants to become discoverable to “high-intent consumers” across its properties.
“As we eliminate barriers like fees and improve our technology, we’ve seen a 70% increase in the size of our product catalog and an 80% increase in merchants on our platform,” Ready said in a blog post as Google kicked off its I/O developers conference today.
People are shopping across Google more than 1 billion times per day, he said. In order to show them the most relevant shopping information, Google must have a deep understanding of the products that appear across Google and in the world around it, from images and videos to online reviews and inventory in local stores.
And it does so though what it calls its “Shopping Graph,” its most comprehensive, real-time dataset about products, inventory and merchants.
“The Shopping Graph is a dynamic, AI-enhanced model that understands a constantly-changing set of products, sellers, brands, reviews and most importantly, the product information and inventory data we receive from brands and retailers directly — as well as how those attributes relate to one another. With people shopping across Google more than a billion times a day, the Shopping Graph makes those sessions more helpful by connecting people with over 24 billion listings from millions of merchants across the web. It works in real-time so people can discover and shop for products that are available right now.”
Cnet, which had spoken to Ready prior to today’s presentation, reported that Google wants to help people make the most informed buying decision and views itself as a partner to all retailers, including Amazon.
Meanwhile TechCrunch noted that today’s news doesn’t mean Shopify is working exclusively with Google – it has integrated with other large platforms including Facebook and TikTok, “and it’s been working with Walmart to expand the retailer’s online marketplace, as well.”
As for Google, Ready said it was also working with brands – “Coming soon, we’ll let you link your favorite loyalty programs from merchants like Sephora to your Google account to show you the best purchase options across Google, helping brands and their customers foster a stronger, more direct relationship.”
Stay tuned – Ready said Google will provide more updates on how it’s working toward bringing customers a better shopping experience at next week’s Google Marketing Live.
What did I tell you ?
Google the Baleen Whale :o)
Has a mouth the size of Rhode Island.
IS eating Ebay and Etsy’s lunch.
way to go google.
now make sure to block all fleecebay garbage