Google launched a curated shopping microsite called the Best Things for Everything Guide, “a microsite that highlights 1,000 products based on what’s popular on the web, so you can easily find great choices.”
In announcing the site, Google said:
“For the next several weeks, you can browse the site and discover products, or choose from one of eight product categories, ranging from tech to home to parenting. Looking for a better way to start your morning? You can browse top coffee makers to help get your day started. Want a better way to unwind at night? We’ve highlighted the best pillows to give you a good night’s rest.
“Once you’ve found a product you like, just tap to find more information on the product description page, including prices, reviews and places to buy.”
Google’s new guide is making some of its content partners nervous. Tech site Mashable, which offers advertisers branded content, wrote about the new Google guide and said, “If you’re a regular Mashable reader, you know we’ve been doing this kind of research, curation, and recommendation for years, as have other publications.”
Mashable added, “Most of the products in the Best Things for Everything Guide actually include editorial reviews from some of the publications you read and trust.”
Paid content, native advertising, and affiliate relationships are an important revenue source for many of even the biggest, mainstream publications. As for Mashable, it literally begged readers not to forget its in-depth buying guides and product reviews when starting their shopping.
You can find Google’s new Shopping Guide on this page of Shopping.Google.com.
It’s Lame :
https://shopping.google.com/m/bestthings/
For my fee of $500K I will introduce the world to a Very Pleasant, Intuitive, Navigable, Memorable shopping experience.
Storyboard it and execute it.
I actually feel the site isn’t meeting my goals. When I looked up laptops I wasn’t impressed with their selection. Acer has a $620 laptop with a dedicated graphics card which beats everything on their list.