[beta] Free Shopping Listings On Google.com (Web Search Main Page)

Google is now testing free listings on web search, the main page where you search. Free shopping listings have been limited to the shopping tab for many years, resulting in limited traffic if you are also advertising.

It now seems Google is gearing up to show free listings underneath the shopping ads.

With free listings, you would only receive 5% to 6% on the shopping tabs when shopping ads are enabled. However, if shopping ads are disabled and dependent on other merchants, you could get much more traffic. This new feature will provide outstanding results with free listings on the main search page.

Prepare your account and enable conversion tracking for free listings on Google Analytics 4.

Not all search terms trigger free listings, according to Google’s article and Glenn Gabe, who first discovered it on Twitter. Google indicated it only works for search terms that contain Shop, and Glenn found it also works with the search term best. Indicating the intent is the initial search where users are unsure what they are looking for.

While doing some tests, I received different results. For example, I searched for shop iPhone cases which provided the results, but also, when I searched for iphone wallet cases or iphone 14 wallet cases.

This indicates that Google is displaying the free listings based on users’ research intent.

I went one step further and tried to search for a specific branded term. When I searched for jimmycase iphone 14 wallet cases I found that halfway down the page, it also showed free shopping listings.

During the beta test, Google is not limiting the free listings to only research search terms, which seems to indicate they will appear for many more search terms.

I’m excited about this, and I will be double-checking my client’s data feeds for improvements.

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