Since March 2023, many merchants reported a significant drop in free shopping traffic, sparking considerable discussion within the Shopify community. The issue’s magnitude was so extensive that I contacted community managers with Google Ads for further insight.
Regrettably, the feedback received was less than ideal – they asserted that the service in question was a complimentary, optional feature and, as such, was not accompanied by customer support. As the connections at Google Ads Community could not assist, the only available course of action was to enhance the data feed to the best of our capabilities. Unfortunately, this endeavor yielded no noticeable improvements.
However, on the 14th of July, 2023, a reversal of fortunes was observed – the traffic for all free listings was starting to come back. This indicated that Google had addressed the issue, although the exact root cause of the problem remains obscure. Given the circumstances, it seems unlikely that we will ever unearth the precise origin of this technical disruption.
