The eagerly awaited “buy button” for Google search ads has finally arrived, called “Purchases On Google” it ironically isn’t a button at all!
“Buy On Google” messages will appear on eligible product listing ads on Android and iOS smartphones.
When a customer clicks on this type of ad, they will be taken to a Google hosted page where the payment is made and is then passed to the retailer.
Currently this feature is only available to a very limited amount of selected retailers.
In addition to Purchases On Google, a number of new Shopping Ad formats were announced.
New Mobile Shopping Ad Formats For Voice Search
When consumers use voice search to find products, Google is experimenting with a new ad format that includes rankings and ratings. Goggle has said that click-through rates has increased by up to 11 percent for retailers on this type of ad format.
Expandable shopping ads
Google revealed that 1 in 5 people swipe to interact with shopping ads, indicating that we as consumers want to learn more. The enhancement looks to expand the shopping ads when swiped, to show information such as product ratings and availability in local stores.
This ad format will be launched on Chrome for Android by the end of this month, with iOS to follow at a later date.
In-Store Cards
Google has said that local shopping ads have been performing well and more will be shown in mobile search results. If a mobile search is performed near a store, a Google “Now in-store” card may appear, which will show information such as opening hours, sales and loyalty card information. The card will also show a “Search Store Inventory” link which will take users to a Google hosted storefront.
Shopping Apps
In an interesting move, Google is pilot testing ads which send consumers to product listings on a retailers app as opposed to their website. Companies currently involved with this test include eBay, Zalando and Flipkart, with more to follow in the forthcoming months.
