Have you taken a look at Google Shopping recently? Okay, so it isn’t quite the ecommerce monster that Amazon or eBay are, and yes, it’s only filled with sponsored posts. Playing around with it, however, proves that it provides a decent experience.
And that experience got me thinking. What if, instead of being sponsored ads, Google Shopping completely replaced organic search results for transactional queries? Would this be a better user experience? I would have a comparison of products from multiple retailers without even having to visit a website. Would this be a better experience than just "ten blue links?"
In this post I want to share why I think Google Shopping could replace organic search results in the future, and how websites can begin to prepare for this.
A closer look at Google Shopping
We've already seen evidence of Google trying to keep users within their search engine with local packs, flights, knowledge graphs, and instant answers. What’s to say shopping isn’t next? Google have already been using Google Shopping ads within search results for a while now, and they recently started testing Showcase Shopping ads, increasing the level of product exposure in a search result.
Check out this Google Shopping result for “red shoes” below:
On first impression, this could easily be an organic shopping result.
Google doesn’t make it crystal clear that these are paid ads, only displaying a small notification in the top right. Do users clearly understand that these products and brands are paying to appear here? As the potential customer, does it even matter, as long as I find the red shoes I’m looking for?
If this had been my search result instead of the typical organic search result, it wouldn’t have been a disappointing experience. In fact, Google would be putting me closer to my desired action of actually researching/purchasing red shoes, without me ever needing to leave Google.
Why do I think the long-term plan could be to use the layout of Google Shopping as a replacement for the current organic result? For me, the Google Shopping landing pages offer:
- An overall better user experience than most sites — it has familiarity and loads quickly.
- A range of products from multiple suppliers all in one place.
- Price comparison of multiple suppliers without me having to load multiple domains.
- Easy-to-understand faceted navigation.
- Mobile-friendly — I don’t have to gamble on the search result I’m clicking on.
More intuitive for voice search
This plugs perfectly in with the development and improvements of voice search and the use of compound search queries, which Tom Anthony and myself discussed in Distilled’s Searchscape series.
Here's a previous example of a compound query that Tom Anthony shared at SMX Munich:
I thought I’d test this same process out by trying to find a pair of red shoes using just voice search. The results weren't perfect and, at this time, not a great user experience. However, compare this to Google Shopping results and you'll see where we could be heading in the future with organic results.
Below is how the current search results look for a mobile voice search (on the left) versus search results if you click through to Google Shopping (images on the right).
“Okay Google, show me shoes”
Yup, those are definitely shoes. So far, so good for both results!
| Current SERPs | Shopping SERPS |
|
|
“Okay Google, under £40”
Not quite under £40, but they are shoes within a reasonable price range. Google’s organic results have dropped product listings and are now showing sales pages for shoe stores.
| Current SERPs | Shopping SERPS |
|
|
“Okay Google, in red”
Organic search now lists red shoe landing pages. However, the ads seem way off target, displaying bikes. Google Shopping, on the other hand, is getting pretty close to the product I may be looking to purchase.
| Current SERPs | Shopping SERPS |
|
|
“Okay Google, for men”
Organic continues to show me predominantly men's shoes page results, despite a very specific search query. Compare that to Google Shopping, which now matches the majority of my criteria except price.
| Current SERPs | Shopping SERPS |
|
|
While the above search shows the organic SERPs aren’t producing high-quality results for conversational queries, you can be confident that these types of results will continue to improve. And when they do, the Google Shopping result will produce the best answer to the user's query, getting them to their desired action with the fewest number of clicks.
Time and again we've seen Google attempt to reduce the number of steps it takes for a user to get their answer via features such as car insurance, flight comparison, and instant answers. This seems the logical next step for shopping, as well, once search results are dependable.
Will the user still have to come to my site to complete a transaction?
Initially, yes, the user will have to click through to your page in order to purchase. Currently, Google Shopping allows users to find more information about a product within Google before clicking through to a landing page to complete their purchase.
But in the long run, Google could facilitate the transaction for your business without a user ever hitting a website. We saw Google testing this within paid search back in 2015. And while at the time Google stated they have no intention of becoming a retailer (and I still believe this to be true), we certainly know that Google wants to get the user to complete their goal as quickly and easily as possible, ideally remaining within the Google eco-system.
Google Shopping testing instant purchase
What could this mean for webmasters?
A change such as this could be a double-edged sword for businesses. If Google decided to rank your product more prominently than competitors, its ease of use could see an uplift in sales. The downside? If Google decided to monetize this feature, they could look to take a cut from any sales, similar to Amazon and eBay.
Secondly, we would have to refine the way we measure traffic to our site (or not). It's likely that measurement would have to be based on impressions and conversions rather than sessions. Based on the current reporting format available for Google Shopping, users may have access to clicks and click-through rate, but as no actual data is being passed to Google Analytics this would likely be reported within Google Search Console.
Of course, we'd still want ranking reports, as well. Rank tracking companies such as GetStat and SEMRush would have to adapt their products to track product listings in the same way that we've seen them improve tracking for local packs and structured data over the last 12 months.
How could we prepare for this?
Preparation for a world where Google looks like this falls into two buckets: what you should do if you own the physical products, and what you should do if you don’t (for example, if you’re an affiliate site).
If you own the product:
If you own the product (for example, you stock and sell TVs), then you should be looking to give Google as much information about your products as possible to ensure they have the optimal opportunity to appear within search engine results. Ensure product pages are well-optimized so Google understands the product being displayed. Most importantly, we recommend you get structured data in place (Google’s current preference is for webmasters to use JSON-LD).
There may also be immediate benefits, such as getting more rich snippets within search results and an increased opportunity of being featured in answer boxes (and leapfrogging competitors), but this will help future-proof your site.
Want to know more about JSON-LD? I recommend taking a read of the following resources:
- Google’s introduction to structured data
- Distilled consultant Bridget Randolph discusses how to audit for structured data opportunities
- BuiltVisible’s guide to Microdata, JSON-LD & Schema
Additionally, we need to start looking higher up the funnel and creating content that will make users come back. I know, I hate saying it, but we have to produce great content! I'll discuss how The Wirecutter has been approaching this in just a moment.
Further down the pipeline, if Google decided it can handle processing user transactions within Google itself, you'll want to consider opening up your checkout as an API. This was a requirement in Google’s paid experiment and, as such, could be a necessity to appear here in the future.
If you don’t own the product & are an affiliate or review site, etc.
Ranking for both transactional and information search queries could become even more difficult. It may even become impossible to rank for very specific long-tail search terms.
The recommendations don’t differ too much from above. We should still get structured data in place to reap the rewards now and start producing great content that sits higher up the funnel.
Producing great and useful content
Will Critchlow recently introduced me to The WireCutter as one of his go-to websites. This is a site that's taken product research to an extreme. With extremely in-depth articles about which products users should buy, they take the thought process out of "which product should I buy?" and instead, based on my needs, say, “Don’t worry about doing any more research, we've done it for you. Just buy this one."
I’ve recently purchased a range of products from pens to printers based on their recommendations. They've created useful content — which, after numerous purchases, I now trust — and as a result encourages me to return to their site over and over again.
To finish up, I'd love to hear your thoughts:
- How might the future of ecommerce look?
- How have you been using voice search, particularly compound and revised queries?
- Do you think Google Shopping replacing the current organic search layout would provide an improved user experience?
Reach out to me in the comments below or over on Twitter — @the_timallen.
Hi Tim
I have in the marketing plan my e-commerces platforms like Amazon or Ebay marketplace, but Google Shopping only know what hearsay. After reading this article I am seriously considering this option. I find it so interesting that I think in a few months could displace other marketplace ...
Thank you very much for the information
Interesting, but these make me think as google as a monopolist, i think that could cross a line for business and in many countries not allow it.
I do think that Google is going to continue to look for ways to take the friction out of online purchasing. Simple ways like the Chrome browser auto-filling credit card and shipping information and the extreme version being "Purchases on Google". But as some of the other commenters suggested, Google will probably be happy enough in taking a chunk of the transaction fees (Android Pay/Google Wallet/something new) plus the existing Google Shopping CPCs.
At our ecommerce agency, our clients typically see about one-third the conversion rate on mobile as desktop (those with the best mobile sites see closer to one-half), so Google knows that if they can help positively influence the conversion rate on mobile (and potentially on desktop too) they will see online retailers investing even more into Google Shopping. If "Purchases on Google" significantly boosts conversion rates marketers (with competitive prices) will be happy to use it even if they can't try to up-sell them on other items.
There were a few references to Google's legal battles in Europe, but with Amazon Sponsored Products, the biggest online marketplace is also quickly becoming pay-to-play, especially if you have a new product. It's Google's search engine just like it's Amazon's search engine/marketplace, so they can put as many ads as they want on it. I'm not an EU lawyer, but of the articles I've read I'm not sure what legal grounds these countries stand on.
Whilst this was an interesting, and well written article. Google decided not to play as a retailer in the travel vertical years ago. They realised they would end up making more money with ads than transactions , but they also decided to be ready for a possible change. One good question is whether they will apply one single strategy or segment this based on the nature of different verticals.
IMHO "future" is an heavy word.
None would buy something without casting an eye on a website, unless it reads AMAZON, Argos etc. And this will be for years (over 10 at least)
So this a tricky situation as you can have three different approaches to Google shopping:
What you said works flawlessly with the second group, but at the end of the day the other two groups will probably use G.S. in the smartest way possible: to further compare online prices. That's why I would suggest something slightly different to catch them.
If your price is higher than the average a comparison site won't generate great conversions. In addition, the ecom shop brand is very important, I personally give around £30 of advantage to Amazon and other "Big Names" as they have stored my cards and info, they sure at 100% and no hassles for returns and refunds.
Unless I can save more than that sum, I choose Amazon.
A few month ago I did buy a new TV. To do it I used a combination of G.S. and PriceSpy, the iOs App. That gave me the chance to monitor a wider range of sites as not all ecom are on G.S. and other comparison platforms and save at that time between to £90 and £150 (cost of same model at Argos and Currys)
The shop with the best price was on G.A. not on PriceSpy. The purchase was OK and they supplied an amazing customer service. Since that day when I think to buy something I cast an eye on that site, although, so far I haven't found anything else so convenient.
What I meant? That if you see G.A. as comparison table that shows up when do an organic search, you'll be able to use it in combination with SEO but you don't need to optimize anything (I tested the G.S. ads those pages don't have any MARKUP if you pay you'll go there), you need the SEO to forecast hot products to discount.
E.g. if you know that the PSVR among your products will be the hottest of the the day/week, by cutting the price to be ahead of your competition on G.S. you will catch people of any group. You (your site) will also end in the bookmark of someone who just found your price great (the more a product cost the more likely you need time to make your mind to go ahead and buy)
Cheers
PP
Thanks for the topic, very interesting
Google decided not to play as a retailer in the travel vertical years ago. They realised they would end up making more money with ads than transactions , but they also decided to be ready for a possible change.
One good question is whether they will apply one single strategy or segment this based on the nature of different verticals
Whilst this was an interesting, and well written article. the concepts that you suggest are rather depressing.
the thought of a massive multinational cornering the actual shopping experience, and edging out organic results is utterly utterly depressing.
I enjoyed this article Tim, thanks.
About 8 years ago or so, it did seem that the heavyweights (Amazon, eBay & Google) were squaring up to each other regarding channels / E-Commerce when Google Shopping & Google Checkout were rolling out.
Although I have mixed feelings on paid listings continuing to replace organic, the use of quality score affecting ad rank should at least mean that users can benefit from decent quality / relevant listings & ads.
Regards,
Steve
To maintain profits, companies have to do their best at sacking the middleman. Creating a community that recommends your products and gets people directly to your website is the cheapest option.
There is no wonder that the whole of Europe in suing Google. It's highly un-ethical of what it is doing with e-commerce. Brands have no choice but to pay Google, or let their Amazon distributors chisel away their profits. Its frankly very disgusting and I hope Google is sued properly for this and made to pay trillions its stealing in connivance with its partners in crime (read advertisers) from Brands.
This is seriously awesome and eCommerce merchants should be welcoming it with open arms - especially smaller merchants who haven't invested in CRO to get a good return from their current ad spend. It does make we wonder through - What else is Google going to try and cut the middle man out of...
Interesting. Do you think that VR devices like oculus rift would revolutionize the whole buying experience of users online?
Hi Tim,
it is so realistic point you are declared for google shopping website each and every points are understandable for new user . you are mention basic points which is so important and you are also mention preparation of these sites ,
thanks for this blog .
Facebook is testing a shop section on pages too. This could mean another way for customers to buy your products without entering your site, directly from the social network. Currently there are shop platforms like Shopify and Ecwid where you can create an online shop with integration on your Facebook Page.
Undoubtedly, the giant of google takes busy webmasters. In my opinion, if he becomes a distributor, may pose a danger to current e-commerce. The user will get used to using this tool instead of visiting more often your site, reducing traffic and therefore sales.
Webmasters have to prepare for this possible change in the landscape of ecommerce.
An interesting idea, but I doubt one that will feature highly on Google's list of priorities. The first issue is establishing intent in a user's query and certainly something vague like 'red shoes' is unlikely to be discerned as an intent to buy. For those wanting to window shop, the 'Shopping' submenu in Google's search results provides a perfectly good option to view the paid ads. - and I think most people soon realise that's what they are, and that in consequence the results they see are only a narrow subset of possible results. I liken it to in-store concessions, where brands can target customers through a trusted retailer.
Having made a quick search using the phrase 'I want to buy a tv' via Google Shopping I was presented with an assortment of shopping categories, including Perfume and Cologne, Action and Toy figures and Multimedia projectors so it would seem that Google still has some way to go in disambiguating user's intent, let alone presenting the best possible user experience. Applying human intelligence does, as Pierpaolo and others said, provide a useful comparison feature. But with Amazon (and eBay and others) currently providing a far superior(?) shopping channel Google will need to provide user's with a different model than its current Shopping channel, I suspect, to attract both customers and more retailers.
It's an interesting concept, and one which certainly makes sense from a business perspective for Google, although given some of the push back on their level of control by the EU (for example), it may be a step too far at the moment...
As people have said above, there's still a desire to browse (and something which works far better on specific brand sites than on the likes of Amazon, for example, which does a fairly terrible job of a pleasant browsing experience).
There's also a potential growing issue which is the trust in the selected retailers - from experience I know that I'm more likely to buy from an Amazon third party if I can find out more information about them, often from a website in addition to reviews. And that's unlikely to change whether it's Google or Amazon aggregating sellers. The only way for Google to potentially tackle that would require a similar set-up to Amazon fulfillment, which would be expensive to create, and wouldn't make sense until self-driving cars can perform the deliveries at this stage....
Suprised you didn't mention Amazon who are bigger than Google for shopping right now and realistically its a battle with them than this system, whilst the tech may be there if users are not using or trusting it it may not work.
shopping is one of the most interesting subjects these days.
can I use your topics in my website? of course I'll mention your site name as source.
mondbala
[Link removed by editor.]
I think google is going to go for the payment methods, so we will have to pay them a cut for each transaction. It's very obvious this is their next move.
That look like facebook, I think buy anymore never easy
Great piece Tim, thanks. Predicting the future is always a bit of a fool's errand, so kudos for you for being brave enough to put your ideas out there.
One question I have is around 'show-rooming' for advice. Depending on the product many consumers are price-led. They will consume reviews and make their choice, then almost start that journey again, going from a search for "Red shoes" to a new search series for "Red adidas classic canvas shoes men's size 10". Where do sites (like the excellent Wirecutter in your example) fit into this model? And how do they get a cut of the sale for their efforts? Attribution is a difficult thing to factor anyway. Attribution in this model could be tangled beyond belief.
If they don't/can't work this out – what is the ROI in offering this review service/content?
Thanks for the mention, Tim!
Having generated a lot of ecommerce sales primarily off of Shopify...I can't say I see this happening anytime soon. People love to browse when they shop. You can see it in the various pages they browse and visit on any unique visit...and in their average cart size. They might want Red Shoes...and sure there are some that might simply just want red shoes and they buy and leave. But right now I feel people (myself included) enjoy the shopping experience and want to see 'what else is out there'. So I may want Red Shoes...but I'm also interested in seeing if there is a shirt to match...or maybe a cool bracelet, etc. Until Google provides a 'Complete' shopping experience I think we're a ways off from worrying about Google dominating the organic results with just single products...I still want to go to a website and 'shop around'.
Ibelieve that google have to do the transition very carefully. Not all the people search for product and if the results are negatives, it would be a bad experience.
could it be profitable for google to compete with amazon or Ebay?