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Google is now testing product images within the free/organic listings. Google has had product images in the AdWords and Google Product Listing Ads for a long time but it is rare to see Google test showing product images within the free listings.
The picture above is from a Moz Help thread, where the user noticed it and asked "Has Google put anything out about this?" Not that I know of.
The listing is actually from an advertiser, and the image matches the product images used in the AdWords PLAs shown above. Do you think Google is using that data, the ad data, to power the image shown in the organic listings? Or is it more of a scheme thing, where Google is testing a new rich snippet?
A Cre8asite Forum thread is debating that right now.
Have you seen product images in the free listings before?
Forum discussion at Cre8asite Forum & Moz Help.
Comments:
Deb Dulal Dey
04/01/2014 12:53 pm
it is showing in Google.co.uk
Mike Tilma
04/01/2014 01:57 pm
I'm not able to see it, but it would make sense for it to be a new rich snippet. It would probably make product-centered searches (by product name, model no., etc) that much better. They're already showing price and whether or not it's in stock, so why not (as long as they get the right picture)?
Durant Imboden
04/01/2014 02:37 pm
If the test is a success, the "product snippets" will probably be like Authorship snippets, with only one or two per page in most instances. That will benefit the lucky merchants who get product snippets, but it will be annoying to the less fortunate merchants who have text-only listings in the organic results. I suspect that product snippets won't become the new norm, if only because so many product shots are boilerplate images. (How does the user benefit from seeing multiple copies of a ski boot, toaster, or router image in the organic results? Especially when that same boilerplate image is also being used in Product Search ad results on the same page?)
Modesto Siotos
04/03/2014 01:55 pm
I've come across these product images appearing for retail and finance websites. I have included several screenshots in this post: http://connect.icrossing.co.uk/google-testing-product-images-in-organic-search_11718