Google announced this morning the introduction of Shopping Actions. Google say this program "gives customers an easy way to shop your products on the Google Assistant and Search with a universal cart, whether they’re on mobile, desktop or even a Google Home device."
Before Google announced it, Reuters published an article that got a lot of attention but confuses the topic.
People are thinking that Google organic search will let people buy products and Google will get a cut of those sales. The answer is no, Google is not doing this through organic search. Reuters wrote:
Under a new program, retailers can list their products on Google Search, as well as on the Google Express shopping service, and Google Assistant on mobile phones and voice devices.In exchange for Google listings and linking to retailer loyalty programs, the retailers pay Google a piece of each purchase, which is different from payments that retailers make to place ads on Google platforms.
This is not exactly correct.
The Google blog post explains that this is a Google Shopping feature, an ad feature, not an organic feature. Yes, this works across Google Assistant with voice shopping. Shopping Actions uses a pay-per-sale model, meaning you only pay when a sale actually takes place, Google explained.
Here is their diagram of where it works, and you can see how people will confuse it with Google Search organic:
Danny Sullivan has been trying to clear up some of the confusion:
It's almost certainly confusion with Reuters saying "Google Search" rather than "Google Shopping." See also here: https://t.co/oUURfGfCU4
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) March 19, 2018
I'm checking on this, but I'm 99% sure that Reuters used "Google Search" as shorthand for "Google Shopping" which isn't organic search at all. You're making an assumption that isn't confirmed and almost certainly isn't right. I'll come back more in the AM.
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) March 19, 2018
Techmeme has a lot of coverage on this but sadly, the confusion is already out there.
The big news, this is really Google's first big push into voice shopping and it was layered in so much confusion.
Forum discussion at Twitter and WebmasterWorld.
Update: Google confirms there is no organic side of this announcement:
This is about ads only: "Shopping Actions appear within the sponsored Shopping Unit on the Google Search page, and on https://t.co/fpO7sY12HM. No organic rankings are impacted or changed." https://t.co/HOozThC6RG
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) March 19, 2018
