Google Shopping is testing two Shopping Ad Carousels on Mobile
Google look to be testing a new double Google Shopping carousel format on Mobile search results. They are basically two individual carousels that are stacked on top of each other. Google will be looking to push their Shopping ad format testing from now until the end of Q3 before the peak shopping season begins in order to make it work as hard as possible for them, and advertisers.
What does the Google Shopping test look like?
It was first reported by The SEM Post earlier this week:
As you can see, it consist of two elements;
- The regular Product Listing Ad at the top of the format which lists the individual products for the search query
- Shop by Store which is the Showcase Shopping Ad format
The SEM Post also noted that there were no Text Ads underneath the Google Shopping Ad format, so the following search results after the ad format were only organic results. This meant that the only ad formats appearing for this search term were Google Shopping ads, which is interesting given the competitiveness of the search term.
Why are Google looking to test this?
People scroll more on Mobile, so Google can get away with showing you more ads in search results
This week, Google officially launched their “infinite” mobile results pages. Essentially instead of having to go from page to page to get the results you need on Mobile, this new tweek enables you to only click on ‘More Results’ and the additional listings will load below those already being viewed. So essentially, it stops Google have to reload a new page every time; making the experience smoother for the user.
We’ve launched a new “More results” button that makes it easier & faster to get more search results on mobile. Now additional listings load below the ones already being viewed, rather than the old “Next” button that would load an entirely new page…. pic.twitter.com/A4ZMXFlwd0
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) 11 April 2018
Because of this, Google can get away with showing you more ads for the query if it thinks it’s relevant. In the above example by The SEM Post, there may not have been any Text Ads directly underneath the Google Shopping ad but there could have been if the user clicked for “More Results”.
What do you need to do?
For now, this looks to be just a test so you don’t need to take much action. There are a few things that you can do though to help prepare for this if the test becomes the new norm.
Audit your current Google Shopping strategy
If the test is successful, those merchants who utilize both Product Listing Ads and Google Showcase Ads will be the ones to win as they will gain maximum visibility within the ad real estate. Make sure you are utilsing as much of this space as possible by adopting both ad formats.
Credit: Google Adwords, 2018
You can find out more on how to create a Showcase Shopping Ad here.
Here’s a great best practice guide you can use for your Google Shopping campaigns.
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