Google Shopping launching in Israel next month

Google Photo: Shutterstock
Google Photo: Shutterstock

Azrieli and Super-Pharm will be among the first companies with Google Shopping links to their websites.

Sources inform "Globes" that on May 7, search engine company Google will launch Google Shopping, a feature on its search results page that includes links for buying products according to the search words typed by web surfers.

Google will charge money for advertising on Google Shopping, and wants to include referrals to websites of all types: large and small, Israeli and international. Clicking on each link puts the surfer on the shopping page. The advertisement includes a picture of the product, its price, and opinions about it written by web surfers.

Google Shopping already operates in 37 countries. As of now, the service in Israel is in the pilot stages, and the advertisements appear to 1-2% of surfers. The Azrieli.com portal and Super-Pharm's website are among the customers who will inaugurate the feature in Israel.

Test and adaptation to the market

The commercial model of marketers using Google Shopping is similar to that for ordinary advertisements, based on pricing according to bidding (auction). The marketers are required to pay in order to appear above competitors. For example, if a given advertiser set a price of NIS 5 per click, a competing advertiser can pay NIS 6 and appear above the first advertiser.

It is easy to understand why Google is appealing to this sector. For many surfers, including in Israel, the process of buying many products begins with a Google search, and Google Shopping enables the company to expand its presence in ecommerce. The company also operates the Google Flights feature, an engine for comparing flight ticket prices that is not yet available in Israel.

There is a similar shopping advertisements model on Facebook (DPA). The differences between the two services are largely psychological. While the results of a Google search come from an active search by the surfer, who therefore largely accepts the shopping advertisements with understanding, the advertisements on Facebook are pushed onto the page, based on what the company knows about the surfer.

For both companies, the magic word is personal and optimal adaptation to the surfer, so that surfers do not waste time reading irrelevant advertisements. If Google Shopping is successful in the Israeli market, it will mark an important change in the digital advertising sector.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 16, 2018

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2018

Google Photo: Shutterstock
Google Photo: Shutterstock
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