In today’s digital era, Google is pivotal in connecting consumers with businesses. As one of the leading search engines, Google constantly updates its features and tools to enhance the user experience. One such recent google merchant center update is the product data specification update, aimed at improving the online shopping journey for both consumers and merchants. In this blog post, we will delve into the details of this update and explore its implications for online businesses.
What is Merchant Center Update?
The Merchant Center Update is a significant revamp of Google’s merchant tools and features. It encompasses various improvements and additions designed to make it easier for businesses to showcase their products and reach their target audience effectively.
Starting on April 9, 2024, Google introduced several new features and add-ons to its Merchant Center to help businesses use the platform better and more efficiently. In the below section, we have briefly explained these features along with the benefits merchants will receive upon utilization.
Key Features and Benefits of Google Merchant Center Update:
Product data specification attributes for AI-generated content
Any content, including titles and descriptions of different products that will be generated using the AI tools, needs to have additional specification attributes in the metadata and schema markup language. This will help the crawler algorithm to identify between the human and AI-generated content with ease and accordingly index the website.
- [structured_title] must be added to any product title generated using the AI tool.
- For AI-generated product descriptions, the attribute to be added in the metadata is [structured_description].
Apart from this, three new tags have been introduced for different types of image links that are generated through the AI software. These are [image_link] for general product links, [additional_image_link] for any additional link directing towards the product image, and [lifestyle_imge_link] for pictures related to the lifestyle changes to be introduced by the product.
Minimum pricing algorithms
Since merchants often need to deal with discounts, minimum pricing structures, and other such elements to accurately deal with the finances, Google has introduced a new attribute for its Merchant Center. [auto_pricing_min_price] is the attribute that merchants can add to their product pricing description while uploading the details on Google.
It will help them to set the minimum advertised price (MAP), a threshold limit to which the product’s market price can be reduced after giving automated discounts. Additionally, this attribute will also indicate Google accurately use features like dynamic promotions, automated discounts, and sale price suggestions for merchants.
Loyalty program attribute
Once the loyalty program is configured on the Merchant Center, Google pulls the data and generates the loyalty points for every customer associated with your business. However, to do so accurately, the new attribute of [loyalty_program] has been introduced. Once you use this, Google will be able to generate loyalty points and member prices with higher accuracy and precision, thereby helping you to retain customers in the long run.
Attributes for installment-based offers on products
If you are dealing in a business where customers can purchase any product in the installment format, it’s time to incorporate the new feature from Google Merchant Center. Once you add the attribute, it will notify Google that customers can pay either a certain portion of the total price as an upfront investment using the [price] tag or in the form of “n” number of installments using the [installment] attribute.
Also, you can use the sub-attribute for installment-based pricing structures, known as [downpayment] that will specify if the product can be purchased by using a certain percentage as the initial upfront payment. Another sub-attribute is the [credit_type] with two allowable values to define the type of credit customers can avail for vehicle advertisements. The allowable options for credit will be [finance] and [lease].
Free shipping threshold definition
Available for all countries, the minimum shipping fee to be charged can be automatically defined in the product description by using the attribute [free_shipping_threshold]. It will indicate the minimum order value after which the shipping charges will be eliminated from the final invoice.
Pickup offers
Also, merchants can offer pickup options to their customers for different products, especially for local businesses. The [pickup_method] when enabled will automatically provide two options to the customers, namely pickup today and pickup later. Customers can select the option par their convenience without having to worry about the purchase.
Conclusion:
Google’s Merchant Experience Update brings significant improvements to the tools and features available to online businesses. These updates to Google Merchant Center aim to improve both merchant and customer experiences by adding greater flexibility, precision, and customization in product listings.
By introducing attributes for AI-generated content, dynamic pricing, loyalty programs, installment payments, and shipping options, Google is helping merchants manage complex product details more accurately. This not only streamlines product data management but also enhances the relevancy and transparency of information presented to consumers. Overall, these changes reflect Google’s commitment to supporting merchants with tools that increase efficiency, improve engagement, and ultimately drive better business outcomes.
