Editor’s note: This article was first published in May 2011, reporting on the arrival of Google’s product search in Spanish-speaking countries; the figure of 1.1 billion indexed products is from then. Google moved Shopping to paid listings in 2012 and reintroduced free listings in 2020.
Google has made a big bet on e-commerce with a new platform, Google Shopping, now available in Spanish-speaking countries. The platform lets users find and compare information and prices for products, and see where they can buy them.
At the same time, it helps sellers and consumers get in touch with each other in real time. According to Google’s sales department, the aim is to boost online commerce and make it easier for consumers to compare products before buying them.
Google does not take part in the sale itself; it acts purely as an intermediary between the two sides. It’s a good idea, because as a rule every purchase starts with a Google search, which puts the most relevant pages at the top. Now you’ll be able to search for a product and Google will show you the stores that have it.
We’ve always said that your business should have a presence on social media, but now small businesses and online stores will also need to list their products on this new service to be more visible online.
Without a doubt, this new service makes Google even stronger online against its main competitor, Facebook, not least because it has been done “the Google way”: it is completely free for both consumers and sellers.
Google Shopping currently has more than 1.1 billion products indexed worldwide. Your business should be on this new platform.
Further reading
Featured image: Nenad Stojković, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
