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Google’s shopping ad tweaks give advertisers a shot at the top of the page in Europe

Following a massive anti-trust case from the European Union, Google announced yesterday that it was making some big changes to shopping advertisements in search results.

Product advertising is a big deal for any business and with Google, it’s a core part of its advertising revenue. Before this change, product searches were commonly given a list of products on Google Shopping rather than paid ads from retailers and manufacturers. This is something the EU saw as an “illegal advantage” and demanded the company change this.

To comply with those demands, the Google Shopping “carousel” is being changed to include ads paid for by various advertisers, at least in EEA countries and Switzerland. Google Shopping ads will also be listed here, but they’ll be bidding right alongside those buyers, just like what was reported earlier this week.

Starting today, Comparison Shopping Services have a new opportunity to use Shopping ads to advertise on Google.com in EEA countries1 and Switzerland on behalf of retailers they represent. Google Shopping in these countries will operate in the same manner, bidding alongside Comparison Shopping Services on equal terms. If you run a Comparison Shopping Service and are interested in learning more, visit our help center.

European retailers of all sizes will still be able to reach consumers using the same Google Shopping tools and insights they use today. And as shopping intent begins to rise for the holiday season, we’ll keep launching new innovations that make Shopping ads work even better for everyone.

Google says these changes take effect today in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.


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