Over recent weeks Google has been preparing for its probable cull of product listings on Google Shopping on 22nd September 2011.
On that date new mandatory criteria are set to be introduced. We have now seen some emails issued by Google warning of the possibility of future feed disapprovals and delisting. These are currently being sent out to e-store owners that have yet to include the pre-requisite mandatory data.
The reasoning behind Google’s recent changes is to enhance the end-user experience by making products easily comparable and offering as much information on them as possible. There have been too many instances in the past of poor results in Google Shopping which have been a function of the lack of quality of the original merchant submissions.
Many e-business owners may not have even been aware of this change until receiving an email from Google so now it is vital to take action to ensure the quality of their feed is high enough to continue being listed.
In the long run the changes in merchant and user experience will be beneficial to users and e-businesses alike, but there are some painful moments ahead for companies using outdated Google Product submissions. Fixing any issues before the deadline will be a must for any business bringing in sizeable volumes of Google Shopping clicks.
Some of what Google ask for sounds simple, but if your system lacks key fields of data, and/or your export does not include the information, then it’s important to review this without delay, and certainly well before potential disapproval.