The rollout and effectiveness of Google Checkout and the positive response it has had from online merchants have made the usually clever, gimmicky search engine giant roll up sleeves and talk the kind of talk merchants like to hear.
Froogle, Google's online product search side which allowed eCommerce companies to upload CSV files of their products so they could be indexed better has now been renamed to Google Product Search.
This is an acknowledgment of Google's brand power and also a nod towards eCommerce online business which until now have played Google?s game. The fact that Google Checkout has been so well received has now made it a two-way street.
Google wants its Checkout Cart to be successful and it needs it to be more widely implemented and respected. It also, naturally, enough, wants to use its already sizeable and so far underused online product side integrate more closely with its online cart and the only way to do this is to start linking it more closely with what it really is in the online searchers minds.
Froogle, or what was formerly Froogle was taken up enthusiastically by online business eager to capitalize on Google's reach and power to pull in online searches but was less eagerly used by searchers themselves who did not clearly understand what it was or what it did.
Google explained it all and marketed it in their usual understated way. This is all now changing. The shift is subtle but important and it sends a clear message: Google is committed to helping online business become more successful because it all is closely integrated with the success of its online advertising business.
Two very important developments follow this shift. First, Google Products Search results will start to appear in the one box area above Google's organic search engine page results. The one box area, is reserved for unpaid, highly specialized listings which are very relevant to a particular search, and also pulls in results from Google News.
The other shift is to allow searchers going through Google Product Search the option to see those results which offer a Google Checkout button. This signals a very targeted, purchase-orientated audience and a closer, online integration of Google Checkout and Google Products Search which should benefit those who implement it, even at this early stage.
This also sees a revamp of Google Base which allows merchants and general information providers to enter sufficient information that it then shows up organically in Google's main search engine site.
Unlike most vertical marketing companies which encourage their users to go first to the specialized site Google are repositioning themselves, weaving a subtle, complicated web of interactivity with Google.com at its heart.
They have used the latest Mintel findings which show that 80% of the online population looking for a particular product, from a house to a bicycle start with a major search engine.
This now puts the onus of a site's performance on the online business owner's ability to understand SEO implications, create sufficiently information-rich feeds and listings that what he enters in Google Product Search and Google Base actually benefits from the traffic the Google Search Engine gets by showing up organically in the search results.
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