Comparison Shopping Services (CSSs), which can place Shopping Ads and free product listings on Google for merchants in the following countries: Austria and Belgium, Czech Republic. Denmark. Finland. France. Germany. Greece. Ireland. Italy. The Netherlands. Norway. Poland. Portugal. Romania. Slovakia. Spain. The United Kingdom.
How CSSs work
Comparison Shopping Services can bid for Shopping ads on Google’s general search results pages. Google Shopping bids for merchants it represents, in the same manner as any other CSS.
You can participate in Shopping ads via Google’s general search results page as a merchant in a variety of ways. You can supply your product data to any CSS including Google Shopping and you can use multiple CSSs simultaneously.
Each merchant that CSSs represent is assigned a Merchant Center account. Each account allows them upload inventory and to run Shopping Campaigns for merchants.
All ads must adhere to the same Shopping ads policies as well as product data requirements. This means that all Shopping ads must direct users to a merchant’s landing pages, where they can purchase the advertised product.
Google Shopping Ads that display the CSS program will show the CSS who uploaded the offer (the link “By CSS” at the bottom). Clicking that link will take users to the CSS’s website.
How to use the 20% extra bidding power
1.Increase your revenue
If you have the ROI (return on investment) or ROAS (return on ad spend) that you want from your shopping campaigns and you are looking for more volume, it is best to leave the bids of your campaigns unchanged. You will not that your impressions and clicks are increasing. The reason for that is, that you bid is effectively 20% higher when you use a CSS.
2. Improve your profitability
If you you wish to save costs to improve profitability, then you should to lower the bids of your campaigns around 10%-20%. The number of impression will not change, but you will pay less. As a result you Cost per Acquisition will be lowered, improving you ROI and ROAS.
FAQs for CSS
Different CSSs might offer different value-adds. We understand that you might want to control the appearance of your ads. For any questions, we recommend you contact the appropriate CSS. Each CSS is listed in your Merchant Center dashboard. All CSSs have the ability to adjust traffic volume using budgets, bids, and pausing or activating campaigns. Some CSSs provide an interface that allows merchants to manage campaigns. To opt out or in for a specific CSS channel, you can use Merchant Center’s dashboard. Opt-outs can take up to 24 hours for to take effect.
The best combination for you will depend on your business and your goals. To find the right combination of CSSs for your business, you can advertise with multiple CSSs simultaneously. All CSSs, even Google Shopping, offer the same opportunity to place ads for you on Google’s general search results pages. Any CSS can place ads on Google general search results pages.
CSSs usually report clicks sent to merchants and the cost per click. They may also share bidding data or additional information depending on the pricing scheme. Google Shopping reports clicks to merchants and costs per click. The European Commission requires Google Shopping to be independent profitable in EEA countries that have Shopping ads. Google Shopping is currently able to ensure profitability by deducting a fixed percentage from each merchant bid before it enters the auction. The merchant pays a fixed percentage margin and charges only for a click on an ad from the merchant. Google recommends that merchants evaluate the costs and returns of various marketing channels in order to determine which one is most effective for them.
A merchant will never be second-priced against itself in the auction for any offer, and that rule holds irrespective of the number, or identity, of the CSSs used by the merchant. Therefore, if two CSSs place bids on behalf of the same merchant, the winning offer and the price paid by the winning CSS will be the same as if those bids had been placed by one and the same CSS.
The fact that several CSSs place ads on your behalf won’t mean your offers are being repeated or that Google will charge more for a click on any of them.
Google try to not show multiple instances of the the same offer (that is, the same product offered by the merchant). We will not show the same product twice if it is uploaded by multiple CSSs. If Google is unable to detect two identical offers, they might both appear in the same Shopping Unit. In such cases, the CPCs paid to winning CSSs don’t increase because merchants are never second-priced (see next question).
Different products can appear through multiple CSSs within the same unit. If a user searches running shoes online, the ad for one model of running shoes may be from CSS A, while the ad for another model from CSS B might appear. In such cases, the CPCs paid to winning CSSs do not rise because merchants are never second-priced (see next question).
No. CSSs have the option to invoicing their merchants. Google Shopping charges merchants on a CPC basis.
Clicking on the “By CSS” link at the bottom (which leads to the CSS website) is currently free for CSSs.
Only CSS can place Shopping ads. You can use Google Shopping, or any other CSS you choose. Participation can be done via multiple CSSs simultaneously.
