Another Google PLA Test Targets Low-Priced Products

Google Shopping ads show what percentage lower a product is priced compared to the online average.

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percentage discount promotion text google product listing ads

Screenshot courtesy of ChannelAdvisor

A new test spotted in Google’s product listing ads highlights low prices on select products.

A twist on the Value Alert test seen in May, this version tells shoppers about the percentage discount compared to the average price of a product in the promotional copy in the ad (seen when the user hovers over it).

ChannelAdvisor, which first noticed this new iteration, speculates that Google is pulling the average prices of the product across Google Shopping.

Update 7/7: It initially looked as though, unlike the Value Alert notice, there was nothing to distinguish this “percentage lower” language from the typical promotional copy advertisers can append to their product listing ads. Aaron Putnam tweeted the screenshot below, which illustrates how this test appears before the user hovers over the ad. The “19% off average” text in this Target ad appears in the line below the retailer name.

percentage off test in google shopping product listing ads

A Google spokesperson would only say, “As part of our efforts to help people find great deals and useful pricing information, we’re currently running a small test of a feature that highlights particularly good prices for products.”


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About the author

Ginny Marvin
Contributor
Ginny Marvin was Third Door Media’s former Editor-in-Chief (October 2018 to December 2020), running the day-to-day editorial operations across all publications and overseeing paid media coverage. Ginny Marvin wrote about paid digital advertising and analytics news and trends for Search Engine Land, MarTech and MarTech Today. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Ginny has held both in-house and agency management positions. She can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.

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