Google debuts Sale Event promotion type in Merchant Center

Google rolled out a new “Sale Event” promotion type in its Merchant Center platform, the company announced today.

The “Sale Event” feature allows merchants to promote broader sales and discounts, rather than linking promotions to specific products. Merchants can activate the feature from the Promotions page in the Merchant Center by providing sale details, dates, a URL and imagery.

Why we care. The new promotion type is simpler to set up than traditional product-specific promotions, which could make it easier for you to advertise larger sales campaigns across Google’s shopping placements. This could boost the visibility of those broad discount offers.

The details. Unlike standard promotions that must be tied to individual products, the “Sale Event” promotion allows merchants to highlight general sales and discounts, such as “All items up to 70% off.”

The streamlined setup process could lower the barrier for merchants to promote their broader sales initiatives through Google’s shopping channels, potentially increasing the visibility and success of those campaigns.

The new feature is available only for Free Listings in the U.S. at this time. It’s unclear if Google plans to expand “Sale Event” to other surfaces or regions in the future.

Reaction. “This new ‘Sale Event’ promotion type should be simpler to set up than standard promotions,” marketer Dario Zannoni wrote on LinkedIn:

“I think that if Google implements this feature effectively, it could be valuable, as it may allow general sale information to be more easily advertised in shopping placements” Zannoni added.

Bottom line. Google’s new “Sale Event” promotion type in Merchant Center appears aimed at lowering the friction for merchants to advertise broader sales and discounts through the platform’s shopping features. If successful, the streamlined setup could drive increased visibility and performance for those larger promotional campaigns.