Google Cites Local Inventory Ad Successes After Walmart Drops Out
Impact on in-store visits outperforms TV ads, says Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores.
Topic: Comparison shopping website
Official: Google Compare For Auto Insurance Launches
Rolling out in California to start, Google is getting into the car insurance business with lead generation.
Google Results For “Car Insurance” Could Look Different Very Soon
As Google prepares to get into the car insurance business, those search results will get a shake up seen in other verticals
Shopzilla’s Rebrand As Connexity Opens Search Marketing Technology To Retailers
Shopzilla, best known for its comparison shopping engine, changed its name in September to Connexity Inc. to reflect a change in focus. The company still operates its consumer-facing sites, but now makes its B2C assets and shopping data available to marketers as managed services. As part of the rebrand, the company rolled out new and […]
Google Comparison Ads Under Fire In UK
The UK financial services industry regulator Financial Conduct Authority is taking a closer look at Google Comparison Ads. UK price comparison sites have complained that Google is unfairly competing with them by placing its own “product” at the top of search results. Comparison Ads, which operate on a CPA basis, are one form of AdWords. Below […]
FindTheBest Launches Real Estate Search, Taking On Zillow And Trulia
FindTheBest is a structured data directory or discovery tool for comparing products, services and entities in a wide array of categories such as Travel, Health, Education, Finance and Home & Garden among others. It looks very much like a “search engine” but founder Kevin O’Connor argues it’s much more efficient and effective than general search […]
Shopping Comparison: TheFind Finds Lowest Price More Often Than Google, Bing, Others
In December, Danny Sullivan sought to determine which of the major shopping search engines found the best prices for common products. The shopping engines compared in Danny’s articles were Nextag, Shopzilla, PriceGrabber, Google, Bing and TheFind: The Test Begins: Do Google Shopping & Other Shopping Search Engines Give You The Best Deals? The Test Continues: Which […]
Ryanair CEO Claims Airline Is Working With Google On A Flight Search & Comparison Tool
In an interview published by Irish Independent, Irish airlines Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary claims his airline has entered a partnership with Google, and is providing the search engine with flight pricing to help build a travel search and comparison tool. “We’ll be sharing the Ryanair pricing through all of the Google outlets, so when you […]
The Test Continues: Which Shopping Search Engine Finds The Best Price For A Blu-Ray?
It’s time for our second test of how well Google Shopping and other shopping search engines find the best prices on products. For this installment, what’s the lowest price from a major retailer for a copy of “Red 2” in the Blu-ray, DVD and digital download combo pack? Is The Featured Price The Lowest Price? […]
The Test Begins: Do Google Shopping & Other Shopping Search Engines Give You The Best Deals?
It sounds pretty damning. Two recent surveys suggest that Google Shopping isn’t leading searchers to the best prices on products. But the surveys weren’t well documented, nor did they include competitors like Bing, Shopzilla, PriceGrabber and Nextag, which have similar issues. So, Search Engine Land will be running its own fully documented tests. Every few […]
Consumer Watchdog Says Google Shopping Costs Consumers, Complains To FTC
Consumer Watchdog has lodged a new complaint about Google’s “search monopoly” with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), this time saying Google Shopping results don’t pass the sniff test. The group calls the way the search engine displays its Product Listing ads “deceptive and unfair”, adding that Google Shopping’s paid listings are price gouging consumers. […]
The Searcher’s Guide To Black Friday, Cyber Monday & Holiday Shopping
This year, U.S. shoppers now have more opportunities than ever to join the throngs scrambling to secure holiday bargains, thanks to many brick and mortar stores opening ever earlier and staying open ever longer. Black Friday, the traditional post-Thanksgiving sales lollapalooza, has become a 24-hour slog for many retailers. And some retailers, impatient to lure […]
Report: Google Product Listing Ads Drive CSE Channel Growth, Cannibalize Text Ad Clicks
The August Same Store Sales report from ChannelAdvisor shows that the 7.7 percent growth from Comparison Shopping Engines was driven by the product listing ads (PLAs) that power Google Shopping. Search (traditional AdWords text ads) saw just a slight uptick in growth at 0.2% in August. Both channels grew more slowly than comScore’s overall ecommerce […]
Revealed: The 17 Other Search Engines The FTC Warned Over Paid Ad Disclosures
In June, the US Federal Trade Commission warned seven “general purpose” search engines — including Google, Bing and Yahoo — about the need to ensure they were properly disclosing paid ads. But 17 other “specialty” search engines were also warned. Which ones? The FTC wouldn’t say. Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request, Search […]
Report: Google PLAs Dominate CSE Channel Like Never Before [CPC Strategy]
CPC Strategy’s latest Shopping Comparison Engine report shows Google’s grip on the market only tightened in Q2. Across performance metrics, Google PLAs (product listing ads) continue to outperform other CSEs by wide margins. For example, in Q1, Shopping.com, Pricegrabber and Amazon Product Ads all drove roughly half the traffic of Google PLAs. In Q2, the […]
Bing Asking Users To Break Their Google Habit In Latest Bing It On Challenge
Bing announced today a new version of their Bing It On Challenge, an online campaign launched last September that offers users a side-by-side comparison of Bing and Google search results. In the latest Bing It On Challenge, Bing asks users to perform five separate search queries on BingItOn.com and choose the unbranded search result list […]
Study: PLAs Buck Post-Holiday Trends For Google Shopping, Traffic Nearly Doubles in Q1
The momentum of Google’s PLA program didn’t slow after the holidays. After seeing Google Product Listing Ad traffic jump 82% in Q1 over Q4, CPC Strategy followed up its latest quarterly review of top CSEs with a closer look. The agency hadn’t been surprised to see the 87% increase in PLA traffic in Q4 over […]
Google Shopping Tops Amazon Product Ads: 32.7% More Cost Effective
A new report from CPC Strategy looks at how Google Shopping fared against its rival, Amazon Product Ads, after making the switch to a commercial model in Q3 last year. The analysis finds its performance changed significantly compared to Amazon Product Ads, and provides further evidence that the move bolstered Google Shopping. Surge In Traffic […]
Bing Attacks Google Shopping With “Scroogled” Campaign, Forgets It’s Guilty Of Same Problems
Bing is attacking Google over its shift to a pay-for-play shopping search engine through a new “Scroogled” site, pledging that Bing has “honest search.” Great campaign, if it were true. It’s not. Bing itself does the same things it accuses Google of. It’s also another indictment of how little the FTC is doing to protect […]
A Black Friday & Cyber Monday Shopper’s Guide To Comparison Shopping Search Engines
The holiday shopping season is almost upon us. Black Friday comes at the end of the week, followed by the increasingly popular Cyber Monday. While there are plenty of deal sites, there also remain traditional shopping search engines that consumers may wish to use. Shopping search engines, or perhaps more properly, product and price comparison […]
RKG Report: Search Growth Declines Slightly; Shakeup In Store For Shopping Space
Paid search’s growth rate slowed a bit in the second quarter of 2012, but it still increased 29% year-over-year — down from a 32% year-over-year growth rate in Q1. That’s according to the RimmKaufman Group’s latest report on digital marketing, released this week. Generally speaking, CPC’s were down (6%) as compared to the same period […]
Bing’s Travel Search & Kayak Favoritism Angers No One, While Google’s Gets Headline Attention From WSJ
Bing’s not-so-newest push into online travel hasn’t begun to roil the industry, the latest example of where if Bing does something, no one cares, but if Google does it, it’s time for a Wall Street Journal story examining the potential evilness of the move. In case you missed it, the Wall Street Journal has a […]
Google Tests Its Hotel Finder As A New Comparison Ad Atop Search Results
Hotel industry, you’re on notice: Google appears to be running a test that places its own Google Hotel Finder at the top of very competitive, hotel-related queries. Search Engine Land reader Alex, who works in the hospitality industry, tipped us to this development and at least one of our SEL editors was able to replicate […]
FindTheBest Succeeds Where Google Squared Failed
During his written responses to questions from the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt identified a range of competitors that Google faces in the market today. Some were well-known and some more obscure. One of the smaller companies that Schmidt mentioned was FindTheBest. He identified the company in a list of […]
The Big Roundup: Finding Black Friday & Cyber Monday Deals & Specials
We’re already well into Black Friday. In many US stores the frenzy began last night at 10 pm or midnight (as opposed to the normal 4 am door-busting start time). People barely had time to overcome the sleep-inducing effects of L-tryptophan before getting out into the melee. And the word “melee” aptly describes the scene […]
Panda’s Winners & Losers In Germany: Bing’s Ciao.de, Wikio.de & More
Google has again slapped a comparison shopping site owned by its primary search competitor, Bing, as part of its most recent expansion of the “Panda” algorithm update. It’s only been a few days since Google pushed out Panda around the world in all languages except Chinese, Japanese and Korean. But Searchmetrics has already published its […]
Google Buys Sparkbuy: Comparison Shopping Site Now Closes, Team Remains
Google has acquired Sparkbuy, a comparison shopping site that has focused on laptops. The site closed today as part of the purchase; the three person team will continue on with Google. Was this a talent acquisition, then? Google wouldn’t comment nor give any details on the purchase price for the year-old company. However, a person […]
Google Goes Big For Financial Comparison Shopping, Launches “Google Advisor”
Google has rolled up its tools for consumers seeking side-by-side comparisons of financial products, launching “Google Advisor,” a one-stop-shop for consumers looking for mortgages, credit cards, checking and savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. For marketers, it’s an opportunity to gather leads, and Advisor seems to be aimed at stepping up the volume of those […]
“Anti-Search Engine” FindTheBest Adds Buying Guides, Top 10 Slideshows
There are a number of ways to describe FindTheBest, the site launched last year by DoubleClick founder Kevin O’Connor. One is “decision engine” another might be “comparison engine,” a third could be “anti-search engine.” It might be called an “anti-search engine” because, like Blekko’s Rich Skrenta, FindTheBest’s O’Conner believes that search results have become cluttered […]
Google To Acquire BeatThatQuote.com
Money.co.uk reports that Google will be buying BeatThatQuote.com. Google and BeatThatQuote.com have not officially confirmed this as of yet. BeatThatQuote.com is a price comparison websites for loans and financial products. The site offers comparison pricing on loans, mortgage rates, credit card rates, insurance products and more. Google has been known to offer comparison ads for […]
Every Online Retailer’s Dream: Knowing Where The Money Lies
Data has always been at the center of marketing decisions, but today it enjoys a constant, glaring spotlight! Results based marketing is here to stay, so it’s time to get the tracking machinery in place and get in front of the dashboard for some action. At a very basic level, you need to know which […]
Google Rolls Out Shopper App For iPhone
Google’s Shopper mobile app is being introduced for iPhone. It already exists for Android devices. Shopper allows users to search for products by voice, with the camera, via barcode scan or by text entry. Users can also share products on Facebook, Twitter, SMS or email. Google Shopper shows prices, product reviews and local inventory availability […]
Bing Travel Now Offers Destination Comparison Tool
Some day, the McGee family is going to pack our bags and hightail it to Hawaii. We’ve never been there and would love to spend a week or two on the beaches, in the mountains, and enjoying the weather. But we have no idea which island to visit. Sound familiar? Maybe you want to to […]
Google Partner Brings Big Data To Product Search
Google has famously undertaken a high-profile initiative to show users where they can buy products offline in local stores. It has also launched a very non-traditional (for Google) shopping site, Boutiques.com. There have been additional improvements in the Google Product Search destination site, including more product-browse capabilities. Then there are product listing ads, which expanded […]
eBay Buys Local Products Search Engine Milo For $75 Million
Shopping.com parent eBay has reportedly acquired local product inventory site Milo.com for $75 million in cash. Milo was aspiring to become the “Google of local product data.” The acquisition is a bit of a surprise to me but problably came out of discussions about a strategic investment. I believe Milo and Shopping.com were in discussions […]
3 Important Ecommerce Trends To Watch
The web is shifting rapidly, again. Search has seen accelerated growth over the last two years, at a quicker clip than any time over the last ten. This has been fueled primarily by innovations at Google. However, Bing is also pushing innovation rapidly and was cited by Google CEO Eric Schmidt as, their “biggest problem” […]
Search Tips For Black Friday & Cyber Monday
Ladies and gentlemen open your wallets — and start your smartphones. The holiday shopping season is upon is. This year more than ever there are scores of sites, apps and online tools to direct you to the right product at the best price. It can all be a bit overwhelming in fact. Below I’ve tried […]
Google Phone Gallery Presents A Comparison Engine For Android Handsets
It’s the return of the Nexus One online store. In fact the old URL for the Nexus One site is now occupied by a mini shopping comparison site for Android handsets called the “Google Phone Gallery.” Note that it’s called Google Phone Gallery and not “Android Phone Gallery.” Indeed, it’s meant to showcase “Android-powered devices […]
Bing Shopping Now Free To Merchants
Brian Smith reports that Bing Shopping is now free for merchants to submit their product feeds and obtain traffic from Bing. I tried to find information from Bing on this, but I guess it is not published yet. We know Microsoft officially dropped the Cashback as of July 30, 2010. Brian said dropping Cashback and […]
DoubleClick Founder Launches Structured “Decision Engine” FindTheBest.com
At first blush it wasn’t impressive to me. I assumed from a quick look that FindTheBest was just a collection of links and “best of” lists. It thus seemed strange that DoubleClick founder Kevin O’Connor would come out of quasi-retirement to launch a basic directory site. But as we got into it a bit more […]