Spotted in a test back in May, Google Product Listing Ads will now feature the appropriate product ratings and reviews for that product – this comes just weeks ahead of the full transition to Shopping Campaigns.
This is something currently only available to our transatlantic cousins in the US, though we’re sure we’ll be seeing it soon in other countries. Rarely do Google keep certain things exclusive for certain countries.
Consumers will begin to see the 5-star rating system appear on PLAs on Google search and Google Shopping. Mike Capsambelis, Product Manager of Google Shopping said in the announcement:
We believe these ratings will help differentiate products across google.com and google.com/shopping and will help merchants drive more qualified traffic through Product Listing Ads. In initial tests, product ratings also helped increase click-through-rates of Product Listing Ads.
Merchants targeting the United States have until October to share all their review data with Google in order for ratings to appear in PLAs. However, Google is instituting a grace period between now and October, allowing ratings show on any PLAs where product reviews are available. Ratings data can be shared directly or through approved third party aggregators. The company says product ratings on PLAs will be available in other markets in the coming months.
Unlike the test that was performed by CPC Strategy back in May, the example provided by Google above the PLAs aren’t apparently ranked by star rating or the total number of product reviews.
Merchants should complete the product ratings form if they want their product ratings included in their PLAs (which I’m sure they will!)
Expect more extensions to show in PLAs. Capsambelis states that, “Product ratings are one of several extensions we may show with Product Listing Ads, so please note that just because a product has reviews does not mean that we’ll always show ratings.”
