The next major step in Google’s bid for world domination is set to materialize in the coming weeks. Have you ever wished that you could just search for something in Google, and immediately buy it without having to deal with an annoying middle man? Well, soon you will be able to do just that.
Google has said that in the coming weeks, they will begin displaying “buy” buttons with ads next to select products in the mobile search results, allowing you to buy the product immediately. The tech giant now has Amazon and Ebay worried, and many retailers have voiced their concerns.
So what’s the lowdown?
The paid results that appear at the top of the SERP as sponsored results will now feature a “buy” button on select products that will allow shoppers to click through and be taken to a page where they can customize their order and make the purchase. As for now, this will only show up on mobile devices. Google is by no means selling the product; they are simply acting as the middle man between the retailer and the customer.
Why the concern?
Many retailers feel that this could compromise the relationships that they have with Google and with their customers, and also it has many fearing that customers’ data will be abused by the company.
The bottom line is that these companies are afraid that Google is going to cut into a piece of their pie, and freeze them out of getting that valuable customer data themselves. Google has done its bit to assuage the fears by promising to allow customers to opt-in to marketing schemes through the retailer as they normally would.
How does it work?
Unlike competitors such as Amazon and Ebay, Google will not be taking a cut when it comes to the transaction. Unlike the larger retailers that take a percentage off of the top for acting as the middleman, Google will just charge the regular PPC price for the click that the sponsor received. This is a big game-changer, as giant companies will stand to save boatloads of money.
Any major change that Google makes is a major change in the online world. Commerce, optimization, marketing, etc. will all be affected heavily. Not just that, but expect major reverberations throughout the entire e-commerce world as companies jockey for position to either go along with, or counter-act this new policy.
We don’t know about everyone else, but we see an SEO goldmine in the works. Imagine a search engine world where the top organic results are rewarded with a “buy” button – that is where we see this policy heading sooner rather than later.
To keep your website ranking high on Google search results, contact the search engine optimization experts at BlueHat Marketing.
