Google Makes Push To Turn Product Searches Into Cash (reuters.com)

Reuters reports of how Google is working to turn product searches into cash by partnering with some of the largest retailers in the United States: Under a new program, retailers can list their products on Google Search, as well as on the Google Express shopping service, and Google Assistant on mobile phones and voice devices. In exchange for Google listings and linking to retailer loyalty programs, the retailers pay Google a piece of each purchase, which is different from payments that retailers make to place ads on Google platforms. The listings will appear under sponsored shopping results and will not affect regular search results on Google, the company said. Google's pitch to retailers is a better chance to influence shoppers' purchasing decisions, a move that is likely to help them compete with rival Amazon. Google hopes the program helps retailers capture more purchases on desktop, cell phones and smart home devices with voice search -- the next frontier for e-commerce. The previously unreported initiative sprang from Google's observation that tens of millions of consumers were sending image searches of products, asking "Where can I buy this?" "Where can I find it?" "How can I buy it?" "How do I transact?" Daniel Alegre, Google's president for retail and shopping, told Reuters exclusively.

Comments

Making Google Search less and less relevant

[Anonymous Coward]

When people search for those things, they want relevant results. Not paid ones.

Re:Making Google Search less and less relevant

[SumDog]

But Lycos, Hotbot, AltaVista, DogPile and all the alternative indexes are gone. We're a search mono-culture. I use DuckDuckGo personally, but a good 1/3 of my searchers I add a !g if I can't find the results I want. There are some things I can't even find at all, kept in my notes but no longer present on any major search provider.

The Internet simply isn't as searchable as it once was.

Re:Making Google Search less and less relevant

[Dutch Gun]

The Internet simply isn't as searchable as it once was.

Seriously? I seem to recall that search services before Google absolutely stunk, with pages and pages of completely irrelevant result. Trying to find what you're actually looking for was a complete PITA. The reason Google became the giant it is now is because they were the first to figure out a truly effective internet search algorithm. And despite showing sponsored results (clearly marked), Google still has highly relevant results for most of what I search for, and presumably most other people, given their current market share.

Am I happy that Google dominates search the way Microsoft dominates desktop OSes? No, of course not. But to claim the internet is "less searchable" smacks of hyperbole, especially with high quality competitors like Bing and DuckDuckGo. It's just that everyone has gotten used to using Google by now, and their competitors aren't really any better*, so why switch?

* DDG has better privacy, but I'm talking about quality of search results.