One of the biggest changes to hit Google Shopping happened last week with Amazon pulling out of advertising on Google Shopping. Noticed first by Andy Taylor of Merkle, it looks like Amazon is still advertising via Adwords Text Ads for now, but has halted all Google Shopping ads.
The reason why Amazon decided to suddenly stop advertising on Google Shopping is unknown, however we have a few theories:
1. Amazon is not happy about the launch of Google Express with Shopping Actions – this is basically Google Shopping becoming more of a marketplace.
2. Google Shopping doesn’t make sense for Amazon if people would have bought from Amazon anyway. Put another way, it means Amazon doesn’t want people to search on Google first, they want users to come to Amazon first. Amazon also has huge costs with 2-day delivery that other merchants don’t incur.
3. Amazon might not be monitoring their Google Merchant Center account very closely, and needs a better feed platform with Google Merchant Center Feed Alerts built in!
In any case, this is great news for merchants already on Google Shopping, because by all accounts, Amazon had a 30% impression share in many critical product categories, and this means less competition!
Brian Roizen is the Cofounder and Chief Architect of Feedonomics, a full-service feed optimization platform that optimizes product data for hundreds of channels. He has been featured on numerous podcasts and eCommerce webinars, and regularly contributes to Search Engine Land and other industry-leading blogs. Brian graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.
