It’s here: new CSS Ads after the launch of the Digital Markets Act

Google has recently unveiled a significant update to its Shopping Ads on the General Results Page, enabling Comparison Shopping Services (CSS) to direct users to their own Product Detail Pages (PDPs) through Shopping Ads. This marks a pivotal shift, as CSSs can now actively participate and compete for ad space alongside merchants, aligning with Google's efforts to adhere to the European DMA's Article 6(5), effective from March 6, 2024.

As a Premium Google CSS Partner, Bigshopper has, of course, been part of this process for over a year, working hard to make our merchants benefit the most from this new update. But first things first, let’s discuss what the new update looks like.

 

What do these new ads look like?

From this point onwards, you might find CSSs advertising among regular merchants in the Google Shopping results on the Search Engine Result Page (SERP). This is a paid ad for CSS Partners, where a click on the advertisement goes to the product page on the CSS price comparison platform. On the CSS Platform, the consumer will be directed to a webshop of their choice. Often, that would be the cheapest offer.

You can find an image of the CSS Product Listing Ad below.

Why was this new ad format created and who gains the most?

Ever since the launch of Google Shopping Ads, classical price comparators (those that charge a fee for any outclick from their platform) have struggled. The number of website visitors decreased, and revenues have often fallen by a lot. It’s them that stand to gain the most from this new update. For modern price comparators that do not charge for their platform, but work with a flat fee for a more complete offer (like Bigshopper), this new update could be less interesting. The new format seeks to address the issues of the classical price comparators, rather than the modern price comparators.

 

What will Bigshopper do with this new update?

The main goal of Bigshopper has always been to help our connected merchants achieve the best results in Google Shopping. That is via CSS and tools. However, we are also proud to have one of the best price comparison platforms of any Premium CSS Partner. It is for our platform that we have received the Dutch award for Best Website of the Year in the category Comparison. Bigshopper is also one of the few CSS Partners that has built its platform in accordance with Google’s requirements for these new Ads. On our Product Detail Pages, consumers find images, descriptions, prices of merchants, price history, specifications, and even YouTube videos. We have invested heavily in these quality pages because it helps our connected merchants with website visitors that are likely to convert.

However, among advertisers, there is a common and logical fear that this update will increase competition in the Google Shopping results. And increased competition will likely increase the average CPCs for Google Shopping Ads. We understand this fear.

During Q1 of 2024, it might be possible for you to see Bigshopper among the results in Google Shopping. We do this as a test to see what the effects of these new Ads will be. However, we are almost certain that we will not continue with these advertisements after Q1. Bigshopper does not want to compete with its connected merchants in Google Shopping. Competing against our merchants would harm our main goal.

For now, rest assured that Bigshopper will remain an independent CSS Partner and is monitoring these new developments closely. We work together with Google every day to help our 3500+ connected merchants achieve better results in Google Shopping. Our goal for 2024 is simple: by launching new tools and improving our current tools, we will continue to help you get more insights that can be used to give you a competitive advantage. Are you not using our tools, like LabelWiser or the Price Monitoring Tool, yet? Reach out to our team! We are ready to help you out.