Google Product Search Webinar Follow Up - Part 2

More Q&A:

Q5) Google suggests a 30 day expiration period for products. Is there value in optimizing this attribute? for example, does it help to set a 7 day period over a 14 day period?

A5) I haven't ever given this much thought. My first instinct is to maximize the time in case something goes wrong with feed processing on either your side or Google's. That being said, this does seem to tie on some level to their emphasis on data freshness, but it seems unlikely to me that this would be an algorithmic aspect. I see it more as a boolean, either expired or not expired.  Because of that, I don't think I'll be encouraging anyone to test shorter expiration dates as it seems like too much of a risk, but if you are feeling bold, there is always a chance it could pay off to give it a try.

Q6) Google only allows 70 characters in the short description.  Are only 70 characters actually used in the matching algorithm or is it just a display consideration.

A6) I've tested this many times and the data does not appear to be ignored by the algorithm, but it's possible that it could be treated as less important. One way to combat that possibility is to repeat the title at the beginning of the Google description. It's also possible it is already considered on par with the description. However, I see items with more than 70 characters in the title at or near the top of search results pretty often so there doesn't seem to be any harsh punishment in place. 70 is an arbitrary number so there is no reason to think the data less relevant because it sits at the 71st character.

Q7) a) You mentioned that dramatic changes can have a negative effect on your feed. would you say something like adding shipping to your entire file would fall within dramatic? And if so, do you think removing it would be just as dramatic of a change and instead best to just wait it out? b) Does the Amazon Product Ads require UPC code like Amazon Marketplace does?

A7) a) Anything that involves changing all line items in the feed definitely qualifies as dramatic, but for shipping specifically, I would suggest implementing it. This is especially true if you have free shipping on your items because I feel users are likely to use the "free shipping" filter. You could argue that since traffic is free, it makes sense to NOT display all information in order to give the user more incentive to click through, but I think shoppers are likely to gravitate to where shipping rates are easy to find. b) UPC is not required but it definitely helps Amazon in their matching and categorization process. If you have it, I suggest including it. If you don't include it and your product should be associated with a product page but does not get associated with it, you will probably miss out on exposure because that product page will get the majority of the traffic.

Q8) Any idea on how much is Bing's CPA rate?

A8) You set your own rate, but please note that the rate will impact rank on matched pages (via low to high price rank) and could be part of the results algorithm as well, so the more aggressive you are, the more likely you are to be found. We've seen some retailers experience a noticeable increase in sales when they increase the commission rate.