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Google Merchant still in beta

By Andrew Redfern @ 25th November 2008 12:16 pm

The Google Merchant functions seem to be here to stay but as yet there are no signs of the it gaining ground on key terms.

A quick search on a key ecommerce term will bring up Google’s Merchant portal showing a cross section of rates from selected finance institutions such as Ocean Finance or Norton Finance. This allows users to do a quick easy comparison of the rates available and jump directly through to the desired website. Secured Loans is one of the most valuable keywords and so it’s hardly surprising that this term is a prominent example of the affiliate scheme.

The tool has been in beta since June and is beginning to generate more interest but the fact that Google show no signs of widening the reach of the test to other keywords such as “personal loan” or “car loan” or rolling out a function to cover the mortgage & car insurance market show the that beta period may well last a while longer yet.

This ‘stalling’ of what could be a massively useful and massively profitable function is mirroring what is happening with the Google Base’s extended beta testing. Should options like Google Merchant and Google Base become available more widely it would represent a major shift to maximising the monetarised side of the search industry. It would certainly spark a wider debate as to the changing nature of the world’s biggest search engine.

Would you like to know more about this subject or join the debate? If so, contact Hit Search, SEO and Google adWords qualified PPC specialists, on 0845 643 9289. Remember, its a big world out there, make sure you become visible.

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