Google expands free product listings globally

You will no longer have to be a U.S. retailer to take advantage of free product listings on the Google Shopping tab.

Google is bringing free listings to the Shopping tab in Canada, as well as countries across Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Just as the tech giant doesn’t charge sites to be part of the Google Search index, listings for participating retailers are eligible to appear in these results at no cost to them. 

Paid listings will continue to appear in ad slots and will operate in the same way as Shopping ads do today. Google expects free listings to be fully available in all new countries by mid-October.

Google initially introduced this feature in the U.S. in April 2020, as a response to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on retail sales. According to the company, following their U.S. launch, free listings drove a more than 50% increase in clicks and more than doubled impressions for advertisers, with small-to-medium-sized businesses seeing the largest share of increases.

Existing users of Google Merchant Center and Shopping ads don't have to do anything to take advantage of the free listings, and Google says it will continue working to streamline the onboarding process for new users of Merchant Center.

In addition, to help small business owners enter e-commerce, Google is launching the Google for Small Business in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. It provides personalized plans including guidance on which tools are right for your business. The company also recently expanded Grow My Store, which helps local retailers drive customer traffic and improve their online shopping experience, to Germany, France, Netherlands, Sweden, and Spain. Google plans to roll out both Google for Small Business and Grow My Store to more countries before the end of the year.