20% savings on Google Shopping Ads campaigns – internetwarriors and Comparison Shopping Service make it possible!

Savings of up to 20% on Google Shopping campaigns through the use of CSS partners – a ruling by the European Commission makes this possible.

What exactly CSS partners have to do with this and how you can benefit from this advantage or even lower your Google Shopping costs is summarized in this article for you.

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The abbreviation CSS stands for Comparison Shopping Services and describes a price comparison service. Some of the most well-known comparison sites in Germany include price comparison portals like "preis.de", "billiger.de", or "idealo.de". They offer consumers the possibility to compare the prices of a desired product at several online shops at a glance and thus conveniently find the lowest price and best conditions.

What is the reason for this innovation?

Until now, Google used its search results page exclusively for its offering: Google Shopping. The European Commission deemed this as an unfair advantage over external price comparison services and imposed a record fine of €2.4 billion on Google in 2017 for unfair competition.

As a result, Google was required to open its Google Shopping service in the EU to third-party providers to allow fair competition.

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Fig. 1: European Commission's ruling on Google Shopping's competitive advantages[/caption]

What impact did the ruling have?

External price comparison engines can now list and promote advertisers' offers on Google Shopping. Since opening to third-party providers, Google Shopping itself functions as a Comparison Shopping Service, meaning Google Shopping participates in bidding auctions like other price comparison sites and thus competes with other comparison sites.

The difference from other Comparison Shopping Services is that Google must retain 20% of its Google Shopping expenses as a margin. External price comparison sites do not have to retain this margin and can decide for themselves whether to charge fees and if so, how high they will be.

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Fig. 2: Competitive behavior between other Comparison Shopping Services[/caption]

In more detail, this means that with a bid of €1.00, the effective CPC or click price for Google Shopping ads run directly through Google Shopping is €0.80. Since Google is required to retain the 20% margin, €0.20 of the bid is not effectively used for bidding.

However, if you as a merchant offer your products through a CSS partner, the bid of €1.00 corresponds to the effective CPC. This allows the merchant to purchase the current traffic volume about 20% cheaper or even acquire up to 20% more traffic for the same CPC.

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Fig. 3: CPC differences between Google CSS and partner CSS[/caption]

Since most Comparison Shopping Services often charge no or very low margins, there is a significant price advantage for merchants offering their products through a CSS partner.

We, the internetwarriors, offer you the opportunity as a CSS partner to list your products on the certified comparison shopping site "Feuerkauf" on Google Shopping. As we do not retain any margin as a CSS partner, you as a merchant will save 20%.

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What changes for the user?

The difference for Google users is barely noticeable. The only visible change is the added information about which price comparison site the offer comes from. This is done in text form within the ad. It has no impact on the merchant, as the change is minimal compared to the previously displayed ads.

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Display of comparison shopping sites within the ad[/caption]

What can we do for you?

Do you want to promote your products on Google Shopping? We would be happy to advise you on CSS campaigns and their optimization.

We look forward to your inquiry.