This week, Google AdWords rolled out new automated extensions for shopping ads (PLAs). This improvement came after Google noticed many advertisers were using promotional text to highlight special offers or free shipping.
These new extensions are displayed alongside your shopping ads at no additional work or cost. They use existing information you’ve provided in your Merchant Center settings and data feed to automatically show free shipping and price drop information in a consistent way.
Here are a few examples provided by Google:
According to Google’s initial results, shoppers prefer these new automated extensions over promotional text and advertisers are getting better click through rates. After seeing this, Google will be retiring promotional text at the end of September 2015.
If you currently use promotional text, you will not need to make any changes. Your ads won’t be affected in any way other than the removal of the promotional text. If you want to highlight other offers aside from free shipping and sale prices, there are a few other shopping extensions you can take advantage of:
- Merchant promotions allow you to share discounts and promo codes.
- With Product ratings, you can display aggregated star ratings and link to customer reviews.
- Use Trusted Stores certification to show your customers that you’re deemed by Google as a credible place to shop.
