Google is always looking for ways to make search better for its users, as well as making ads a bit less of a nuisance (seeing as these are their core businesses). Today, the Adwords team announced an update that will help retail and travel companies – mostly airlines, hotels and shops – stand out a bit more in search, as well as in ads.
Google is adding in “smart filters” for those users that are looking for travel – like flights, cruises, hotels etc. This will allow the user to filter their hotel results based on different factors. All with a single tap, making it much easier. Additionally, these new smart filters will be able to handle more complex searches. Google has also announced that they are adding Deal labels to hotels in search results. The purpose here is to allow users to easily spot prices that are unusually low, and find a great deal, with less research. Users can also get notifications when prices for flights change significantly.
When it comes to retail, Google Adwords is adding a new feature called Showcase Shopping, which is an ad format that retailers can use to promote their business. The idea here is for more broad shopping search terms. Allowing Google to show users more than just a single product. For retailers, this means that they can create a gallery of related products, which will likely get the user to browse more and even buy additional products. Over on YouTube, the company is also tweaking its shopping ads. Allowing advertisers to add a companion banner ad just below the video. This banner would highlight more products from the advertiser. Additionally, Google is also said to be testing tools that will auto convert prices into your local currency. Making it a pretty important feature for those looking to book a hotel out of the country. Allowing them to know just how much that night in a hotel will cost them, without breaking out the calculator and looking up currency exchange rates.
These changes are said to be rolling out now. So that advertisers that use Adwords can begin to use these new features today.
