Among the presenters at the Google Refocus B2B Summit in Mountain View were Google engineers talking about what’s new for publishers and advertisers.
One of the most interesting opportunities for advertisers is the AdWords Plus Box for product details. It links together your AdWords account with your Google Base account to allow you to display product photos, descriptions and prices below your paid search ads as shown in this Zale’s ad resulting from a search for engagement rings.
The Plus Box has been around for local business ads since 2007 to display the business address and map below the paid search ad. And, clicks within the Plus Box are not charged to the advertiser.
I expect the SKU-detail clicks within the Plus Box will not generate a charge either, as this feature is made available beyond the current testing phase.
In the example below from DSW, my search for “shoes” brings up the Plus Box, but the products displayed don’t relate to me at all. It’s too early in my shopping process to show me specific products.
Knowing that the best conversions result from matching your keywords to your text ad to your landing page, advertisers should only consider adding the Google AdWords Plus Box product detail to highly targeted keywords where the searcher has already narrowed down his search to a specific product subcategory.