Site Help Google Shopping: Answers to your questions.

Hi everyone,

On October 25, we posted an update on Google Shopping on Etsy and invited members to pose questions for Google and Etsy Admin. We used the voting feature so you could tell us which questions were most important to you.

www.etsy.com/teams/7718/site-help/discuss/11137740/

We are happy to bring you the answers to those questions here.

Top Voted Questions

Questions for Google:

1. A number of questions related to Google’s policies on language and content, and what specifically would cause Google to decline a listing: “Can I include references or links to my shop policies/tax policies?” “Can I include links to similar item/other varieties?” “Please discuss if there is any information that should NOT be included in the listing. Info such as links to similar items, policies, etc.” “Can you provide the specific promotional language that is prohibited?” www.etsy.com/teams/7718/site-help/discuss/11137740/page/5/?post_id=...

i) Can you include reference or links to shop policies? Can you include links to similar items?

No, the only link Google Shopping shows is the actual Etsy listing page.

ii) Please discuss if there is any information that should NOT be included in the listing. Info such as links to similar items, policies, etc.

The 3 most frequent mistakes that merchants make are: 1) including “restricted products or services” words under Adwords policies, such as tobacco, firearms, alcohol and adult products. 2) not including all the required informational product attributes for items in the clothing and apparel category, particularly gender, age group, color and size [note from Etsy: the ‘recipient’ attribute from the listing process for some of this information] 3) tax and shipping are not accurately provided.

2. Thomas from TheGolfingDolphin: Could Google explain the duplicate listing policy in a way that we sellers will understand? www.etsy.com/teams/7718/site-help/discuss/11137740/page/23/?post_id...

Google’s policy is that if you have a standalone e-commerce website and an Etsy store, you should only submit through 1 website.

3. As part of Question #5 below: Why individual sellers don’t have individual merchant accounts

The reason we have partnered with Etsy is because they’ve made getting involved in Google Shopping a super easy process for the typical small business owner who is focused on making unique, handcraft items. If you are a merchant with your own e-commerce website and would like to get directly involved in Google Shopping by creating your own Google Merchant Center account, you also have that option. As stated above, Google’s policy is that you should submit product listings from only one source.


Questions for Etsy:

1. Cher from DesignsbyCher (and many others): Many of you would like more information on our plans to continue Google Shopping in the new year, and if we will charge members in the event we continue. www.etsy.com/teams/7718/site-help/discuss/11137740/page/2/?post_id=...


We’re thrilled that we were able to work with Google on providing a way for Etsy sellers to participate in Product Listing Ads and Google Shopping during the holiday season. We remain optimistic that Product Listing Ads will be a successful way to continue bringing new visitors to Etsy; however, given the investment we cannot promise we’ll continue to support these ads in 2013. Since we’ve launched Product Listing Ads for Etsy sellers, we’ve been collecting data on performance for sellers as well as Etsy. Product Listings Ads represent just a small part of our marketing efforts, and we evaluate how they perform in comparison to other campaigns. We will be sharing our findings with the seller community in early 2013 before making any significant changes for the coming year.

2. Sue from suzyssentiments: “Will there be any way for sellers to see data that shows that an item sold from the customer coming to their shop through Google Product Listing Ads? www.etsy.com/teams/7718/site-help/discuss/11137740/page/2/?post_id=...


In Shop Stats, you can see traffic to your shop from Google Product Listing Ads in the ‘traffic sources’ section. It will be clearly labeled, "Google Product Listing Ads."

Currently, we do not show orders based on any external traffic source, including Google Product Listing Ads and we don’t have plans to change this in the near future. This is also a decision we’ll revisit in early 2013.

3. Laura from compassionmalas: Idea- can Etsy create an easy-to-read, on-Etsy summary of the Google Shopping Do's and Don'ts that are currently being linked to in this thread? www.etsy.com/teams/7718/site-help/discuss/11137740/page/6/?post_id=...


We’ve created a page for Google’s guidelines for Google Product Listing Ads. Please remember, it is ultimately Google’s decision on how results are ranked and displayed.

www.etsy.com/help/article/258

4. kidichimama from kidichimama: “New item listed on Etsy may take up to 30 days to appear in GS? When item sells in Etsy shop is it *immediately* removed from GS or only during update window?” www.etsy.com/teams/7718/site-help/discuss/11137740/page/1/?post_id=...
a. Eileen Flieg from DaffodilCorner: Since there seems to be some questions about timing, could you take a few examples and go through the timeline from Etsy to Google Shopping?
i. Example A: New listing
ii. Example B: Renewed Listing
iii. Example C: Item sold and automatically relisted by Etsy

Whenever a listing is sold, renewed or changed, we immediately update the item’s information with Google. Using Google’s API we are able to do this incredible fast and consistently throughout the day. In most cases these changes are reflected within the hour. According to Google, items which are removed should immediately no longer be available as a Google Product Listing Ad. However, when an item is added, it may take some time for Google to verify and approve the listing on their end (up to 30 days).

5. TimeInFantasy from TimeInFantasy: Google policies state: "If your product listing becomes disapproved, the technical contact in your account will receive a notification with a detailed description of the violation and instructions on how to fix them. Please follow the instructions in the email and re-submit your product listing for review." So the question is: “So how does it work on Etsy since we don't have individual merchant account?”
www.etsy.com/teams/7718/site-help/discuss/11137740/page/17/?post_id...


Etsy is notified in our Merchant Account when an item is disapproved by Google, and we do our best to respond to issues that arise for the 12 million listings we are currently advertising. We have an open line of communication with Google to resolve issues with disapproved ads.

6. Thomas from TheGolfingDolphin: “So admin, Has the google shopping feed been fixed to a point that you are confident that it is working properly and you expect it to work properly in the future?” www.etsy.com/teams/7718/site-help/discuss/11137740/page/3/?post_id=...


We are grateful to be working with a great team of people from Google, and together we are doing our best to ensure that all active English listings shipping to the U.S. are advertised in Google Shopping. Their team has been responsive to issues raised by us, and right here in the forums. We’re a big marketplace, and Google has gone above and beyond to get us the capacity we need to advertise on behalf of all Etsy sellers who ship to the U.S. Both teams recognize that there have been some issues since Google’s launch of the new experience, but we are confident that things will improve.

As we discussed above, we are still evaluating the value Google Product Listing Ads drives for sellers, and weighing the benefits against the investment from Etsy’s side. We also know that this process has not felt smooth or painless for some of our sellers, and we will take that aggravation into account as we decide how to move forward in 2013.

6. Sarah Parker from MilkandHoneyLuxuries: Why is it that when someone clicks an item in google shopping, the landing page on etsy has a huge "Similar Items" banner across the top? This leads people to similar items in other shops. www.etsy.com/teams/7718/site-help/discuss/11137740/page/9/?post_id=...


One of the most popular ways for visitors to arrive on Etsy is to land directly on a listing page. We know that visits that start on listing pages are more likely to “bounce” or leave the site immediately. We want to make the most of every visit to Etsy -- including those coming from Google Product Listing Ads. To address this, we have started experiments that expose more items from our Etsy marketplace to these new visitors, to help show the breadth of the marketplace and further engage potential buyers.

Listing pages reached from Product Listing Ads may show other items from your shop or similar items from other shops to help new visitors discover additional items they may be interested in. Accordingly, items from your shop may be shown to buyers on other sellers’ listing pages as well. As always, you are free to opt out of this experiment: www.etsy.com/gpla-opt-out


Thanks to all for your participation and I hope these answers have helped you.

Posted at 1:17 pm Nov 14, 2012 EST