Google has announced a new, simplified version of Google Merchant Center, called Google Merchant Center Next.
Alongside a brand new user interface, many features and capabilities have changed, with some improved while others have completely disappeared. In this blog, we would like to take you through the latest developments awaiting us within Google Merchant Center.
Additionally, Google also launched a new tool, Product Studio, which allows Google Shopping sellers to quickly and freely edit and adjust their product images using generative AI.
This application is currently only available in the US, but we expect this tool to be available to us soon as well.
The news of the new Google Merchant Center was announced in May 2023 during the Google Marketing Live event. Below you will find everything we know so far about Google Merchant Center Next and the new AI capabilities.
What is Google Merchant Center Next?
Merchant Center Next is a redesigned version of Google Merchant Center. It is a simplified version of the existing platform, providing users with a better user experience and also offering new features.
The main upgrade is that Merchant Center Next automatically detects product data – such as product title, description, size, price, and product image – from your website and automatically imports this data into Merchant Center Next.
The new platform is designed to ensure that it is technically less complex to create and maintain a feed, compared to the previous version of Merchant Center.
This results in fewer errors due to a poorly configured feed.
Google Merchant Center Next expected by 2024
Currently, Google Merchant Center Next is being implemented in existing and newly created accounts. Google aims to complete this implementation by 2024.
The transition itself is fully managed by Google. This means there will be no way to manually switch to the new version. However, if you are already using Google Center Next, you can still switch back to the current Google Merchant Center.
What does this mean for advertisers and e-commerce managers?
This update is ideal for advertisers and website owners who are less technically inclined.
How to import products into Google Merchant Center Next?
There are 5 ways to import your products into Merchant Center Next:
- automatically from your online store
- automatically from your e-commerce platform (running on a third-party platform, such as Shopify)
- from your feed file
- from a Google Sheets template
- manually one by one
How to automatically import products from your website?
Once you add your website's URL, Google will crawl the site to check all product information in your online store and automatically synchronize the most recent data with Merchant Center.
To ensure that Google can crawl the domain, make sure you have added a sitemap to your website and have structured data in the store's HTML (this way Google can read the product data on the site).
After choosing the automatic product import, it can take up to 3 days for the products to appear on the Google Merchant Dashboard. And since the connection is dynamic, any product update on your website will be reflected in the Google Merchant Center Next account.
Google Merchant Center Next versus Google Merchant Center
Important questions we ask ourselves about the renewed platform are:
‘What will change besides the automatic product import?’
‘How will this affect my webshop?’
And ‘What exactly is the difference between Google Merchant Center and Merchant Center Next?’
At this moment, there is no visibility on all functionalities of Merchant Center Next because not everyone has access to it and not all features have been fully implemented yet.
What we do know, however, is that there are some significant differences compared to the regular Google Merchant Center, both in terms of user interface and available features.
Here is an overview of Merchant Center Next, how it looks, and how it compares to Google Merchant Center.
More user-friendly interface
Merchant Center Next looks easier and better organized compared to the existing Google Merchant Center. It has been adjusted in the same way as the interface upgrades of Google Ads over the years. Overall, it seems that the upgrades have a positive impact on the user interface.
Simplified product diagnostics
The product diagnostics overview only shows the current situation, regarding what is approved, pending, limited, and not approved. Previously, there was a timeline showing historical product diagnostics and how they have changed over time.
Product diagnostics in Google Merchant Center (screenshot):
Product diagnostics in Merchant Center Next:
No feed display
At this moment, there is no way to view your product feed or feed data in Merchant Center Next, as the ‘Feeds’ tab found in the existing Google Merchant Center is currently not a functionality within Merchant Center Next.
If you only want to check the source you are currently connected to, go to ‘Products’ > select ‘All products’ > click on the item title and at the bottom right you will see ‘Source’.
New metric ‘Click Potential’
There is a new metric available in Merchant Center Next, called ‘Click Potential’, which uses historical data to calculate how much potential there is for users to click on your product listings in ads.
This is calculated by comparing the performance of your products with other products in your Merchant Center Next account and can be used to optimize products with low click potential.
Tab adjustments
Due to a new layout, various tabs have changed position or have been temporarily completely omitted.
- The ‘Growth’ tab of Google Merchant Center is currently missing in Merchant Center Next. The ‘Growth’ tab offers opportunities to improve both the feed and campaigns to generate more traffic.
This also means that the Bestsellers report and the ‘manage programs’ features are missing. It is unclear whether this still needs to be implemented or if it has been permanently discontinued.
- Business information has been moved from the main settings in the top panel to the left side of the screen. Advertisers can now edit business information and online store details here.
Business information has been moved to the left panel:
- The ‘Performance’ and ‘Promotion’ features of the regular Google Merchant Center are still used in Google Merchant Center Next. The only difference here is that you cannot change the date range when viewing product performance, as you can in the existing Google Merchant Center.
There will always be an initial learning and adjustment phase when adopting a new or updated platform. This is also happening now with Google Analytics 4.
Limitations of Google Merchant Center Next
Although Google Merchant Center Next generally looks more user-friendly and simpler, there are some limitations to consider.
Here is an overview of the limitations within Merchant Center Next, these limitations may still change.
- Only focused on Google products
Google Merchant Center Next is solely focused on Google products, just like the existing Google Merchant Center. Although it has been updated and simplified and contains new features, it is still limited for advertisers who use their product feed on other platforms, such as social media and marketplace listings.
- Lack of optimization capability
Advertisers are limited in their ability to use Merchant Center Next as a tool for feed optimization. We have found that it is now possible to edit product data directly in Merchant Center Next, but this is only possible based on individual products.
Optimizing in this way is manual, slow, and mainly suitable for small product changes and updates.
For companies with a large inventory and who manage very large data feeds, this is not a realistic way to optimize. A third-party feed optimization tool is necessary to generate a well-optimized store feed.
- Missing features in Merchant Center Next
As highlighted in the previous section, several features are missing in Google Merchant Center Next compared to the existing Google Merchant Center. This means there will be a period of adjustment to life without these functionalities unless they are added to Merchant Center Next in the coming months.
Here is a summary of some key features missing in Merchant Center Next:
-
- Growth tab
- Merchant Center programs
- Feed tab
- Ability to create supplemental feeds
- Product diagnostics timeline
- Date range for product performance
AI and Google Merchant Center Next
Google is launching Product Studio, a new tool that allows Google Shopping sellers to quickly and freely edit and adjust their product images using generative AI.
https://blog.google/products/shopping/google-product-studio-generative-ai-product-photos/
First video at the top
Product Studio is designed to help sellers diversify product and lifestyle images used in e-commerce listings – something that can help them stand out among competing products, but can be time-consuming and expensive to create.
According to Google's own data, product listings with more than one image typically result in a 76 percent increase in impressions and a 32 percent increase in clicks compared to listings with only one image.
Text prompts can be used within Product Studio to quickly make visual adjustments to product images, such as generating a selection of new backgrounds for seasonal campaigns.
Product Studio also allows sellers to instantly remove the existing background of an image if they need a blank background, and to enhance the quality of small or low-resolution images.
Conclusion
Google Merchant Center Next is undoubtedly simpler and more intuitive to use than the standard Google Merchant Center. For merchants with small product catalogs who want to run their Performance Max campaigns without too many feed optimizations, this is a welcome upgrade.
For those retailers who value maximizing their advertising results, feed optimization remains the primary way to achieve the best possible results.
Only time will tell what the full impact of Merchant Center Next will be. Since Merchant Center Next is expected to be available by 2024, we won't have to wait long.
With new developments, we will certainly keep you informed.
Would you like to know more about the deployment of Google Merchant Center Next and the new AI applications in your e-commerce strategy? Feel free to contact us, we are happy to help you!
