14 DAY TRIAL // It's not even December yet and companies are already getting the Christmas fever. Who could blame them, the holiday season is the best time of the year for retailers and everyone is gearing up for a piece of the action. Google is not missing out either and is sprucing out its Product Search with several new features, ahead of the busiest time of the year for the service.
“This holiday season, whether you're shopping for a new sweater for Fido, a Lego set for young builders, or that fancy camera you've been eyeing all year, Google Product Search can help you find what you're looking for at a great price. You can compare products and prices from merchants across the web, from popular retailers like Amazon and Best Buy to places to buy unique gifts like eBay and Etsy,” Sameer Samat, product management director and Jeff Bartelma, senior product manager at Google wrote, announcing the new features.
One of the first changes users are likely to notice is the new Products OneBox which will show up along the regular one. Normally, the Products OneBox, which shows up among the search results for certain queries, list five products related to the search, with thumbnails, prices, and links to buy them. The new OneBox, that is currently being tested for just several searches, features only the most popular two products and information on them and then links to a list of top brands which offer similar products.
For most product searches, Google lists a big number of reviews which can actually be overwhelming for the user. Now on every product page, there is a review section which aims to surface the most relevant ones as well as get the general opinion with a bar chart showing the star rating for the product based on all the reviews. The section will also list video reviews from YouTube if they are available for the product. Finally, some product searches will now be presented in the “Gallery” view which features larger photos. The feature was previously available, though called “Grid” view, but now Google has enabled it by default for certain product categories. These aren't the only changes and new features in Google's Product Search and the update should make it a more useful service in time for the holiday shopping spree.
