Friends of Search conference, February 16th, Amsterdamn, NL. Product search and discovery, product promotion and product ownership.

1. Paid Search Relationships:
It’s Complicated
Elizabeth Marsten
CommerceHub
Image Source: iStock

2. @ebkendo
• Senior Director, E-Commerce Growth
Services
• Seattle, WA
• 10 years in the search industry
• PPC, Social, SEO, Analytics, Content
• Speaker: SMX Adv/East/West, Mozcon,
Searchfest, State of Search, HeroCon
• Author: Lynda.com, All in One Web
Marketing for Dummies
• And…
@ebkendo

3. Mommy
Image Source: @ebkendo

4. NORTH AMERICA’SLARGEST RETAILERS,
MARKETPLACES AND SEARCHENGINES
DEMAND GENERATION
ASSORTMENT EXPANSION
WAREHOUSES, STORES,DROP-SHIPPERS,
BRAND MANUFACTURERS
DELIVERY
NATIONAL CARRIERS, REGIONAL
CARRIERS, LOCALCARRIERS
One Connection

5. Supply Solutions
Increase product offering and grow
revenue through “virtual inventory”
Integrate with any trading partner
or order fulfillment source
Maintain branding and complete
control over fulfillment process
Demand Solutions
Profitably acquire new customers
through search, social and
marketplacechannels
Push product catalog to channels
where consumers seek new
products
Manage and optimizedigital
advertising spend across channels
Delivery Solutions
Optimizeconsumer shipping through
real-timedecisions on cost-effective
delivery methods that meet the
consumer’sdelivery date
Extendthe reach of rapid delivery
programs by geographically
distributinginventory to partner 3PLs

6. Our Story Today: Not Friends
Google Amazon Facebook

7. Competition is High, But Thriving
• At least online and thanks to mobile
• Mobile advertising was 84% of total ad revenue for Facebook*
• CPC is down Q4 2016 (Google)**
• But number of paid clicks is up 43%
• Brick and mortar and retail stores are shrinking***
• Macy’s closing about 15% of their locations
• Sears, Kmart, CVS expected to close locations as well
*https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/01/facebook-q4-2016-earnings/
**http://www.businessinsider.com/alphabet-reports-q4-2016-earnings-2017-1
***http://www.businessinsider.com/stores-closing-macys-kohls-walmart-sears-2016-12

8. Is There Room for Anyone Else?
Pinterest Polyvore
Bing Ads Connexity

9. There is so much crossover…don’t think about it by channel
Product Search
& Discovery
Product
Promotion
Product
Ownership
Images: iStock

10. Search &
Discovery
Image Source: iStock

11. GTIN Requirement on Google – Why?
• Ad spend efficiency and user experience improvements
• Knowing exactly which product is which
• Competition from marketplaces and Facebook
• Leaving “ownership” of the customer and the experience to
retailers and brands who want it

12. Personalization to Make it Sticky
Google knows my favorite color is blue and my clothing and shoe sizes.
They just haven’t used it against me yet…
Image: Google Shopping

13. The New Exact (Actual) Match Keyword?
Shopping Insights tool - ability to serve very specific versions of PLAs?
Image: Google Shopping Insights

14. Searches Start in Amazon
It’s estimated half of people start their online shopping search in Amazon.
Data/Image Source: Business Insider

15. Discovery Shopping
The initial activity or reason for the site/platform/app is not to
search or sell but to discover and be inspired.
Image: iStock

16. Polyvore - Owned by Yahoo
• Polyvore is…
• A social / commerce site
• 84% female users
• 70% female users of
whom 50% of are under
34 (“Millenials”)
• A high AOV channel for
luxury apparel retailers
• 3 million sets created
every monthImage/Data Source: Polyvore

17. Pinterest – The Up and Comer
• 2 billion+ monthly “idea
searches”*
• 40% of new Pinterest users are
men**
• 93% of Pinners used Pinterest to
plan for or make purchases***
• 72% of Pinners have seen
something on Pinterest & made
a purchase offline
https://blog.pinterest.com/en/2-billion-monthly-idea-searches-and-counting*
https://business.pinterest.com/en/blog/how-pinterest-drives-purchases-online-and***
https://www.internetretailer.com/2016/10/17/40-new-pinterest-users-are-men**

18. Connexity & Social Influencers
Highly Curated Editorial Content
• Engaging with social
agencies and influencers
• A “marketplace” connecting
retailers and influencers
• YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter,
Instagram, Messaging
Image Source: Connexity

19. Product
Promotion

20. Purchases on Google
A Product Listing Ads
enhancement on mobile.
https://adwords.googleblog.com/2015/07/winning-shopping-micro-moments.html

21. Purchases on Google
• Still running on a % of eligible traffic across Android and iOS
• Only certain products (at your control) show the buy button
• Learned that everything before the buy button is what leads to
it being used or not
• Built a huge infrastructure, 150k+ active retailers and 500m
products to understand a shopper’s intent
UGG – 50% increase in conversion rates on mobile PLAs with
POG and a 25% decrease in cost per conversion.
https://adwords.googleblog.com/2016/05/ways-to-be-useful-for-mobile-shoppers.html

22. Sponsored Products on Amazon
Image Source: Amazon
• Ads that stay on Amazon.com
• Surface up products that aren’t easily found or are new
• Have to win the Buy Box to display

23. Sponsored Products on Amazon
Image Source: Amazon
• Keyword based (automatic and manual)
• Double dip cost model – CPC and product category % fee
with Amazon if the product sells
• Very similar to a simple Google AdWords
• Potential to take keywords from Sponsored from search and
vice versa – especially when doing dynamic search ads on
Google
• Using (most often) ACos/ROAS

24. Walmart & eBay are Buying PLAs for Marketplace Sellers
Image Source: Google

25. And now Amazon is too
Image Source: Google

26. So What Does That Do to the SERP?

27. Enter Facebook
*https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/01/facebook-q4-2016-earnings/
Now What:
• Company utility is based on daily active
users
• Per FB, slowing growth in Q4 2016 due to
available inventory to show ads*
• Expanding ads to Messenger, Instagram
Stories, Audience Network
• Revenue up 51% YoY for Q4 2016 *

28. Dynamic Product Ads
Source: CommerceHub
Image: Facebook
CH – What we’ve seen:
• Average monthly performance
• Return on Ad Spend: up to 1,200%
• Product Catalog Size: up to 1,000
Products
• Added Dynamic Ads for Broad
Audiences
• Conversion rate is high, volume lower
than search, it is remarketing after all

29. Enter Pinterest
• Added visual search (Lens
tool)
• Added visually similar results
• Updated their feed to be
more like Google and do bulk
operations for promoted
pins
Image: Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-pinterest-visual-search-2016-6

30. Pinterest – Shopping & Search Campaigns
• Limited to direct partners
that run campaigns
through Kenshoo
• 97% of search terms on
Pinterest are unbranded
Image Source: Pinteresthttps://https://business.pinterest.com/sites/business/files/a_new_take_on_search_0.pdf

31. Polyvore – Plus, Sponsored
Image Source: Polyvore

32. Product
Ownership

33. Google Manufacturer Center
• Alternative images can be added
• Reported increase conversion rate
• Bosch, 4% lift
• Will not override PLA product titles
• Fill in missing information or clarify like
“cordless” or weight
Image Source: Google

34. Curated from multiple sources
and specifically pulled in

35. Google Manufacturer Center – Best Practices
Image Source: CommerceHub

36. Google Manufacturer Center
Image Source: CommerceHub
• Prescriptive action items in the UI
• Action items pertain to Google and
your business in general
• It’s free to submit
• Why would a brand or manufacturer
want to enroll in this program?

37. eBay Structured Data
Image Source: eBay

38. Who is the Seller of Record?
Image Source: iStock

39. So What?
• Competition increasing in Google Shopping
• Especially in home goods, furnishings, electronics
• Google is expanding where Product Listing Ads show
• Local/maps, Google Now, Knowledge Panel
• Facebook is expanding where ads show
• Enhancements to dynamic ads
• Messenger, marketplace

40. Now What?
• Expect to diversify your budget…
• New ways of discovering your catalog or new ad types
• 80/20 rule applies to your product assortment
• Exclusives. Demand is a powerful thing.
• Product data quality – own what is yours

41. Thank You!
Image Source: @ebkendo