This document discusses crucial developments in search engine marketing (SEM) for ecommerce. It summarizes: 1) Google has revamped Google Shopping and Google Express to focus on personalized local shopping and transaction enablement across devices. 2) Google's new Shopping Actions feature transaction processing and customer support directly on search results to improve the shopping experience. 3) Other major players like Facebook, Target, and Walmart are also developing new marketplace and sponsored product features to facilitate transactions. 4) The document questions whether we need to redefine "search engine marketing" given the evolution of ecommerce and emergence of new transaction channels beyond search engines.

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What’s New &
Crucial in SEM
eCommerce edition

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Elizabeth Marsten
Senior Director, Marketplace Strategic Services
• 13 years in digital marketing
• Seattle, WA
• First SMX Advanced: 2009
• New role, but not a new photo…

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No lists. No going through feature by feature.
This is SMX Advanced!
But if you need it:
SEL - Google Marketing Live – new formats
Techcrunch – Google Express/Shopping revamp
SEL – Google Shopping revamp
SEL – Microsoft Advertising new features (not parity!)

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WHY?

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Shopping Actions
Merchant Center
Manufacturer Center
Express
Product Listing Ads
Showcase
Local
Google Shopping = Google eCommerce

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Share these #SMXInsights on your social channels!
Google Shopping Actions
It’s all about the transaction enablement.
The payment processing, order taking, receipt giving, delivery
information, customer support providing workflow.

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Google Shopping + Express
Personalization.
Localization.
Becoming part of an
EXISTING habit.
(Sorry G+)
https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/14/google-express-becomes-an-all-new-google-shopping-in-big-revamp/

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• High quality transactable offers from retailers who meet
specific data quality and fulfillment standards
• Retailers can serve different offers in the transactable
unit (i.e. show up twice) but if the offer is the same, it
should only show the most applicable experience for
that user
• Offers are de-duped, from left to right. So if an offer is
showing in the transactional unit, it will not show as a
PLA and vice versa
The Transactional Unit

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• Relevancy to the user’s query
• Immediate purchase intent (via aggregate behavior for the search term)
• Retailer preferences – membership or linked loyalty programs, previously purchased
from
• User signals like existing cart content to continue basket building
• Shipping speed and price
Understanding Shopping Actions

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What Crosses Over
Everything.

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• Submit the same Google Retail Promotions for Shopping Actions and Product Listing
Ads in Merchant Center
• Top retailer status in Google Express informs Google Shopping on fulfillment times and
capabilities, shipping information
• Reviews (product and seller)
• Pricing (make unique or use the same)
• Remarketing audiences
More Specifically, Please?

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• Sharing: title, product description, product category
• Local Inventory
• Retailers can serve different offers in the transactable unit (i.e. show up twice) but if the
offer is the same, it should only show the most applicable experience for that user
• Offers are de-duped, from left to right. So if an offer is showing in the transactional unit,
it will not show as a PLA and vice versa
Product Feeds

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And that’s just Google. This is about SEM, right?

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Enter the Rebrand

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WHY?

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What’s Everyone Else Doing?

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Facebook Marketplace
• It’s more like a daily deals feed
• Best of web offers – highly curated
• Mobile only
• Category focus: home electronics,
kids/baby, health & beauty, home

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Facebook Marketplace
• Is it SEM? Marketplace? Social?
• Remarketing / audience building
• Transaction enablement

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If you haven’t been paying attention to retailer
marketplaces & sponsored product advertising on
them…it’s time.

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Target, Home Depot, Wayfair, Walmart

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Target Example: Mizuno
• Branded page on Target.com
• Highly curated brands
• Filling assortment gaps
• Fulfilled by brand (not Target)

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Walmart Performance Ads
• Limited to select sellers and by
partner connections
• Going out on their own
• Polymorph Labs acquisition
• Quick overview

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Are we redefining
Search Engine
“Marketing”?

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• “eCommerce” and understanding how it is defined in various
audiences
• Transaction enablement that is device, platform and program
agnostic
• Sponsored products
So what is ”crucial” in SEM?
Share these #SMXInsights on your social channels!

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