One of the latest announcements from Google this month is that they will be extending the visibility of their Shopping Ads on YouTube. The new ad extensions will show on the YouTube home feed and within the YouTube search results.
The main new feature of the extensions will allow users to view suggested products in a carousel format on the homepage. Google explains that the ads will be shown to YouTube users based on their interests, like the way shopping ads appear on other Google Platforms. For instance, ads that are shown in Search, Shopping, Partner Websites, and the Google Display Network. The YouTube Shopping ads will match the user’s interests based on product details and brand information submitted through the Merchant Centre, not through keywords.
Who can access the Ads?
Google says that advertisers that are already running standard Shopping campaigns and who are opted into YouTube on the Display Network will be able to access and run the new YouTube Shopping ad extensions straight away.
YouTube’s Competition?
YouTube is the latest social platform to try and make it easier for users to shop for individual products without leaving the app. So, who else is capitalising on potential shoppers through visual advertising? Pinterest has been trying to capture shopper interest from the beginning of the user’s journey, then track the path of the user from visual inspiration and pin all the way through to purchase.
However, one of the more successful competitors is Instagram, who launched their successful “Shopping Checkout” earlier this year. This new feature allows users to view and purchase products directly from the app. Once the shopper has entered their name, email, billing information and shipping address it will be conveniently and securely stored for future use. It’s particularly user friendly and notifications come directly from the app, regarding shipping and delivery information.
However, more recently the ever-growing video sharing app TikTok also announced a similar strategy, in the form of their Hashtag Challenge Plus Product. This lets video viewers shop for products in the app itself, like Instagram, challenging the mighty social platform.
Onefeed’s Thoughts:
Google has stated for a while now that users apparently display the same shopping intent on YouTube as much as they do on Google Search. This is clearly why the search engine has made the push into showing Shopping ads on YouTube’s home feed and within search results.
Making YouTube the latest visual advertising platform is a wise move from Google, particularly with a rise of Gen Z users on video social platforms. Up until now, YouTube hasn’t been able to fully capitalise on directing a user to one specific product, so this latest feature should convert more shoppers into purchasing more products.
