Google launches the “Shops” feature. Will it squeeze the space for small and medium-sized sellers?

According to foreign media reports, Google recently launched a new module in Google Search - Shops.

Google has rolled out a " Shops " section to its mobile search results , a company spokesperson confirmed to 9to5Google. The Shops section displays three retailers based on their organic search rankings (but can be expanded to show up to ten) and is available on mobile devices for select shopping-related queries in the United States .

Google’s statement said: “We recently launched Shops, a new module available on mobile devices for shopping-related queries in the United States English . ” A Google spokesperson said , “We launched this module to help users provide more seller options when searching . This feature currently shows 3 stores, and users can click to expand the options to show up to 10 merchants. The selection of results shown and their order are based on organic search rankings.”

This is another move by Google to enter the e-commerce market . In the past two years, starting with the launch of free display of e-commerce products in April 2020, Google has gradually expanded its shopping-related search results from paid products to displaying natural search results .

Before the start of the 2021 holiday season, the company also introduced a " deals " module in search results , which will display relevant discounts or discounted products during important shopping holidays. It also launched shopping integration modules for Shopify, WooCommerce, GoDaddy and other e-commerce platforms .

The Shops module is another module where retailers may appear in the search results , which can increase awareness of related brands and increase traffic. Since the Shops module is based on natural search rankings, it is naturally good news for big sellers, and the traffic brought by Google cannot be underestimated. However, sellers with low rankings may not benefit from it , which may further squeeze the living space of small and medium-sized sellers .

As Google continues to increase support for organic shopping features, it becomes even more important for merchants to ensure their websites are optimized for both traditional search results and shopping-related features.

From an industry perspective, Google’s efforts to build e-commerce capabilities that support both users and merchants illustrate the rise of digital commerce and its role in the company’s strategy.

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