Frequently asked questions about the Google CSS Program
Background: Following the EU antitrust ruling in 2017, Google was obliged to open up competition within the shopping ads for price comparison sites. This now takes place via so-called Comparison Shopping Services (CSS). (e.g. GoShopping). We help online stores, retailers and agencies to reach millions of users via Shopping ads.
Through the judgment you benefit from a click price reduction of about 20%, because Google has to deduct this discount before the bid participates in the promotion. If you list your products through GoShopping CSS the cost per click is about 20% lower than if you place your Shopping ads directly through Google CSS, because we pass this discount directly to you.
The advantages are clear:
Despite lower or the same bid, you can outbid direct customers of Google CSS.
You can either link your existing Google Merchantcenter with GoShopping CSS or create another Merchantcenter and get an additional gateway to your store.
In addition, you also get a discount of up to 20% on the normal cost per click for Shopping ads. The savings are usually directly noticeable in your monthly expenses for Shopping ads. However, you can also invest the savings directly into your bids. This can increase ad performance by up to 25% by lowering your cost per click for Shopping ads, increasing the amount of clicks along with an increased likelihood of more transactions. So you get more Shopping ads for the same amount of money.
You don’t have to worry about that. Nothing will change. The only thing that will change are the costs, which are now up to 20% lower compared to the Google CSS prices, as well as the optical change in the Shopping ads. As CSS, GoShopping will now be displayed here instead of Google.
With GoShopping there is no minimum purchase and no upper limit. You can spend as much as you want.
The learning phase refers to the algorithm. It calculates how to optimize your shopping ads to keep your expenses as low as possible. Campaigns that have undergone some major changes usually need a new learning phase. For example, one of the most important factors is switching to a new CSS service.
Usually, the learning phase starts from the day you switch to another CSS service and it can last 10 days.
Google has set up the following page. Here you can find more information about advertising with the help of price comparison portals.
Yes, only within the EU there is the CSS program and the possibility to save up to 20% on the cost of shopping ads by choosing a CSS service.
If you already have a Google Ads account or a Google Merchant Center, nothing changes for you. You continue to pay Google directly for your ads using your credit or debit card, or by monthly invoice. The discount is immediately applied directly to each auction and click on your ads. So you pay less from now on.
Apart from the monthly fee for the link to our CSS account, there are no costs. Also the listing of your items on GoShopping is included.
You can cancel or switch to another CSS partner at any time. There is no contract commitment.