A new shopping comparison service, called Productcaster, has gone live, approved by Google as part of its move to increase competition in its Shopping ad space across Europe following the EU’s antitrust ruling last year.
Google has been quietly discounting its PLAs (product ads) to grow the involvement of agencies and retailers in Google Shopping ads, following the antitrust ruling last year.
In partnership with marketing agency Omnicom, Productcaster has launched with leading retailers in the European Economic Area (EEA), and enables both retailers and agencies to take advantage of Google’s favourable Cost-Per-Click (CPC) offer across its updated CSS format.
With launch retailers including Argos, Durex, Evans Cycles, Gear4music, H. Samuel, River Island, Wayfair and Yours Clothing, and leading ecommerce retailers in Europe such as Cdiscount in France, Productcaster looks set to become an important Google CSS partner in Europe.
Uniquely, the Productcaster CSS solution can also service agency clients through a tailored white-label solution. Omnicom Media Group (OMG) and several leading independent agencies are the first to partner with Productcaster to offer their retail clients the opportunity to take advantage of the lower CSS media rates.
Productcaster was created by UK-based specialists in online retailing, Summit, which used its 18-years’ experience servicing retailers and developing award winning marketing technology to create an effective, trustworthy CSS solution for Europe.
Ian Carrington, MD Performance Media Solutions EMEA at Google, said, “We’re pleased to welcome Productcaster to the table as a Comparison Shopping Service partner. Their technological capability and retail experience makes them a welcome arrival to our CSS programme.”
Justin Opie, Managing Director at retail association IMRG, said, “The savings to be had through this new retail offering from Google are potentially significant given that our data shows that on a last-click attribution basis, paid media on average accounts for around 20% of the online retail revenue that is derived from all marketing channels. With the current uncertainty facing retail, we anticipate retailers to be interested in any opportunity to increase their ROI from their marketing channels.”
Hedley Aylott, CEO of Summit, said, “We recognised the desire amongst retailers for a trusted, transparent CSS partner that offers sensible fees and a reliable service. When we became aware of this opportunity for retailers we created the Productcaster service to get our clients and agency partners live on CSS within a matter of days across Europe. They are already seeing a 15-25% benefit in CPC savings through Productcaster. We want to make it as easy as possible for retailers and agencies take advantage of the lower media fees in an ever-competitive market as fast as possible.”