
Google Shopping Study 2018
What has happened to Google Shopping since the EU issued its record 2.4 billion Euro fine?
Now, 68 percent of shopping ads come from Google itself, with external Comparison Shopping Services (CSSs) providing 32 percent.
More Competition in Google Shopping
For the latest Google Shopping study, Searchmetrics conducted an analysis of the desktop search results in the UK, Germany and France. The data was retrieved in the autumn of 2018. For comparison and to identify trends, Searchmetrics was able to draw on the results of its Google Shopping study published in January 2018. At the start of 2018, four months after Google Shopping was opened up to external CSSs, Searchmetrics conducted its first investigation into the competitive landscape.

The results showed that this was a competitive landscape in name alone, with just 0.4 percent of UK shopping ads belonging to external comparison services. In Germany, the situation was scarcely better, with Google providing 98% of the ads itself.
The latest Searchmetrics study of Google Shopping results shows that there is now far more competition. As well as the UK and Germany, this analysis also covers the France – measuring the market share of externally provided ads in Google’s shopping results, and comparing these alongside the ads in the shopping units that come from Google itself.

More Competition = Good Competition?
This Searchmetrics analysis of Google Shopping also presents the top 10 most visible external CSSs for the three markets: UK, Germany and France.
Looking through the most active CSSs, it is immediately clear that many of them are not “classic” price and/or product comparison sites. Many are online marketing agencies, who act as official CSS Partners, certified by Google, and participate in Google’s auction process on behalf of merchants. The graphic on the right shows the top3 external CSS providers in each analyzed market.
Download the Study.
You can find all the data and analysis described here, and more, in our study: “Google Shopping 2018: Analysis & Market Overview”
Download the study for insights into the current state of the competition, discover who the most important external CSSs are, learn all about the incentive programme “SpendMatch” and get the complete lowdown on Google Shopping in 2018.