Online merchants have a new place to submit their product information to search engines, now that Google has launched the Google Merchant Center.
The company recently announced it would "retire" individual accounts of those sellers who also have their feeds submitted through multi-client accounts to eliminate duplicate feeds to Google Base.
Google Merchant Center replaces Google Base for those sellers, and any who submit data feeds for product listings—including Auctiva Commerce merchants.
"If you submit products to Google, Google Merchant Center is now the place to upload your feeds, check on the status of your items and get information on the performance of your listings," writes Ioannis Kalafatis, Google Merchant Center product manager, announcing the change in the Google Merchant Blog.
The reason for the separation, according to Google, is to better optimize product listings. Google Base will still accept feeds for non-product listings, like vehicles, recipes, jobs and real estate.
Sellers who already have Google Base accounts can sign into the Merchant Center using the same login information. Existing data feeds, items and settings for "the vast majority of users" have been transferred over, according to Google.
"Most Auctiva Commerce users won't have to worry about this because Google has already moved their data into the new system," notes Auctiva Commerce Product Manager Chris Eckland. "Only those sellers who have uploaded other types of listings (jobs, vehicles, etc.) will need to create new settings."
Google is providing FAQs to help users transition.
Auctiva staff writers constantly monitor trends and best practices of those selling on eBay and elsewhere online. They attend relevant training seminars and trade shows and regularly discuss the market with PowerSellers and other market experts.
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