It should soon become much easier for people in Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain to find the best deals online. Google indicated today that it’s moving towards launching Google Product Search/Google Shopping in those countries, opening the Google Merchant Center as a preliminary step.
The Google Merchant Center is in large part what makes Google Product Search work; it’s a site that allows businesses to submit data product feeds, ensuring that users see up to date information.
This led Kirill Kounik, a product manager responsible for the Google Merchant Center, to recommend in a blog post, "If you’re a new merchant and would like to start submitting your products to Google for Spain, Italy, or the Netherlands, we recommend checking out the ‘Getting Started’ articles in our Help Center, and then reviewing the data feed instructions and requirements for your target country. Existing Merchant Center users now have the option to select Spain, Italy and the Netherlands from the target country drop-down menu when registering their feeds in the Merchant Center."
Kounik also noted, "As we launch in new locations, we want it to be easy for you to make your products accessible to customers around the world. Our data requirements differ by country, so you can now view the data feed specifications for all countries in your native language by using the drop-down box on the top of the Data Feed Specification help article."
These may be significant steps for Google. Google Product Search isn’t something the average person uses every day, but together with offerings related to maps, news, and financial info, the tool helps make the company’s brand more appealing.
Don’t be surprised if Google’s global market share increases as a result.