It’s only July of course but already, both users and marketers are already preparing and bracing themselves for the months of October – December which are traditionally the biggest months for travel and shopping searches. Google believes that mobile will play an even bigger part this year as the searches made using smartphones and tablets are increasing 30% each year. To prepare for that most wonderful time of the year, Google Search is introducing some new mobile features for both the users and the digital marketers, travel and shopping wise.
For booking hotels, Google will now introduce Hotel Smart Filters so you can be as specific as you want when looking for hotels, from the price range to the rating to special features (like pet-friendly or fast WiFi). Also, if the hotel is offering a discount or a promo, you’ll see a “Deal” label on the search results, signaling it may be something you can check out. You will also receive Tips in your search, like “Save $200 if you stay here from August 16-23” so you can find better hotel and flight deals as well.
Except for Hotel Smart Filters (US only in initial rollout), all these will be coming to all countries in the next few months. For countries that have Google Flights (26 countries as of today), it is now easier to track the changing flight prices. You can now opt-in to receive information when a particular date and route combination will change prices, either increasing or decreasing significantly. You will receive the alerts in your email and on Google Now.
As for the new shopping features, Showcase Shopping Ads will appear as visual cards in your search results. For example if you search for a winter coat, then a retail brand can choose to have their ads in a collection of cards in the results. Google is also testing a currency conversion tool for Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the UK.
Even though most of us skip ads on YouTube, apparently some people still do watch them. Advertisers can now use interactive banners next to the video so users can scroll through the products. And advertisers can also prioritize which of their products can be seen in the recently introduced TrueView shopping, where people can click to buy even while watching the video.
SOURCE: Google
