Following last month’s series of updates to shopping-oriented search functionalities, Google has one more release as it gets ready for the holiday season: Upgrades to visual shopping search experience for desktop.
Last month, Google introduced a new functionality that allows users to start a search for a product by typing “shop” before the item they are seeking. With the features launched this week, that search will now bring up what Google said is a more visual feed showing products, brands, articles and videos from around the web, according to a blog post.
Additionally, filters will allow users to hone in on specifics of a product like type, brand, a particular retailer, or whether it is at a store nearby or on sale.
Clicking on a product will also populate a second display, with details such as offers from different merchants and reviews. This appears without closing out of the initial search.
It’s the latest upgrade to arrive this year as Google seeks to boost shopping at a time when it is seeing more searches for products "in stock near me," and make product searches a feature of the primary search experience as opposed to the province of only the Shopping tab.
Along with the ability to start a search with “Shop,” other new features announced last month included the ability to shop a particular look, view trending products, curate a product buying guide and a feature that displays products in 3D. That was added to a list of tools that it surfaced to help brands get ready for the holidays, and a series of features for retailers and new ad formats announced throughout the year.
It comes as Amazon has become the place where Americans are
most likely to start a shopping search, and
executives have voiced revelations about TikTok becoming a favored place to search for information by Gen Z. Google remains a primary destination for brands and retailers to advertise products as they seek to reach customers.
