New Ranking System for Google’s Product Listing Ads

Google is testing yet another feature for PLAs (product listing ads). When a user searches for the top or best products within a given category, Google will render which products are the “best”. The ranking system is based upon the product star review with the 8 highest rated items.

Products have always been ranked based on their reviews, but now Google is leading products with a sticker on the top left corner of the image, the product’s star review, and review quantity at the very bottom of ad.

As Google continues to integrate review behavior into their paid channels, users will now see product reviews directly in the ad. When a consumer review is clicked within the paid ad, Google will take you to a page where you can read more about the product and/or post your own review.

The new feature makes product reviews even more important. How do we motivate our customers to give us favorable reviews? As always it starts with having great product, but how do we encourage our fan base to participate in the conversation?

A few things that might help with engagement:

(1) Review + Win – create a social media contest that rewards at random albeit only to consumers that write a review

(2) Review Management – Ensure that your brand is appropriately using a review system like Bazaar Voice to help scale the program onsite

(3) Ask + Receive – consumers want to hear from you.  Send recent purchasers a thank you email and ask for their feedback and review.