Google is pointing out when a specific listing in their Product Listing Ads is notably less expensive than the others listed within the same PLA ad unit.
The ads that are the lowest price in the PLA ads are noted with a “Price is X% lower than average online prices.” It is displayed underneath the title description, pricing and seller’s name.
Channel Advisor is the first to spot the change and shared this screenshot showing the notation.
Channel Advisor also did some detailed analysis into how Google is determining the pricing and the average percent cheaper an item is. Google is averaging the price for all products listed and then using “inclusive of shipping but exclusive of tax” to determine it.
These only seem to trigger when searching for a very specific product, often with a product number, where the ones listed would be very similar. This way it is comparing “apples to apples” and not “apples to oranges.”
Business will also want to consider the pros and cons of being listed as the least expensive option. When being more competitive in their pricing, the added Google is highlighting the ones that have better deals could really increase CTR on those listings.
Jennifer Slegg
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[…] testing many different ways of displaying Product Listing Ads. We have seen them trying out a price comparison feature, a large knowledge panel / PLA hybrid ad, and various annotations within the ad unit, not to […]