Google Merchant Center Next – changes and possibilities

Google advertizing ecosystem is a complex environment that offers a number of tools to help advertizers achieve their business goals. The e‑commerce business mostly wants to maximize their sales figures, which are inextricably dependent on product advertizing. To enable their seamless functioning, you’ll need Google Merchant Center, a tool that opens the door to effective product management, increased brand visibility and improved online and offline sales. As it sometimes happens in the case of other Google features, GMC is now undergoing the changes that are aimed at enhancing its performance and better fulfillment of its users’ needs. Google Merchant Center has become Google Merchant Center Next.

What exactly is Google Merchant Center Next?

In May 2023, a tool supposed to replace the existing GMC was presented at the Google Marketing Live event. Google Merchant Center Next is an upgraded version of GMC. It boasts a wide range of features wrapped into a sleeker interface.

Why GMC Next?

GMC Next was designed with smaller and less technologically advanced advertisers in mind. They will certainly find it far easier to use the platform from now on. Additionally, Google wants to provide existing e‑commerce sellers with greater opportunities to analyze the performance of promoted products. The new panel is currently being offered to users who create new accounts and gradually to those who already use the classic version.

How is GMC Next different from the classic GMC?

Google claims that all the most frequently used functionalities from the classic GMC version will also be available in the Next version. So what are the key differences?

• Intuitive navigation and simple operation

Based on internal reports, Google has decided to hide more advanced features that were available in the previous version. The reports show that 90% of features are used by less than 10% of advertisers. Additional features can be easily enabled any time as “extensions” in the panel.

• Implementation made simpler

Users that lack technical knowledge found it quite challenging to verify a website in the classic GMC. To do this, they needed to be able to add html code to the site or, at best, have administrative access to the Google Analytics panel associated with the site. In GMC Next, verification is possible via the user’s email address registered in the e‑commerce’s domain.

• Simplified product management

What makes a significant change is the ability to automatically add product data directly from the website content. This is a huge improvement, considering the fact that preparing a product feed yourself can be really time-consuming. Another novelty is a feature that will please many advertisers as they will be able to edit individual product data directly in the GMC panel. Advertisers running both e‑commerce and brick-and-mortar stores will certainly be keen on how all products will be visible in a single location, which will surely facilitate the management of the store’s assortment and support better campaign planning.

Source: Screen from Google Merchant Center Next

• Automatic image generation

Still on the topic of products, we cannot fail to mention the new functionality, which should appeal to smaller companies. The new Google Merchant Center Next panel allows advertisers to create and edit photos assigned to products. Assisted by AI, we will be able to easily change or remove the background, and increase the resolution of the existing image. This will certainly save money that would have to be spent on doing another photo shoot.

• Creating campaigns directly in the GMC panel

An interesting upgrade is that now we can activate Google Ads campaigns from the GMC level. Although we will not have access to more advanced options there, we can fine-tune them for our campaign panel.

• New panel look

The interface will strike you as being more legible and orderly, and therefore, theoretically, more user-friendly. 

Source: Screen from Google Merchant Center Next

So, what does the future hold for GMC Next?

Google Merchant Center Next is a tool that will certainly become more useful as it is expanded with new solutions. The global rollout will have happened by 2024, so the platform will be available to an increasing number of sellers. This will certainly be appreciated by both Google and smaller entities that have not used this solution so far.

Summary

Google Merchant Center Next is a significant change in the world of online sales. It offers e‑commerce sellers tools that make it easier to manage product data, personalize ads, and facilitate the monitoring. Advertisers who want to keep up with the evolution of solutions should migrate to GMC Next as soon as possible and test available improvements on their own. Time will tell to what extent these changes will improve the experience of users running their e‑commerce stores.


Sources:

https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/13863814

https://blog.google/products/shopping/google-product-studio-generative-ai-product-photos/

https://marketingplatformacademy.withgoogle.com/events/tech-breakfast-training-series/watch?talk=introduction-to-merchant-center-next