Merchant Center Next offers glitches, hiccups, and a confusing interface - but also new features to leverage AI.
Any advertiser selling products online is probably aware of Google Merchant Center - the product data hub from where you manage the products visible in both Google Shopping and Google free listings (also known as organic shopping). Google Merchant Center is a useful and valuable tool for getting an overview of all the products you advertise through Google’s search ecosystem. You can quickly get an overview of individual products’ inventory status, what products are disapproved and why, and even update product titles and other data to improve product searchability. There are also plenty of business insights in Merchant Center: you can see your price relative to your competitors, what products are most popular within your category, and who your top competitors are in Google’s product search.
In the last few months, Google has been rolling out a new version of Merchant Center, called “Merchant Center Next”. The new platform claims to offer easier navigation, new business insights, and the possibility to improve product data with the help of AI. By September 2024, all Merchant Center accounts should be migrated to the Next interface.
The lead-up to the migration has however not been pain-free. In late July 2024, Google Ads users suddenly noticed that their Google Shopping ads were showing products that weren’t in their store’s inventory. On top of totally wrong ads serving in Google Shopping, this glitch also meant there had been a data breach - giving advertisers access to other companies’ product data.
After being alerted to the issue on X, Google sent an email citing a “system issue” and that it “was not related to the Merchant Center Next migration”. Also, no advertiser was billed for the faulty ads being served. However, the glitch has had an impact on the trust advertisers place in Google. Online, many people still speculate that the error happened as a part of the migration over to the new platform. In the future, advertisers and agencies will expect more transparency on Google’s part.
As for the functionality of the new and improved Merchant Center Next, the verdict is still out. Many of the most useful views within the old merchant center, such as the diagnostics tab, the feeds tab, popular products, and pricing have moved around. Just as with any update, it will take a while to get used to the new interface and the new features.
In summary, here’s what we recommend you do with this information 👇
→ Optimize product data using the recommendations in Merchant Center Next. This will help you get more products visible in shopping searches, with higher relevance for your potential customers.
→ Start utilizing the business insights from Merchant Center Next - am I pricing my products right, is my assortment matching the current customer demand, am I offering shipping and delivery in line with what my customers expect?
→ Test out the new AI-based product improvement features to gain an edge over the competition.