Google Shopping Ads get conversion annotations

Google is encouraging merchants to enable “conversion annotations” – social proof badges that highlight a product’s purchase popularity when displayed in Google Shopping ads.

What’s new. Conversion annotations like “best selling” or “1K shopped here recently” provide visual cues about a product’s sales performance directly in the ad unit.

Why we care. Conversion annotations incentivize advertisers to share valuable purchase data with Google for visibility boosts. But they’ll have to weigh the benefits against data privacy concerns.

The pitch. Google claims conversion annotations can:

• Enhance the shopping experience by showcasing top products.
• Build trust and social proof by highlighting customer interactions.
• Ultimately, drive more purchases by making listings stand out.

Behind the feature. The annotations rely on merchants sharing aggregated conversion data from their sales.

• Merchants must have conversion tracking enabled in Google Merchant Center to qualify.
• Google says the data allows it “to be more creative and innovative to help you stand out.”

The requirements. To display conversion annotations, merchants need:

• Conversion tracking activated in the Merchant Center.
• To opt-in to share purchase history for annotation use.