It isn't possible to overestimate the importance of Google as a driver of traffic to your product listings, whether you have your own ecommerce website, storefront, or sell on marketplaces such as eBay, Etsy, Bonanzle or an online antiques mall. There are anecdotal reports that Google has been tinkering with its algorithm for product feeds for the past 6 months or so that have had serious ramifications on seller product listings, and last month, it announced some changes to its Google Base feed.

AuctionBytes brought in an expert in search engine optimization and search marketing to get his take on what's going on and to tell us what merchants should know about Google these days in this three-party interview series.

Tom Critchlow is Head of Search Marketing at Distilled, an Internet marketing company that specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC) and Online Reputation Management. Based in London, England, Tom has worked with many large brand-name companies building custom online marketing campaigns and has a wealth of experience in SEO, PPC management and all forms of Search Engine Marketing across businesses of all sizes.

AuctionBytes: Many marketplace sellers, and eBay sellers in particular, reported that their product listing visibility on Google searches went way down over the summer. What was the root of the problem - do you think there were problems with the Google Base feeds that marketplaces were sending to Google?

Tom Critchlow: I don't have any real answer to this I'm afraid, only speculation. I would guess that this is somehow related to the recent changes to the Merchant Centre and that either, a) Ebay were struggling to get their data formatted correctly for the new merchant centre account, or b) Too many individual sellers were listing their items and perhaps abusing the system which lead to Google showing fewer ebay items as a whole.

AuctionBytes: Some sellers are now reporting that Google made changes in early October that favor listings from large retailers and online marketplaces, and is favoring Amazon.com listings in particular. Do you have any insight into this?

Tom Critchlow: I've seen similar results for some of the clients I work with who have Google Base feeds - however I'm not sure what the root cause of the issue may be. With Google moving towards Google Merchant Center and with Google Base products now appearing in Adwords as well, it may be that simply more of the large retailers have started submitting products which has lead to increased competition.

AuctionBytes: If it's true that Google now favors large retailers and marketplaces over small sellers, what can small website owners do in order to get better placement in Google search results?

Tom Critchlow: I wrote a post on basic ranking factors for Google Products here. In summary, the most important ranking factor is the number of reviews that you have, and this is the factor which most small retailers struggle to compete on. I would recommend that small retailers consider listing their items on the third-party review sites listed in my post and get a handful of reviews on each. Please ensure that these are genuine reviews - not ones you submit yourself, as this can get you in trouble!

AuctionBytes: Google Base has a list of editorial guidelines. I'm curious if simply using all caps or too many exclamation points in listings could be cause for Google to reject a merchant's feed?

Tom Critchlow: From the page you linked to there is this guideline "Use Standard Spelling and Grammar. Avoid any repeated and unnecessary use of punctuation, capitalization or symbols. Don't use exclamation points in your item titles. The use of symbols, numbers, and letters should adhere to the true meaning of the symbol." The Google Base system runs off a very similar system to Google Local and I know that in Google Local, excessive capitalization can mean "NATO" or "UNESCO" will cause your feed to be rejected. Repeated punctuation can mean "..." will cause your feed to be rejected. So I would ensure that the data for your item listings and descriptions is completely correct and doesn't contain any "strange" formatting.

Stay tuned for the next installment of Q&A with Tom Critchlow, where he answers the question, "Does accepting Google Checkout gets a listing ranked higher in results?"

Q&A with Tom Critchlow, Part 2: Google, Checkout, and eBay Item Condition - link

Q&A with Tom Critchlow, Part 3: What Sellers Need to Know about SEO - link

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