Brafton recently reported that Google was giving consumers – and marketers – a more visual web with Google Image updates and a new Image Search Ad offering, but now it seems the company is going all out to create a visual shopping experience for users. Like.com has announced it has been acquired by Google.
Marketers may like Like.com's potential to strengthen Google searches with images of product offerings. Some speculate the visual shopping experience of Like.com combined with the frequent product research conducted on Google will boost online purchases and improve Google's paid search ad conversion rates. Like's CEO, Munjal Shah, says his firm has been "moving the frontiers of ecommerce forward" and this is something he expects Like to continue under Google.
The feature could also help Google maintain a competitive edge over Bing, which currently offers users the ability to search for products based on visual characteristics. A Bing query for "red shoes" produces shopping results with prices and even some reviews at the top of Bing's homepage, where a Google search for "red shoes" currently offers no product results with prices on its homepage.
In an email to Ad Age, Google officials explain they hope Like.com will help them as they "continue to work on building great ecommerce experiences for our users, advertisers and partners."
Another recent development in Google search results comes from the company's change to its algorithm. Last week, Google announced that it would show more results from a single domain if a site offers the most relevant information for a given query. With both of these changes in mind, marketers should remember compelling content – both images and text – will be needed to catch consumers' clicks on the search giant.
