WebProNews

Tag: Google Trusted Stores

  • It’s Now Easier To Become A Google Trusted Store

    It’s Now Easier To Become A Google Trusted Store

    Google has made some changes to its Google Trusted Stores certification program that should make it easier for merchants to earn the badge, which can help earn the trust of people shopping from Google.

    About Google Trusted Stores

    Google first launched Trusted Stores back in the fall of 2011. Merchants were required to share data about shipments with Google to participate in the program, and they got a badge to display.

    Since then, Google has made a number of improvements to the program. In 2012, Google added the badge to search ads. Later that year, Google acquired KikScore, which offered its own online trust score system, to improve the program. In 2013, Google added the badges to the now defunct Google Affiliate Network. Later, it expanded Trusted Stores to more parts of the world after only offering it in the U.S. It also started using the program to help power seller ratings on AdWords ads. Last fall, Google added HTTPs support to the program.

    Qualified stores can display the badge on their sites, and on Google Shopping. Customers will be offered free purchase protection by Google after making a purchase (on orders up to $1,000).

    What’s New with Trusted Stores?

    Google has simplified the application process for the program. Now, merchants need only to create an account and add a couple snippets of code to their site. They’re no longer required to submit shipment and cancellation feeds, and can now specify a custom position for the Trusted Stores badge on their site.

    “Reviews collected through Google Trusted Stores help you qualify for seller ratings, which show on your AdWords text ads and Google Shopping,” says Google Shopping product manager Michaela Feller. “This integration provides shoppers with helpful information, while giving you a free way to earn the rating you deserve.”

    “You can also enrich your AdWords ads by displaying your Google Trusted Stores status through a review extension,” Feller adds. “Review extensions are displayed on a separate line in your AdWords ads and may increase their clickthrough rates.”

    The changes were made in the UK, Germany, France, Australia, and Japan a few months ago. Google says it has already led to hundreds of merchants becoming Trusted Stores in those countries.

    You can apply here.

    Images via Google

  • Google Trusted Stores Program Gets HTTPS Support [Report]

    Google Trusted Stores Program Gets HTTPS Support [Report]

    As reported earlier this week, it was discovered that the Google Trusted Stores program was not supporting sites using HTTPS. This is rather strange considering how much Google has been pushing for sites to use it.

    Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Roundtable happened upon a post in theAdWords Help community from a merchant who wrote:

    In May, I was told that we did not qualify to become a trusted store at this time because our entire site is served via HTTPS, that you are aware of this limitation and that it is being addressed. Despite arguing that there is no reason to shuttle e-commerce customers between HTTP / HTTPS protocols anymore, that using HTTPS to protect all customer interactions is essential, and that Google now recognizes HTTPS as a signal to rank sites higher in search results, there was nothing that could be done and I would have to wait for a fix.

    A Googler did acknowledge the issue in the thread, saying:

    The Google Trusted Stores team is actively working with Merchants that have a full HTTPS website to make it possible for them to display the Google Trusted Stores badge. We ask that they please contact the Trusted Stores team for more information.

    Apparently the problem has been solved. Marketing Land is now reporting that Google is notifying merchants enrolled in the program that they can now display the Trusted Stores bad on HTTPS pages.

    Image via Google

  • HTTPS Sites Not Accepted As Google Trusted Stores?

    HTTPS Sites Not Accepted As Google Trusted Stores?

    Well, here’s another one of those “Come on, Google” moments. You know how Google has been pushing sites to go HTTPS? Well, people trying to get into Google’s own Trusted Store program have been rejected because their sites use HTTPS. Unbelievable.

    Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Roundtable happened upon a post in the AdWords Help community from a merchant who wrote:

    In May, I was told that we did not qualify to become a trusted store at this time because our entire site is served via HTTPS, that you are aware of this limitation and that it is being addressed. Despite arguing that there is no reason to shuttle e-commerce customers between HTTP / HTTPS protocols anymore, that using HTTPS to protect all customer interactions is essential, and that Google now recognizes HTTPS as a signal to rank sites higher in search results, there was nothing that could be done and I would have to wait for a fix.

    Luckily, Google has acknowledged the problem. A Googler responded with:

    The Google Trusted Stores team is actively working with Merchants that have a full HTTPS website to make it possible for them to display the Google Trusted Stores badge. We ask that they please contact the Trusted Stores team for more information.

    To be fair, HTTPS wasn’t announced as a ranking signal until August, but Google has been making a big deal about it for quite a while. At its Google I/O conference earlier this year, they called for “HTTPS everywhere”.

    Earlier this month, we learned that while only 10% URLs on the web crawled and discovered by Google are HTTPS URLs, 30% of its first page search results contain at least one or more HTTPS URLs.

    Suffice it to say, it matters to Google. It seems ridiculous that sites that have adapted HTTPS wouldn’t be able to get into the Trusted Stores program.

    The program was launched three years ago as a way to help online shoppers find merchants they can trust. HTTPS-using merchants would seem among likely candidates for that label.

    Google “Trusted” status even has bearing on paid search ads. Last November, Google announced that the program would help to power seller ratings on AdWords text ads.

    While Google says it’s not the gateway to the Internet (and technically it’s not), it is still how the majority of people find things. It really needs to get its act together on some of this stuff.

    Image via Google

  • Google Adds Trusted Stores To Ratings In AdWords Ads

    Google announced that its Trusted Stores program is now helping to power seller ratings on AdWords text ads, and in Product Listing Ads for Google Shopping.

    “This integration provides shoppers with valuable information, while giving participating retailers a free and easy way to earn the ratings they deserve,” says Google Shopping group product manager Brian Marquardt. “Advertisers who display seller ratings on their ads typically see a boost in AdWords click-through rates, with higher ratings generally resulting in higher click-through rates.”

    Google Trusted Stores

    “Millions of people now see the Google Trusted Stores badge on retailer sites and in Google ads every day,” says Marquardt. “In fact, we’ve more than tripled US store participation in the last year. Because shoppers value the badge, many of these stores are seeing sales growth. For instance, OnlineShoes measured a 4.2% sales increase from the Google Trusted Stores badge, and AutoAnything saw an increase of 5.2%.”

    Google Trusted Stores

    Google first launched Trusted Stores back in 2011, but began testing the badges on search ads last spring with certain qualified merchants and advertisers.

    Earlier this month, Google announced the further expansion of Google Shopping into 8 more countries, as well as the expansion of Google Trusted Stores into 3 more.

    Images: Google

  • Google Shopping & Google Trusted Stores Expand To More Of The World

    Google Shopping & Google Trusted Stores Expand To More Of The World

    In two separate announcements, Google revealed that it is expanding Google Shopping into 8 more countries and Google Trusted Stores into 3.

    Google launched Trusted Stores in the U.S. two years ago, but they have not gone international until now. Google started testing pilot programs in the UK and France last week, and is also introducing one in Australia.

    “Our goal with Google Trusted Stores is to give shoppers the reassurance they need to shop confidently online at a broad set of stores,” says Google Shopping group product manager Brian Marquardt. “And we also aim to help excellent merchants expand their e-commerce businesses. Based on the success stories that we’ve seen in the US, we expect that participating in Google Trusted Stores will drive meaningful increases in online sales in other countries as well.”

    In France, Google is working with Spartoo, Shoes.fr, Maisons du Monde, Wanimo and Tati. In the UK, it’s schuh, gorgeousshop, ghd, Trueshopping.co.uk, BestBathrooms.com, PhysioRoom.com, Wayfair.co.uk, Spartoo UK and Rubbersole. In Australia, retailers include: Kogan, DealsDirect, MilanDirect and Surfstich.

    Google Shopping, meanwhile, is launching in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Turkey. Users in these countries will start seeing more Product Listing Ads when searching shopping-related queries.

    Image: Google

  • Google Adds Trusted Store Badges To Affiliate Network

    Google announced today that it will start displaying Google Trusted Store badges next to merchants in the Google Affiliate Network in the U.S., so publishers can easily identify merchants that have the badge, and are part of the network.

    “The Google Trusted Stores program helps shoppers buy online with confidence,” says Google systems engineer Bill Goudie. “The Google Trusted Store badge is only awarded to stores with a proven track record of reliable, on-time shipping and excellent customer service. So when shoppers see the Google Trusted Store badge on e-commerce websites, they know they’re buying from a store that provides a consistently excellent shopping experience. They also know that Google stands behind them when they shop, providing up to $1,000 of purchase protection in the rare event of a problem.”

    Trusted Stores

    “The Google Trusted Store badge is a helpful tool you can use when considering advertiser affiliate programs to join,” Gouldie adds. “Look for the Google Trusted Store logo when browsing the Advertisers tab to find advertisers that are validated and certified by Google as providing a great shopping experience for consumers.”

    For advertisers, getting the badge should help potential relationships with publishers in the Affiliate Network, among other places in the Google universe.

  • Google Trusted Stores Program Should Get Boost From KikScore Acquisition

    Google debuted Trusted Stores last fall, and now the company has acquired the assets and patents of Kikscore to make the program better. Kikscore offers its own online trust score system, which is about to be discontinued, in favor of Google’s.

    KikScore
    @KikScore     Google Acquires KikScore – Service Will Change on June 28th http://t.co/5kvdWDAe
    2 days ago via TweetMeme · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    Here’s a quick clip about Trusted Stores in case you’re unfamiliar with the program:

    On its blog, KikScore wrote (viaTheNextWeb):

    We are excited to announce that the KikScore technology and certain assets have been acquired. As of June 28, 2012, the KikScore service will no longer be available to customers. We recommend that our customers check out the Google Trusted Store product as an alternative to the KikScore service. In fact, we wrote this post last October that describes how complimentary the KikScore and Google Trusted Store products are for small businesses. We are very proud of the more than two years that we offered the KikScore service and are so grateful to the 1700+ small business customers that we have served globally.

    Back in 2008 this all began at a Fuddruckers in Northern Virginia. The road from there to today has been filled with great highs, some deep lows, overcoming immense challenges all while dealing with the occasional kicks to the gut that most startups typically experience. It has been a sincere pleasure for the entire KikScore team to serve so many small businesses and also work to help them be successful through this blog, tweetchats and our December 2011 white paper. There is still great work to be done for small businesses and that is why we are so excited that an industry leader will be able to build off of the technology, platform and IP that we spent our blood, sweat and tears building, developing and launching.

    The blog post about how complimentary KikScore and Google Trusted Store products are is interesting. It lists five things that Google’s program didn’t cover, like: who is behind a website, where the site is hosted, who is behind the business that runs the site, who manages the business (and do they have a track record of financial reliability), and does the business have any liens or judgements pending against them.

    “Incidentally, a lot of these questions are actually answered by sites that have a KikScore seal on their site,” the post said. “So that also helps answer how is KikScore different than the Google Trusted Stores. If you use KikScore, shoppers at online stores get a look into who is behind the business, the management, website history, customer feedback along with a dynamic and real-time trust score that gives shoppers an indication about whether level of trustworthiness for website owner.”

    Perhaps these are some areas where Google will be able to take advantage of the acquisition. The post makes another interesting point, however, in that Google’s program was focused on online stores, whereas KikScore’s is on small businesses of all types, such as: lawyers, doctors, contractors, plumbers, etc.

    It just so happens that Google is really ramping up its offerings for local businesses, so it will be interesting to see if this acquisition plays a significant role in those efforts.

  • Google Trying ‘Trusted Stores’ Badge on Search Ads

    Google has been conducting a trial run to gauge the results of tying its ‘Trusted Stores’ badge to the search ads of certain merchants and qualified advertisers. Google launched Trusted Stores last year, as a way for assist customers in locating online merchants they can trust, and made use of the badge to help consumers quickly identify those stores that achieve high levels of customer satisfaction. The program also offers purchase protection, if something goes wrong during transaction.

    A Google spokesperson had this to say about the trial run of applying the badge to AdWords – “As part of the Google Trusted Stores program, we’re currently conducting a test with a small set of advertisers to help users identify online merchants that offer a great shopping experience. In our ongoing efforts to provide ads that are useful and relevant for users, we’re experimenting with different ways to communicate information about the quality of the shopping experience for a particular advertiser in the search ad itself.”

    Below is a screen of the Trusted Stores Badge:

    google trusted stores badge

    Online retailers who seek to become a part of the test program need to submit wide sales and transaction data to Google, and have a good track record regarding shipping, customer service and problem resolution. Google also points out that “badged” Trusted Stores sites do not outrank those without the badge in search.

  • BuySafe Sues Google, Claiming Patent Violation, Favoritism in Search & More

    Update: A Google spokesperson gave us the following statement: “We believe this suit is without merit, and will defend vigorously against it.”

    Google is being sued by a company called BuySafe, which basically claims Google is ripping off its business, hurting its ability to compete, violating its patent, and is giving special treatment to certain brands in search ranking.

    In the complaint (via Robin Wauters), BuySafe claims to be the “first company to address the concerns of online shoppers by providing third-party certification and transactional guarantees for Internet retailers.”

    “Because there is significant consumer demand for such certification and guarantees, numerous Internet retailers have purchased BuySafe’s services and offer BuySafe’s transactional guarantees without cost to the consumers who make purchases on their websites,” the complaint goes on to say. “It is well-known within the Internet retailer community that BuySafe’s transaction guarantee services are patented.”

    In October, Google launched a pilot program for Google Trusted Stores, providing a similar service.

    “The Google Trusted Store badge is awarded to e-commerce sites that demonstrate a track record of on-time shipping and excellent customer service,” said Tom Fallows, a Group Product Manager on Google’s Commerce team. “When visiting a qualifying store, shoppers can hover over the Google Trusted Store badge and see metrics on the store’s shipping and customer service performance.”

    Fallows happens to be a former executive for a BuySafe customer, which BuySafe alleges had “extensive discussions” with a few of BuySafe’s execs and learned “a great deal” about BuySafe’s business. Not only did Google recruit Fallows in 2010, but according to the complaint, Google has sought a joint venture or partnership with BuySafe as far back as 2006. The complaint alleges that “google exploited those discussions to learn about BuySafe’s business.”

    On top of all of that, the complaint says, Google had employees visit BuySafe.com on numerous occasions to investigate its business, methods and systems, claiming to have discovered a “tremdenous amount of visits to buysafe.com from Google IP addresses since at least 2009.

    BuySafe says the launch of Google’s Trusted Stores has already “drastically” slowed its annual growth rate. It also says:

    In or around October 2011, Google told at least two customers of BuySafe that participants in Google’s Trusted Stores program will have an advantage with respect to the order in which Google’s search results are displayed and promoted within Google search results. Indeed, that advantage is so significant that few, if any, online merchants will have any choice but to use Google’s Trusted Stores program. Upon information and belief, Google has made the same representations to other BuySafe customers and potential customers.

    BuySafe also says Google timed the launch of the Trusted Stores Pilot to “impede BuySafe’s effort to raise additional capital,” which it needs to expand its business.

    This, of course, comes at a time when Google is drawing the watchful government eye with regards to its competitive practices.

    We’ve reached out to Google for comment, and will update accordingly.

  • Google Trusted Stores Launched

    Google announced the launch of Trusted Stores today. This is a pilot program aimed at helping online shoppers find online merchants they can trust, and makes use of a special badge to help consumers identify those.

    “The Google Trusted Store badge is awarded to e-commerce sites that demonstrate a track record of on-time shipping and excellent customer service,” says Tom Fallows, a Group Product Manager on Google’s Commerce team. “When visiting a qualifying store, shoppers can hover over the Google Trusted Store badge and see metrics on the store’s shipping and customer service performance.”

    Google Trusted Stores badge

    “When a shopper makes a purchase at a Google Trusted Store, they have the option to select free purchase protection from Google,” says Fallows. “Then, if a problem arises with their purchase, they can request Google’s help, and Google will work with the merchant and customer to address the issue. As part of this, Google offers up to $1,000 lifetime purchase protection for eligible purchases.”

    Merchants themselves are voluntarily sharing their data about shipments with Google, if they want to participate in the program. Google also collects customer service data when shoppers seek Google’s help with an issue.

    While the badge is only available for a few select stores right now, Google says it intends to expand the program in the coming months. There is an application form here.

  • Google to Launch Trusted Stores Program Soon?

    It appears that Google accidentally let loose a glimpse of a forthcoming product called Google Trusted Stores today. There is a landing page and a video, but you can’t see either one right now, unfortunately.

    Spotted by Alex Chitu at Google Operating System Blog, there was a video uploaded, which was at one point viewable, but has since been made private, talking about the product, which would be found at google.com/trustedstores, though you only get an error message if you go there now. Here’s an image of the video, which is now unplayable in public.

    Google Trusted Stores video

    Chitu quotes the video as saying that the program “makes it easy for online shoppers to identify stores that provide an excellent online shopping experience.” Chitu says, “It’s likely that Google will show a Trusted Store badge next to the ads for the online stores that provide a great experience and have a good track record of shipping on time and providing excellent customer service.”

    This wouldn’t be the only thing Google is doing to establish trust in its search results, whether they’re organic or paid results. Google+, which Google considers to be largely about identity, is a major factor at establishing trust.

    Google’s +1 button, which appears not only on organic results and web content, but on paid results, will likely be a major factor in establishing trust as well. As discussed here, it will likely be not only about how many +1s, but who is doing the +1ing.

    As far as building trust for your store using the +1 button, you want to note that Google recently announced a couple of e-commerce platform partnerships around the button.

    Google says it doesn’t have anything to announce in relation to Trusted Stores right now, but I’d imagine we’ll see an announcement soon.