When you click on the information icon that is along with the listing, Google will reveal the reason for why it has displayed the product as; "Based on your search query, we think you are trying to find a product. Clicking in this box will show you results from providers who can fulfill your request. Google may be compensated by some of these providers."

Earlier, the product search results were based on the relevance of the product. But now, the search results displayed are on the basis of how much advertisers and retailers are paying to Google under the Google Shopping program. The participating companies are provided with an API through which they can manage their listings.

In May 2012, Google made an announcement that it will be renaming the Product Search feature to Google Shopping in the U.S. The search giant also hinted that a lot of changes would be introduced in how the search results worked. It was in the month of October that Google introduced the updated Google Shopping.

Google Shopping is available in the U.S., U.K, France, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, Japan, Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Brazil, and Spain.

Google Shopping is still in Beta phase in India and we might hear an official announcement in nearby days.

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Nicholls, with the help of Public Citizen’s Paul Levy, lawyered up and fought back – saying that her feedback was accurate and that expressing it is not a tort, and especially no reason to seek damages. To Levy, the lawsuit was the epitome of a frivolous mess. The case saw widespread coverage across tech sites. You can read our longer breakdown of the initial lawsuit here.

Now, we have a couple of new wrinkles in the case. Med Express President Richard Radey took to Public Citizen’s site to issue an “apology” for the lawsuit in the comments.

“I hope all of you will accept this as an open letter of apology from Med Express,” he said.

He went on to explain that the lawsuit was never meant to be targeted at Nicholls, and that he had instructed his lawyer to seek $1 in damages.

“Her feedback was also never an issue. We fully support her right and all of our customers right to leave any feedback they desire – true or otherwise!” he said.

Apparently, the issue involved eBay’s “Detailed Seller Ratings.” He said the low rating caused Med Express to love their coveted “Top Rated Seller Plus” standings. He then linked this to a possible loss of tens of thousands of dollars in the future.

Also, he claims to have not read the suit:

The only way DSR’s are removed is by court order, and I was told that such court orders were not uncommon. I do deeply regret the wording of the lawsuit. I had not read it and only learned of the wording on the blogs. I too would have been outraged and for that I also sincerely apologize. It is the addendum attached ordering Ebay to remove the DSR’s that was our only goal.

The only person to blame here is me. You have spoken and I have listened. A terrible wrong needs to be righted. I am instructing our attorneys to drop the lawsuit. I want to assure everyone that you may feel free to leave any feedback on our company without fear of reprisal. I have learned my lesson.

Public Citizen’s Levy has now published a response, basically saying “I don’t believe you.”

“When I criticize somebody on this blog, I generally send a courtesy notice with an invitation to respond omnt he blog. When the target of criticism owns up to a mistake, it is also my practice to be gracious. Ordinarily, then, a profuse apology like Radey’s would be cause for admiration. Problem is, I don’t believe a word of what he says…” Levy writes.

Expect that he does believe Radey is sorry about the criticism Med Express has received through all the media coverage of the suit. But the rest, he says, is a smoke screen.

In fact, he claims that the lawsuit against Nicholls is simply one of many, and it’s not even the most ridiculous. He points to a long list of past and pending claims against eBay and eBay buyers.

“From my review of many of the cases, Med Express typically files a complaint based on extremely vague assertions of falsity, against defendants who may be too far from Medina too respond effectively, seeks a temporary restraining order without giving any notice, and hopes to get relief before the defendant knows what hit him, her or it,” says Levy.

Levy also claims that Radey’s assertion that it’s the lawyer’s fault, and that he hadn’t seen the lawsuits before they were filed is nonsense. Levy says that Radey signed a verification for the suit and signed an affidavit complaining about the negative feedback.

“Even if I were inclined to believe Radey’s assertion that all he really wanted was an injunction taking down the criticism, I would not be assuaged; in some ways, such injunctions, and the procedures for getting them, are even more of an affront to the public interest,” says Levy.

“[T]he public at large is injured by these fixes, because consumers have an interest in learning what the criticism was, and what the response. Not all rating systems are perfect; maybe there are reasons to doubt the accuracy of the “DSRs.” But they are one data point that eBay consumers can use to decide where to buy goods online. We should not forgive Radey and Med Express even if it were true that distorting his own DSR’s was the only objective of this frivolous litigation.”

Nicholls’ lawyers have filed a counterclaim, one that seeks sanctions and punitive damages from Radey and his attorneys. This will move forward, according to Levy.

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Cost & Benefits

Costs for Offer Extensions are the same as traditional clicks, so advertisers can look to Offers for a low-cost way to spread the word about certain promotions or sales. This could be potential competition for the likes of Groupon and LivingSocial, who have high cost for businesses as they take a large percentage of the revenue made with their deals. Offer Extensions provides simple, low cost alternative that could drive traffic, as Google so often reminds us, of people who are actually looking for related products. If advertisers start using Offer Extensions on a mass scale, it could be huge for businesses and customers!

Not only do they drive traffic to the store, but Offer Extensions can also provide advertisers with an offline form of conversion tracking for online customers who become in-store customers. Once the customer hands over their printed coupon, businesses can scan the coupon and input that customer’s information into their database.

Setting It Up

To set up Offer Extensions, you first need an Enhanced Campaign. Once you have created an Enhanced Campaign, or upgraded to it, go to the Ad Extensions tab, and select the Offer Extensions view.

Click “Create New Extension” and fill in the appropriate details. For these offers, you will need to input the offer headline, redemption and distribution dates, the promotion code (to scan in-store), and details like how to redeem and terms and conditions.

Offer extensions can be done at the campaign level or the ad group level, so it is important to remember to make your offer relevant to the level you choose.

The offer will only show if your ads are in one of the top three positions, above the natural search results. If your ad position is already high, adding Offer Extensions can help capitalize on the great ad position by giving searchers more incentive to click and taking up more actual space on the search engine results page (SERP).

These Offer Extensions will be a great way to further entice searchers to not only click through to your site, but potentially drive foot traffic to the store (and buy things with their new-found coupons!).

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The “act” that they refer to is the state’s “Transmitters of Money Act,” which says that:

No person may engage in this State in the business of selling or issuing payment instruments, transmitting money, or exchanging, for compensation, payment instruments or money of the United States government or a foreign government to or from money of another government without first obtaining a license under this Act.

The act clarifies that transmitting money means “the transmission of money by any means, including transmissions to or from locations within the United States or to and from locations outside of the United States by payment instrument, facsimile or electronic transfer, or otherwise, and includes bill payment services.”

Square has responded, saying,

“We’ve been in close contact with the Illinois Division of Financial Institutions for several months and are addressing their concerns.”

Far from an expert in legal affairs, I won’t attempt to make any additional comments about the order other than the fact that it looks like Square simply needs to obtain a license.

[TechCrunch]

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This consists of setting up a basica PLA campaign, customizing it, and providing your billing information. A more detailed guide is available here.

“With the recent launch of AdWords enhanced campaigns, it’s now easier than ever to promote your products across devices,” says Google Shopping VP of Product Management, Sameer Samat. “This is crucial in a world where people are constantly connected and moving from one device to another. We encourage you to upgrade existing product listing ad campaigns to an enhanced campaign with appropriate bid adjustments.”

More on Enhanced Campaigns here.

Google’s PLA-based Google Shopping initiative has been working pretty well, based on a handful of recent reports. In fact, Bing is even going to be launching PLAs of its own this year.

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Channel Intelligence says it has been acquired by Google. The company announced it on its blog, and ICG Group, which reportedly backs Channel Intelligence has posted a press release. Some publications (like Business Insider and TechCrunch) are reporting the acquisition as fact, but we have yet to see confirmation from Google.

We’re going to tread cautiously, as we’ve seen bogus Google acquisition announcements in recent memory. This may very well be a real deal, but we’ve reached out to Google for confirmation, and will update accordingly.

“Building upon the perseverance and strong foundation laid by CI’s founder Rob Wight, I am extremely proud of the work we accomplished at CI,” said Doug Alexander, CEO of CI and President of ICG. “With the talent and hard work of the entire CI team, we successfully navigated a very complex marketplace, ending a record year that culminated in this very exciting acquisition.”

The Channel Intelligence team posted the announcement on its blog:

We are pleased to announce that Channel Intelligence (CI) has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Google!

For over ten years, we have focused on making it easy for consumers to find and buy products online and help our clients grow their business. We’ve worked with Google for years, and look forward to the great things we will be able to do together.

All CI services will continue to offer the excellent client service and great performance that our clients have come to expect over the years.

Again, we’ll keep you posted if we get confirmation from Google.

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Hopefully, you’ll find these tips as helpful as that friendly salesperson (when you can find one).

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One of the tests lets would be sellers have eBay employees come to their homes to pick up items and deliver them to “experts” who will then attempt to sell the items for a 25% cut of the selling price. Duryee’s report shows a picture of an eBay van (complete with new logo) that says “Selling Assistant” and “We pick up. Your stuff sells. You get paid.”

The third test reportedly lets sellers drop off clothes and electronics at mall kiosks.

eBay says it needs to “innovate at a quicker pace,” and that it “can’t get complacent” in the space, and one trend in online shopping, interestingly, is moving to more offline options.

For example, Amazon is offering lockers in some places, where consumers can pick up their orders at nearby stores. Likewise, Google recently acquired BufferBox, a provider of similar lockers.

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Now, Amazon has upped the ante by offering a $3 credit for movies and music on select items if you choose the no-rush delivery option.

If you’re looking to use this option, here’s what you need to know:

Prime members may also have the option to choose Free No-Rush Shipping during checkout. You may want to select No-Rush Shipping if you don’t need your items right away. Items will typically be delivered a week after you order them.

Promotional credit in either the Amazon Instant Video Store or the Amazon MP3 Store may be offered for selecting No-Rush Shipping. If so, the credit will be automatically applied to your Amazon.com account once the first package from a No-Rush Shipping-eligible order ships. We’ll send you an e-mail as soon as the credit is available for you to use. You may select No-Rush Shipping as many times as it’s offered to you, but you will not be eligible for the credit if you cancel your No-Rush Shipping order or return items from it.

Earlier this month, Amazon allowed some users to sign up for Amazon Prime on a monthly basis. The $7.99-a-month options wound up costing users more over the course of a whole year, but would have allowed people more flexibility. A few days later, Amazon confirmed that it was merely a test, and that they would be disallowing the monthly subscription option.

[via Business Insider, Image via Muhammad Saleem]

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