“Money For Nothing” was a smash hit from the mid-1980’s by the group Dire Straits.
As the story goes, the lyrics were inspired when a member of the music group overheard the comments from a delivery driver in the back of an appliance store as he watched a MTV music video.
The delivery driver’s comments included the classic lines from the song, “what are those, Hawaiian noises?…that ain’t workin”, and of course “money for nothing and chicks for free”.
Of course, those who know better realize the hard work needed for any performance especially a music video production.
I bring mention this song not only because it is one of my all-time favorites, but because last week Google announced that Google Shopping Actions would now be free for advertisers.
If you missed it, the announcement will affect those advertisers who have already either enrolled or have begun the enrollment process into Google Shopping Actions. For those retailers, Google Shopping Actions will now substantially reduce or even eliminate their fees.
Here was the important part of the email that many advertisers received last week:
For those not familiar with the program, Shopping Actions are created using merchant listings inside Google Shopping. Within these listings the final payment transaction takes place through Google and Google takes a percentage of the sale rather than charging per click.
Earlier this year, I dedicated an entire article to Shopping Actions, which you can read here if interested – Google’s Shopping Actions – Changing The Landscape.
As a quick summary of that article, before last week’s change, Google would charge merchants 12% – 15% to process an order through Google Shopping. Once Google processed the payment, they would send merchants the order information through the merchant’s Google Merchant Center account.
To be eligible for Google Shopping Action, merchants would apply for the program and control their eligible product listings through Google Merchant Center.
Merchants participating using Google Shopping Actions have two options
First – you can enter their your payment processor and pay 0% commission. This will need to be done by February 21, 2021 to continue to serve ads using Google Shopping Actions.
Second, continue to use Google’s payment processor through 2/21/21 and pay a flat 5% commission.
Although good news for existing Google Shopping Action customers (either active or who have started the process); the Shopping Actions program is now closed until further notice for retailers who have not yet applied.
What is now available to all retailers is the ‘free’ clicks inside Google Shopping that Google announced in April of this year.
If you don’t know what the free clicks, check out this article – It’s Back To The Future With Google’s Free Shopping Ads.
However, the free clicks are just like that rock band getting their money for nothin’ and their chicks for free. Although, it looks quick and easy to take advantage of this free traffic, it is still going to take a work.
Free clicks and paid clicks inside of Google Shopping as well as Shopping Actions clicks are all determined by which products a merchant uploads into their Google Merchant Center account.
The process of opening a Merchant Center account and submitting products to Google Merchant Center is where many advertisers especially those new to using Google Shopping may get confused.
It is also where I can help. I have dedicated the first section of my new book, Make Each Click Count Using Google Shopping, to properly configuring Google Shopping. Right now, you can immediately download the book for $5.96 and make sure you get started with the proper foundation.
In addition, I have recently created a new Facebook Group, Make Each Click Count Facebook Group. It is FREE to join and will give you immediate access to myself where I can answer any questions regarding the setup of your merchant account.
Click Here to request to join the Make Each Click Count Facebook Group.
In fact, there are some questions others have asked in there that might be useful for you to check out as well:>
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Andy Splichal
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andy Splichal is the founder of True Online Presence, author of the Make Each Click Count book series, host of the Make Each Click Count podcast, founder of The Academy of Internet Marketing and certified online marketing strategist with twenty plus years of experience helping companies increase their online presence and profitable revenues. To find more information on Andy Splichal, visit trueonlinepresence.com or read The Full Story on his blog, blog.trueonlinepresence.com.