Google continues to push ad-based shopping results, launches Product Listing Ads on smartphones

Continuing its push for ad-based shopping results, Google has announced the launch of Product Listing Ads on smartphones.

This news follows existing support for tablets and desktops, and comes after a major, but strangely quiet transition: Last year, Google’s Product Search tool became Google Shopping, a paid-only listing which replaced the company’s organic shopping search results. As Google Shopping continues to roll out across the globe, it has already left a negative impact on startups like Etsy, causing it to fork out $250k on ads to avoid losing traffic for merchants.

By bringing Product Listing Ads to mobile devices on Google Search, users are bound to become more acquainted with Google’s new shopping solution. In the interest of transparency, these ads will be clearly marked as being “sponsored.”

If you’re an advertiser interested in taking advantage of this release, you can head here to learn more. For users, we’re already seeing the new smartphone ads in the US when we search for something purchasable (like “Plaid Tie”).