On Tuesday, Google (GOOGL) announced via a blog post that it is making changes to its product search platform. From next week, businesses will be able to list products on the search giant’s Shopping platform for free. Whereas before, any company would have to pay for ad placement, these will only be required for top placements. According to commerce president Bill Ready, the plan was already in place but was sped up to help businesses during the economic crisis.According to 5-star Baird analyst Colin Sebastian, there are a number of reasons for the change.First of all, in addition to the obvious benefits to merchants, the move will help consumers by expanding the selection of products on offer. Google will obtain access to a wider range of product listings and information, which will lead to a better shopping experience due to the improved relevance of the results. Furthermore, citing Alibaba as an...
