Commerce search puts Google inside retailers' catalogues

Google has introduced a search engine for online retailers. Priced at US$50,000 annually, the Software as a Service (Saas) offering is aimed at high-end e-commerce operations that want to provide customers looking for a particular product on their site with more accurate search results.

Search is arguably one of the weakest features on most retailers' sites, providing little more than rudimentary functionality. A common complaint is that filters are very weak, with most vertical engines unable to parse out the difference between, for example, "digital" cameras and "high resolution" cameras. Usually, the consumer is confronted with a product dump of every camera and camera-related option.

Google's Commerce Search addresses that problem by analyzing every item in the data feed using proprietary signals to determine its placement in the result set. Parametric search-and-sorting functionality allows users to refine or sort results by category, price or brand.

It also includes features that allow retailers to boost the relevance of certain items, or highlight specific products during a sale in a bid to cross-sell related products.

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