Online shoppers want to find what they need fast, and Google hopes this will entice merchants to try out its new Search As You Type program.
The program, which is being called a pilot program, allows shoppers to see suggestions of what they may be looking for before they finish typing their search terms. These appear below participating retailers’ search boxes with product details and thumbnail images of suggested items. Buyers can then click on the suggestion they like and buy faster, which will benefit sellers, Google notes.
“By connecting visitors to relevant products faster than ever before, your business can sell many more [items],” the search engine says in this video about the program.
Search As You Type is available to U.S. merchants using Google AdWords for free, up to 25 million queries a year, Google reports. If retailers surpass this limit, they must pay a fee.
Currently, Lowe’s and Hasbro are the only stores using Search As You Type, but merchants who would like to add the feature to their sites, can request to do so by filling out this form. Google says it will roll out the program to more retailers, both large and small, over the next “several months.”
Search As You Type runs on Google’s cloud, so “no new servers [are] required,” Google adds. According to news reports, the feature had been offered as part of Google Commerce Search, a hosted search solution for larger online sellers.
