Shoppable Ads? Yup.

Just when you thought social media was on the verge of being tapped out on its aptitude for ecommerce vendors, Google is out with a fabulous new feature that makes shopping fun for consumers and fruitful for those of you who hawk wares online.

The “Shoppable Ads” feature is linked to search results from Google. In a Pinterest-style formatting feature, the commerce giant is rolling out a shoppable screen that allows sellers to tag multiple products on each ad. Mousing over a product reveals its price and brand.
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Not intrigued yet? You should be. Young shoppers, especially, are keen on the Pinteresting layout of Pinterest, and the ability to move quickly from a visual image to information on what the product is, where to buy it, and how much it costs.

As consumers and social media users grow more and more accustomed to blending their purchasing habits with what they see online, this newfangled ad search decreases the number of touch points required to make that buying decision. And impulse-buying is a boon for merchants.

Instagram has also branched out to layered screens supporting independent active links in a single ad, and we don’t need to tell you how popular that platform can be. With a little study and devotion to detail, you can showcase your stuff to a wide audience with a short attention span.

As a companion to this fun new feature, Google is also introducing “showcase shopping ads,” a format entailing more enticing imagery. The psychology of sales shows that our brains respond emotionally to stimulating images, and the more compelling the image, the more likely a consumer will take advantage of a click-to-learn feature that replaces the old-style need to locate a vendor site and conduct an independent search.
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For details on how to put this fab new feature to work, go to Digital Trends and give it a try.