Google Merchant Center interface update

Google Merchant Center is an online platform for uploading product information and managing its display across various Google services. A properly configured Merchant Center is the key to the success of e-commerce projects.

In May 2023, at the Google Marketing Live conference, Google announced an update to the standard Merchant Center interface to Merchant Center Next, with the goal of simplifying the product management process through the increasing use of artificial intelligence in its services.

The update began in the summer of 2024, and by September 30, the classic user interface was replaced by the "NEXT" interface worldwide.

Typically, any Google update brings with it hassle and anxiety for professionals and business owners who have become accustomed to and established processes in their work. But with practice, we adapt to changes and adapt ourselves, allowing our projects to move forward. So, let's take a look at what you need to pay attention to when working with the new interface.

New Terms in Merchant Center Next

In this article, we offer a short tour of "NEXT"«

1. We've added a new overview tab. Google is trying to make the tool more intuitive to use. While in the old interface, getting to account or product issues required a significant number of steps, now, when you go to NEXT, the system essentially says, "Hey! Here's what needs to be done to improve your products, and here's your current performance for both paid and organic search results." So, the update really does help you better understand your data and take action to improve your performance.

We have several useful widgets with data and improvement recommendations generated by artificial intelligence. Of course, based on our experience with Google Ads and Google Tag Manager updates, the presence of recommendations doesn't always necessitate their implementation, so we evaluate them through a logical framework and determine whether they make sense for us. However, we do note that the system's recommendations can nudge us in the right direction.

Google Merchant Center Next Overview Page

Ability to switch data by source

2. The next page of the main menu is notifications. The information in notifications is also duplicated directly on the main overview page, but for convenience, they are categorized in this block: opportunities for development and tips.

Notifications page«

3. The next block, "Your Company," contains a section called "Products." This is probably the one you should pay the most attention to, since Merchant is all about products.

Previously, before viewing products, you had to go to the feed. Now, this NEXT menu displays all products from all sources, both from added feeds (data sources) and from automatically pulled products from the site.

Yes, this is the very new feature that users have been waiting for without the ability to easily integrate products via API or without a developer who can create a feed.

The system can now automatically load products from information collected from the seller's website. Indeed – no feed, no API integration! This is a useful feature for small businesses, but it can create certain difficulties for larger e-commerce projects. Please note that the required attributes (product information) and products as a whole are not always retrieved, so it's important to carefully review integrated products and disable this feature if necessary.

The Products section and information about automatic product integration

So how do you find the feed you need now? You ask.

There are two ways to access your feeds (or "data sources"—let's call them that now):

1. select the "View data sources" function right here on the product tab
2. or go to the settings menu

The path to "data sources" in GMCN

It is here, in the products section, that we now find the «old diagnostics,» which is called «required action.»

Product issues are conveniently categorized by cause. Below is a complete list of products that require attention.

Let's move on. The new Next now features a section for automatic product enhancement, where you absolutely must use your magic wand and enable the automatic image quality enhancement feature. For large online stores that struggle to select high-quality product images due to the sheer volume of them, this feature is a godsend. Many specialists and business owners have lost users and sales due to being blocked for "overlay image"; in NEXT, you can avoid these issues with just one click.

Now on to the best part – the brand new "Product Studio" section. It's not yet available to all accounts, but we're eagerly awaiting it.

Here you can play around with product card images or create a new (albeit simple) video for your P Max.

Many recommendations, both from Google itself and from experienced specialists, have been made about the importance of distinguishing your product cards from those of competitors. And indeed, I'm so tired of those identical white cards in the search results. Now, Merchant NEXT lets you edit your product cards directly in your account using AI.

Here's an example: we have a cosmetic product that contains aloe vera. We add a short description, and just look at these changes. Now we'll definitely stand out among our competitors in the search results.

An example of using the product studio

You can also experiment with video by selecting the appropriate product, its image, logo, and suggested themes.

An example of working with video in a product studio

4) Shipping and return policies are no longer hidden in the Merchant account settings; this section appears after the product section. While there's nothing new in this section, changing the placement of shipping and return policies is a positive step, as in the old version, this step was often skipped when filling out company information, leading to many users having their accounts blocked.

Shipping and Returns section«

5) Next is the "Company Information" section. We won't go into detail here, as the previous version of the interface also contained the company name, address, URL verification status, and website ownership statement. New features include the ability to set a company logo and colors to be used when displaying your products:

Company logos and colors for Merchant Center Next listings

6) Now let's move on to the "Store Quality" section. With the update, the system not only highlights issues and recommendations regarding products and account status, but also provides useful information about the use of possible Google services and how they integrate with your website and products to increase your chances of earning customer loyalty.

Similar to the Google Ads interface, your store now has an overall Quality Score. The new interface offers options for improving this score and provides reports on various aspects of your competitors. 

Go to your Merchant Next account and check if you need to change your shipping terms (because competitors offer better deals), or improve your site speed on mobile devices. Are you already using the Store Rating program? All of these factors impact your Quality Score.

The Store Quality section in Merchant Center Next

7) The next block is marketing channels.

The "Free Product Information" section has only one option: permission to use products in organic search results (Google Search, the Shopping tab, Google Maps, YouTube, etc.).

The "Product Information Listed Free" section in Merchant Center Next

8) Of course, along with the organic section, the "Advertising Campaigns" section was also added to the marketing channels. With the update, we received convenient segmentation and statistics from Google Ads, the ability to directly access the selected campaign in the Ads interface, and what was most pleasing in Next was the ability to see examples of how your ads appear in search results.

You can also now create an ad campaign directly in the Merchant interface, which we don't recommend, as only Google Ads functionality allows you to accurately set up a campaign without missing a single detail.

An example of the "Create Campaign" functionality in the Merchant Next interface

9) Next is the new section «Promotions».

Merchant now offers the option to upload a separate data source and add products with special offers, such as discounts, free shipping, or "Buy one, get one" deals. "But we used to promote promotional products using attributes," you might be thinking. That's right, but with Merchant Center Next, you can easily manage promotional terms, start and end dates, and see results to evaluate the effectiveness of each campaign. This allows you to analyze which promotions are performing best and plan your next marketing efforts accordingly, directly in the interface.

The Promotions section in Merchant Center Next

10) The last block on the navigation panel is Analytics.

The updated platform offers deeper performance analysis, including reports on pricing, competitive visibility, and demand. This helps businesses make more informed decisions regarding pricing strategy and product offerings.

In the "Summary" section of the new Google Merchant Center Next, the maximum period for viewing statistics and reports on products is up to 18 months. This significantly expands the analysis capabilities compared to the previous version, where the maximum period was limited to 90 days. This length allows for a more in-depth analysis of trends, seasonality, and long-term changes in product performance, which facilitates better planning and optimization of advertising strategies.

There is also convenient filtering by traffic source (distribution of ads and organic product search results).

The "Results" section in Merchant Center Next Analytics

In this section, you can view trends in user search queries for your product categories and plan for changes in demand over the next 30 days.

What People Search for on Google Report«

11) Now let's move on to the valuable updated "Products" section in Merchant Next Analytics.

The Traffic report offers similar data to what we saw in the Summary section, that is, the number of clicks on our products in Google, but with data pulled from a Google Ads account.

Products section, Traffic report« 

Here you can view reports on the popularity of your products, product categories, and brands. You can find out which of your products are currently popular and which have declined in popularity over a selected period.

Popularity reports in the Products section«

We've added super-cool competitor reports. Now in Merchant Next, you can immediately see which competitors you're appearing alongside in search results and which have better visibility. These reports are similar to Google Ads auction statistics, but they're more comprehensive and focused specifically on e-commerce search results.

Competitor reports

The Popular Products report in Google Merchant Center Next provides information about products that are in high demand on Google Shopping.

Popular Products Report«

The truly incredible "Prices" report provides information on the average price of popular products on the market. This allows you to set competitive prices to increase your chances of selling. You can determine whether your prices are in line with market standards and adjust them if necessary.

Prices Report«

Here you can take a closer look at the "Promotions" report, which shows the effectiveness of your promotions, discounts, and special offers you use to attract customers on Google Shopping. It helps you understand how promotions impact customer acquisition, conversions, and overall sales.

In our example, promotions are not enabled on the account, but just imagine how convenient this would be for a large e-commerce project with ongoing promotional activities.

Report "Advertising Promotions"«

12) The last section on the navigation bar is «Online Store».

This report isn't strictly about products; it shows the total number of clicks from Google Search and Google Images to pages in your store that don't contain additional product information (such as your homepage, shipping and returns policies, or product category pages).

Here are some factors for which this report may be useful:

• User interest analysis:

Views of informational pages (such as shipping policies or return policies) indicate users' interest in order-related details. Frequent views of such pages may indicate customers are seeking information to make a final purchasing decision.

• Improving user experience:

High traffic to category pages or the homepage indicates that these pages serve as important navigation points. This may be a signal to optimize the site structure to make it easier for users to navigate to products or specific sections.

• Analysis of potential buyers' behavior:

If customers visit informational pages before making a purchase, it may indicate a need for more information about the store. You can take this into account by making this information more accessible or integrating it directly into product pages.

The Online Store section in Merchant Center Next

Conclusion

The Merchant Center Next interface has been significantly simplified, bringing together all the necessary tools and analytical reports in a single, clearly structured location. This significantly simplifies settings management, allows for faster data optimization, and improves store performance within the Google ecosystem.