Google unveils e-commerce search tool in time for holidays

November 6, 2009, 01:35 PM —  Computerworld — 

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, Google Inc. today unveiled a new search engine service designed specifically for e-commerce sites.

The search giant today released Google Commerce Search, which includes features like spell check, synonyms, sorting and parametric search, and is aimed to serve as the search engine on Web sites of retailers and other companies of all sizes.

"We're excited to bring Google Commerce Search to market in time for the holidays," said Dave Girouard, president of Google Enterprise, in a statement. "To date the technology powering retail website stores has not kept pace with innovation in search. Google Commerce Search will help customers find accurate results extremely fast, to the benefit of retailers and customers alike."

Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research, Inc., said it's a bit of an odd move for Google.

"Well, Google tries a lot of things, and has been trying to make its way in the enterprise with Google Apps , but this is aimed at a vertical -- ecommerce vendors," said Gottheil. "It does seem odd... It doesn't seem strategic to me."

Google's main search rival, Microsoft's new Bing engine , has been making online shopping one of its top focuses. And while some would see Google Commerce Search as a way to fend off Bing's e-commerce efforts, Google is going after the retailer, while Bing is going after the actual shopper.

"This may be an attempt to head off something they expect Microsoft to do," added Gottheil.

Jim Murphy, an analyst with AMR Research, said this could be beneficial to e-tailers since many of them are dissatisfied with their product search capability.

"My sense is that the very top retailers have solid search/e-commerce solutions, but there seems to be a lot of opportunity for mid-to-large retailers," he added. "I see it as a fledgling product. It might serve as a stop-gap solution for search-hungry retailers today, though proving it's worth it for this holiday season might be a challenge. But in Google's typical style, I'm sure it will improve quickly over a short period of time."

Birkenstock USA has started using Commerce Search on its retail site, according to Google.

Computerworld

Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world

I like it!
Close

On Twitter now

ecommerce

Powered by Twitter
You are logged in | Sign out
Sign in and post to Twitter

What are you thinking?

Cancel Tweet sent

On Twitter now

Post a comment
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
peer-to-peer

Brian Proffitt
Microsoft/Novell: Breaking Down the Coupon Numbers

Esther Schindler
Drupal's Dries Buytaert on Building the Next Drupal

Tom Henderson
Top Ten General Operating Systems Rants

pasmith
PS3 motion controller delayed; goes up against Project Natal

sjvn
Neolithic Windows security hole alive and well in Windows 7

claird
Perl source code comparison makes for good reading

James Gaskin
Learn How To Print Pages In Order with Ink Jet Printers

mikelgan
Cell phones don't create stress or interrupt much

Sandra Henry-Stocker
How to: The Unix Interview

 

Where Google Chrome security fails: the password
I heard mention that the Chrome OS will have some sort of encryption available a la bitlocker. If it's possible to encrypt personal data using another password or key, then it may have potential for very secure data.... And Ubuntu has an 'encrypt home directory' option, perhaps google should follow suit.
- Dann

Join the conversation here

The Daily Tip

The Daily TipQuick, practical advice for IT pros. Made fresh daily.

Hot tips:

Want to cash in on your IT savvy? Send your tip to tips@itworld.com. If we post it, we'll send you a $25 Amazon e-gift card.

Newsletters

Subscribe to ITWORLD TODAY and receive the latest IT news and analysis.

I would like to receive offers via email from ITworld partners.
By clicking submit you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in ITworld's privacy policy.
Marketplace