2023 may be remembered as the year Google became an affiliate publisher.
Google is introducing several new features to Search and Chrome to help users find deals.
Last week, the company announced that it would be adding a brand new page to Search specifically for finding deals, and that Chrome would be updated to improve getting discount codes.
Clearly, this move is being made in an attempt to compete with popular browser extensions and discount aggregation sites such as: paypal honey. Over the past 12 months, Google has been enhancing its affiliate services. Collaboration with Impact.com to FMTC partnership. FMTC says it has no comment on this update at this time.
what does it look like?
Search for “Shop Sale” on Google and you'll be directed to a discount page. You can also customize your results by searching for specific categories, such as “refrigerator sale stores.” It's unclear if it can be used in conjunction with the traditional “brand + discount” search term. Currently, this feature appears to be only available in certain regions as it is either being rolled out or not widely accessible.
Google shares previews of what the page will look like and what it'll do. You can check it below.
Chrome has also been updated. When a user clicks “New Tab,” recently viewed products appear on the screen along with the discounts Google has found for them. This is called the “Resume Browse” card. See for yourself below.
why do you care
Such a move by Google has been considered for some time. How will coupon providers and browser extensions be affected? Will they see a drop in traffic or usage as a result of users switching to Google's own tools?
Of course, we don't know this yet. Google has consistently tried to compete with the likes of Amazon, introducing new features to its Shopping tab, but it still hasn't reached the heights of these retail giants.
Still, having Google's discount pages automatically appear for coupon and sale-related search terms will definitely impact an affiliate publisher's SEO. We hope that the strength of these publishers' brands or prominent names themselves is enough to negate their reliance on these search queries. And content commerce doesn't seem to be affected by this, with many coupon providers now branching out towards it.
Indeed, this is a critical moment of flux for affiliate marketing. It will be worth watching closely over the coming months.
