Google recently released a beta version of its online shopping
directory called Froogle. It focuses entirely on online products
for sale. Miva Merchant store owners are scrambling to make sure
their products are listed in Froogle. There are many questions that
need to be answered about this new directory. Here are our best
answers.
1. How much does it cost to be listed in Froogle?
$0 It costs absolutely nothing. There has been some confusion
about the cost of being listed with Froogle, but Google itself has plainly
stated it is free.
2. Does it matter if I am listed in Froogle?
Since Google is the number one search engine in the world, it only
seems logical that you would want your products listed in Froogle.
There are no direct links to Froogle from Google's homepage, but it
most likely will start being mentioned when they iron out most of the
kinks.
3. How does one get listed in Froogle?
You may already be there! Most of our clients who are listed
in Google already have a good portion of their inventory listed in Froogle.
4. If I am already listed in Froogle, should I still submit a data
feed?
Yes! You will want to keep your product information up-to-date
in Froogle. If Froogle is already picking up your product information
from static pages on your site, you should keep those fresh as well.
5. My store is listed in Google, but my products are not showing
up in Froogle automatically! How come?
There doesn't seem to be a reason for this. There are some Miva
Merchant stores with over one thousand pages in Google, but they are
not showing up automatically in Froogle. If you submit your data
feed, this should take care of the problem.
Additional Information and Commentary on Froogle
Information
on Froogle for Merchants (From Froogle) - This page answers many
questions regarding Froogle such as: What's the benefit of being listed
in Froogle? How do I get my products listed in Froogle? How do I make
sure Froogle has accurate information about my products? How do I submit
a data feed? How do I request that my products be removed from Froogle?
How much do I have to pay to be part of Froogle? and How do I advertise
on Froogle?
Online
Shopping with Google's Froogle (Search Day of Search Engine Watch.Com)
- Google has launched a beta version of a new shopping search tool called
"Froogle" that the company claims is the most comprehensive
product search engine available on the web.
Our article shedding light on why people have a hard time
getting actual Miva Merchant category and product pages in the Google
search engine was recommended by a newsletter reportedly having 500,000
subscribers. The newsletter was MarketPosition.
We appreciate the publicity, but we had to contact the author to correct
some misinformation in their summary. They will be editing their
online version as soon as possible. Not only were people confused
about their review, but many thought the advice was coming directly from
MarketPosition and not us. The main problems were:
Your Miva Merchant pages cannot be "delisted" if they are
not even in Google yet. Our article is about why they are not
in Google and what will help to fix the problem.
There is no feature in Miva Merchant administration per se to disable
the store code parameter in Miva Merchant. This must be done manually
or through modules like the OpenUI.
Google recently offered some free advice about search engine optimization
companies. For the most part, the information was good advice.
We only take issue with a few points:
"You should never have to link to an SEO"
- You should never have to link to the company that did good work for
you? Is that what they are trying to say? Apparently not,
because the paragraph following that statement talks about free-for-all
linking, submitting your site to thousands of search engines, etc.
They might want to change that heading, as it is confusing, and most
SEO companies don't require a link to their site anyway.
"Talk to many SEOs, and ask other SEOs if they would
recommend the firm you're considering" - This is
strange. Wouldn't you rather talk to the clients of the firm under
consideration? Why would anyone expect to get an honest or knowledgeable
answer from a competitor? NOTE: We do agree with the suggestion that
you talk with multiple SEOs.
"Don't be afraid to request a refund if you are unsatisfied
for any reason" - We believe there are qualifications
to this statement. For example, what if a SEO client does something
that the company told them not to do and hurts their results?
What if the client overwrites work done and harms themselves?
If a company guarantees results or makes promises, you should then expect
some kind of refund if they do not deliver.
Other Commentary
Google
Offers SEO Selection Guidelines - At the end of last month, Google
rolled out a new page offering advice to those seeking a search engine
optimization firm. Since being unveiled, there's been both support and
criticism of the tips and recommendations that Google has posted in
various SEO forums.
