In the Google Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) ecosystem, providers can run Google Shopping campaigns for online shops without claiming or verifying the respective shop domain.
Unfortunately, some CSS providers take advantage of this—particularly price comparison portals where merchants list themselves to get traffic from the respective portal. These portals then send Google Shopping traffic to the merchant and charge according to the compensation agreement, often without the merchant’s explicit coordination.
Google Shopping is a vital online advertising channel for most merchants. Therefore, it’s crucial to consciously decide which external providers are allowed to use this channel. Coordination is necessary to ensure incremental value and prevent the cannibalization of your own campaigns.
To maintain full control over your advertising strategy, we recommend a proactive approach to permissions: only allow external CSS providers to run ads if they are explicitly part of your marketing mix. For all others, our advice is simple: “when in doubt, kick it out.”
Next Step: Once you have decided on your strategy, learn how to implement these changes here: Allow Only Desired CSS Providers
