Comparison Shopping Engine Feed Optimization
In 2008, Google began using a relevancy-based algorithm for product search results served from Google Base AKA Froogle. This change revolutionized comparison shopping and singlehandedly gave thousands of e-commerce businesses the opportunity to improve their rankings without lowering their prices.
Comparison shopping engines (CSE) rely on product data feeds to populate their databases. A data feed is a CSV, TXT or XML file that lists the company’s product catalog, along with attributes that define and organize the product details, image information, and URL. While a properly formatted data feed submitted to an active CSE account can ensure that a merchant’s products will appear in that shopping engine’s SERPs, it does not guarantee a specific ranking.
Beyond basic formatting and product mapping, a data feed can be optimized to improve the visibility of products within an algorithm-based shopping engine such as Google Shopping or TheFind. The act of modifying the content and attributes of a data feed to improve relevancy and visibility in comparison shopping is called data feed optimization (DFO).
Data feed optimization is one of the most powerful ways to positively influence the results of your comparison shopping engine program. Successful DFO should begin with a strategic plan, since different engines have varying advantages and audiences. As a rule of thumb, it is always a good idea to determine which engines are the right fit for your business and products.
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