Google has introduced significant changes to its Automated Discounts (GAD) feature to help Swedish e-retailers comply with the Swedish Price Information Act, which mandates that the previous lowest price offered in the last 30 days must be clearly shown when a new price reduction occurs. Previously, GAD allowed Google to adjust product prices in ads without giving retailers control or visibility over the discounted price displayed, creating compliance challenges.
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Under the new updates, Google will display the previous price in Shopping ads based on specific rules for different European Economic Area (EEA) countries. For most EEA countries, including Sweden, the previous price is defined as the price before a series of consecutive reductions over 60 days. For some countries, such as Croatia and Norway, it is the lowest price in the last 30 days. Retailers can still choose to show the actual previous price on their own websites.
Another key update is the addition of the encrypted previous price and sale price to the URL token linking ads to retailer sites, allowing better tracking of price changes when a crossed-out price is shown in the ad.
Crucially, Google now allows real-time retrieval of the current previous lowest price and GAD price via the Merchant API. This facilitates compliance by enabling merchants to use accurate pricing data on their own platforms.
Karl Lindberg, a Google Ads expert at Adrelevance, notes the improvements but warns of potential drawbacks. He says retailers should consider carefully before using GAD as it may reduce price attractiveness and increase margin pressure within product categories.
Overall, Google's updates offer enhanced tools for legal compliance, while also presenting strategic considerations for e-retailers using dynamic pricing features.
Source: www.ehandel.se