How to Compare Prices Using Google Shopping

December 8, 2020

Online shopping has become a normal part of everyday life. I’m not sure I have enough fingers and toes to count the packages left on my front step this month. However, I found comparison shopping cumbersome because I had to open multiple browser tabs to research prices by different retailers. Comparison shopping became much easier once I learned how to compare prices using Google Shopping.

What is Google Shopping?

Google Shopping allows consumers to comparison shop for desired products between retailers that have paid to advertise their products within the service This kind of service is known as a Comparison Shopping Engine.

History

Originally named Froogle (a pun on the word frugal) and launched in 2002, the service originally generated revenue through Google’s Adwords keyword advertising platform. In 2007 the name Google Product Search replaced Froogle to make the name more internationally recognized and to avoid copyright concerns with another product. A rebranding took place again in 2012 with Google Shopping taking hold as the new name. The product’s model also changed to a “pay to play” service.

What Do I Need to Use Google Shopping?

To use Google Shopping all you need is a Google ID. If you use Gmail or YouTube you may already have one. If you don’t, head over to www.google.com and register one for free.

How do I use Google Shopping?

Once you sign in to Google, click on the dots in the upper right part of the screen. In the list of icons that drop down will be one named, “Shop.” Once you click on that, you’ll get a web page with the Google Shopping search bar.

Type into the search bar whatever product you’re interested in and you’ll be shown a list of products that match your description. If you click on a specific product picture you’ll be shown:

Pictures of the product

Customer reviews
Cumulative rating of the product from the reviews
Retailers selling the product and their offered price
From there you can select a retailer and order the product if you’d like.

Online shopping literally puts the entire retail world at your fingertips. You can do the comparison shopping yourself, but you might as well learn how to compare prices using Google Shopping. It’s free, and it can save you time and money.

How about you, Clever friends, have you ever used Google Shopping?

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