Update: Google did return a comment, though not much in the way of additional details:
Google Shopping for Suppliers is a beta that helps users searching for B2B products to quickly find what they’re looking for, evaluate options and connect with suppliers to make their purchases.
Google has launched a product called Google Shopping For Suppliers in beta. It requires listings to be in US dollars by default (though a few European sites have already picked up on the launch), and adheres to the same policies as Google Shopping, but with a handful of exceptions.
For example, most Pricing and Payments policies for Google Shopping don’t apply, because, as Google notes in a help center article, suppliers and buyers frequently negotiate their price based on item quantity. The same goes for shipping policies.
“Given that tax requirements vary by buyer’s country and buyers may come from any location, tax practices are not governed by Google policy,” Google also notes. “Suppliers and buyers are expected to abide by local law.”
Additionally, Google doesn’t require suppliers to post return/refund policies on their sites, which is a departure from Google Shopping’s terms, though it does maintain a requirement that suppliers “conspicuously” post terms for returns/refunds in their Google Shopping for Suppliers listings.
Finally, Google Shopping For Suppliers doesn’t rely on Google Merchant Center technology.
The full policies for Google Shopping For Suppliers can be found here.
So far, the product only returns results for electrical and electronic products, but Google says to check back soon for more product types. It’s easy to imagine a large pool of B2B products populating the results in time.
It looks like all the merchants that are listed come with the “Google Verified Supplier” label.
Andrew Davis makes a few additional observations:
– $1000 yearly verification fee required for American suppliers, Chinese suppliers need to pay ￥6000 (plus 6% VAT) / year, Hong Kong suppliers need to pay $7500 / year.
– It looks like Google has not made this a CPC engine yet and after you submit your verification fee you should be able to sell your products in bulk.
– It looks like the data feed requirements are very different than that for Google Shopping. Make sure you take a close look at them. Namely Price, Shipping, Tax, and Returns and Refunds policies have changed.
Considering how well Google Shopping has been doing for Google, this could turn out to be an important product for the company in capturing B2B ad dollars.
We’ve reached out to Google for more details.
[Thanks to Andrew Davis for the tip]