New Design to Google Local Inventory Ads in Local Pack

Google began showing local inventory ads earlier this month and it has already gone through a redesign.  The new version focuses on the fact these are local specific ads, and not just regular product listing ads, and it also highlights products from multiple businesses rather than just a single one.

Here is what the new style looks like:

And for another product type:

As you can see, Google has dropped the product ratings in favor of a new line showing the hours the business is open today.  It has also changed the “Store pickup” line to say “In store” instead.

When you click on one of the individual products, it takes you to a page like this, highlighting only the products from the specific seller whose product was clicked on:

It shows both the ring/laptop clicked on as well as others from the same store.  It also doesn’t only show in stock product but also those with limited availability too, showing inventory tracking employed by at least one seller.

If you choose to expand the local inventory ads instead, you see this:

While the engagement ring example has only a single seller, the laptops example has multiple local businesses with their products listed.

It isn’t clear what “Click and collect” means on the Best Buy example – the expanded Best Buy screenshot above was when clicking on that specific example.  But it could refer to ordering online and then picking it up in store.

I definitely like this version of Local Inventory Ads better, as it does a much better job at highlighting that these are products local to the searcher.  Perhaps some sellers would prefer the star ratings but I think this might get more sellers purchasing in-store for some products rather than ordering online, especially when inventory levels are monitored.

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Jennifer Slegg

Founder & Editor at The SEM Post

Jennifer Slegg is a longtime speaker and expert in search engine marketing, working in the industry for almost 20 years. When she isn't sitting at her desk writing and working, she can be found grabbing a latte at her local Starbucks or planning her next trip to Disneyland. She regularly speaks at Pubcon, SMX, State of Search, Brighton SEO and more, and has been presenting at conferences for over a decade.

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