How do you describe something well enough with just text for customers to get a reasonable idea of what you are selling?

Well the answer need not be a tutorial on how to write effective ad copy; Google has a new “Product Listings” feature to display relevant products in line with the organic results.

U.S. users on google.com have already begun seeing more and more product listing ads appear. As you can see in the picture below, the ability to compare between different companies, brands, products and prices on the one page makes shopping online so much simpler.

As soon as a user enters a search query which is relevant to one of your items, Google will show the most relevant products (as well as the product name, price and of course its photo) which makes it easier for the consumer to find exactly what they want.

Furthermore, in enhancing the user experience, the result for businesses is likely to be more profitable as well. These Product Listings are only charged on a Cost-Per-Action (CPA) basis; only when a user views the ad, clicks on link and eventually makes a purchase from that particular store is the advertiser charged. Advertisers on Google will be able to potentially save on their advertising expenditure and receive a greater ROI as a result.

From an advertiser’s perspective this makes product listing ads perfect for reaching a more specific consumer as they are not paying per click, they are paying per sale. No matter how many people click on the listing – as long as they don’t purchase the item, the advertiser won’t be charged. This is different to when a visitor views your site through text ads, where you will be charged for a click – therefore providing a distinct advantage to businesses who want to advertise on Google.

See Google’s explaination on the new technology at the AdWords blog: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2009/11/announcing-product-listing-ads.html