Where CSSs come in
In the countries of the European Economic Area, in the United Kingdom and in Switzerland, Shopping ads on Google are placed by Comparison Shopping Services (CSSs). Google Shopping, Google's own CSS, operated as Google Shopping Europe, is one of them; verteco.shop is another. A Merchant Center account has exactly one CSS at a time, and the switch moves your account from Google Shopping to verteco.shop.
What changes
- The CSS of your Merchant Center account. After you approve the request, Merchant Center lists verteco.shop as the CSS of the account.
- The line under your ads. Shopping ads carry the name of the CSS that placed them: "By verteco.shop" instead of "By Google".
- The bid. When ads are placed through Google Shopping Europe, Google keeps a share of each bid as the margin of its own CSS. Ads placed through another CSS enter the auction without that share. verteco.shop and the Verdict tool work with 20 %: the same budget buys more clicks, or the same clicks cost less. The effect in your account depends on your auctions, which is why the Verdict tool describes how to measure it.
- Your products on the comparison site. The shops served by the CSS are listed on css.verteco.shop; the Vitrine tool shows your entry.
- A CSS fee. verteco.shop charges €19 per month per shop (or €199 per year, or an agency price agreed separately). It is billed by verteco.shop, not through Google Ads.
What does not change
- Your Merchant Center account, its id, your product data and your feeds.
- Your Google Ads account, campaigns, product groups, bids, budgets, targeting and conversion tracking. Click costs are still billed by Google Ads.
- Where the ads can appear (Search, the Shopping tab, partner placements): this follows your campaign settings, not the CSS.
- Google's Shopping ads policies, product data requirements and account reviews.
- Control over your accounts. The switch does not give verteco.shop access to your Google Ads account.
- Free product listings keep their own CSS setting (see the article Choosing the CSS for free listings).
During the switch
Ads keep running while Google applies the change on its side. There is no need to pause campaigns or re-upload feeds. The Switchover tool in Komplet follows the steps for your shop.