Google Product Search: Verify and Claim Site

The clock is ticking and May 18th is the around the corner.

If you are a Google Product Search merchant, and don’t know what I am talking about, then you need to go check your inbox where an email from Google probably didn’t catch your attention. Google is requiring all merchants with a Google Product Search account to claim and verify their site by May 18th or face pausing of the account.

Since Google is working hard to push traffic to and monetize the Google Product Search program, currently through integration with Google AdWords and the Google Affiliate Network, Google is requiring that merchants can prove the site being advertised is actually owned by that account. This should help weed out any unauthorized affiliates, and add an additional level of ground work to Google’s penetration into the retail space.

From the merchant perspective, site verification needs to be done first, which is accomplished through Google Webmaster Tools. Either a meta tag needs to be placed on the retail site, or an HTML file needs to be uploaded to the webserver where the site is hosted. Once this is done, Google can be notified via Webmaster Tools so Google can crawl the site or the HTML file and link the Google Account with the site. Next, the site needs to be claimed. This can be done through Google Merchant Center (formerly the GoogleBase administrative panel). By clicking on “Settings -> General”, a single click can now be made to claim the site. The below example shows where this is (where the black fill covers actual merchant info).

So procrastination is natural, by bringing down an account is not. Take care of Mother’s Day first, but then make sure this project is being taken care of.

Still unsure of what to do? Visit Verify and claim a Website URL.

May 4th, 2010