Google is no longer keeping data on what customers are searching for and buying right now a secret. Google Merchant Center features an analytics section called Popular products, which shows you exactly what is in demand on the market. Instead of guessing shopping behavior, you have access to precise statistics directly from the search engine.

If you combine this real demand data with your CSS (Comparison Shopping Service) partner, you gain an advantage not only in a better product assortment but especially in the costs of promoting it.

What the “Popular products” report shows

You can find this report in your Google Merchant Center account under Analytics -> Products -> Popular Products. The data is updated on a weekly basis, and the insights are tailored to the categories you already sell and the markets you advertise in.

name of countries when the popular products report is available

Source: Google Merchant Center Help

According to official Google guidelines, the report answers the following key business questions:

  • Popularity rank
    Google’s system ranks products and brands based on how often customers search for them. The smaller the number, the more popular the product is.

  • Identifying out-of-stock hits (Out-of-stock)
    The system filters out popular products that would sell but are currently marked as out-of-stock in your feed. You know exactly what needs to be restocked as a priority.

  • Restocking suggestions (Product & Brand suggestions)
    Based on Google shopping data, the system suggests specific new products from brands you already sell, or entirely new popular brands within your segment.

  • Popularity jumpers (Rank change)
    You can see the brands that have experienced the biggest increase in popularity compared to the previous period.
  • Price Range
    An overview of current prices for a given product across Google. Google further expands on this metric in the Pricing report, where, according to the Pricing Analytics documentation, it uses advanced models and AI to suggest optimal prices that maximize sales and clicks.

How to use this data in combination with CSS

Knowing the demand is only half the battle. True efficiency comes when you use advertising through a CSS partner to promote these popular products.

  1. Maximizing impression share for popular products
    When the “Popular products” report confirms that a specific product is in demand and you check your market visibility in the “Competitors” report, it’s time to intensify your bidding. Thanks to the cost-per-click (CPC) discount through a CSS partner, you can afford to set higher bids than competitors advertising through the standard Google CSS, securing the best positions while maintaining profitability.
  2. Efficient portfolio expansion with low risk
    The Products to consider and Brand suggestions sections serve as a data-backed shopping list. If you add products to your e-shop that you know are highly searched in Google Shopping, and then support them with cheaper clicks via CSS, you minimize the risk of unsuccessful stocking and shorten the payback period.
  3. Pre-season budget optimization
    Data in Merchant Center Analytics goes back up to 2 years. Before peak seasons (Christmas, Black Friday), you can filter out the best-performing categories and redirect your saved CSS budgets precisely to these proven hits.

Note on Google’s Terms and Conditions
According to Google Merchant Center’s terms, data from the Popular products report is intended exclusively for the internal use of the e-shop and must not be publicly displayed, sold, or aggregated for other businesses.

Download your current list of the most in-demand products directly from Merchant Center and CONTACT US. Together, we will review whether you are fully utilizing the potential of CSS discounts in your promotions and adjust your campaigns to extract the maximum from current demand.