Google Global Product Listing Ads Timeline

Six important Google Merchant Center dates for global merchants.

(1) November 15, 2012 -- Google announcement of global Product Listing Ads for Google Shopping;
Merchant Impact:  Product Listing Ads documentation is available to merchants submitting data for the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Brazil, Australia and Switzerland.

(2) December 11, 2012 -- Google announcement of discount credits for active Product Search Merchants;
Merchant Impact: Promotional credit eligibility details are available for review and sign-up.

(3) December 11, 2012 -- Google announcement of specification updates for AdWords PLA policies;
Merchant Impact: Updated feed and site specifications are available for review and early implementation.

(4) February 13, 2013 -- Single-unit and commercial-offer product-ads increase; PLA polices effective.
Merchant Impact: Traffic drop for free ads begins; Traffic increase for product-ads; Disapproval increase.

(5) March 1, 2013 -- Google AdWords policy enforcement of specification updates;
Merchant Impact: Items are dropped and feeds disapproved that do not adhere to AdWords policies.

(6) April 12, 2013 -- Deadline for AdWords discount credits for active Product Search Merchants;
Merchant Impact: Google AdWords will be full price for Google Shopping participants.

(7) June 30, 2012 -- Google Shopping composed exclusively of commercial ads, for all target-countries;
Merchant Impact: All product traffic from commercial-offers; All listings contain a bid ranking-component.

Definitions:
PLA-- Product Listing Ad -- Google product-ad created from merchant submitted feed data;
Single Unit -- Google sponsored-ad created from merchant submitted feed data;
Commercial Offer -- Google Shopping paid listings created from merchant submitted feed data;
Product Extension Ad -- Existing Google AdWords text-ad that is augmented with feed data;
Product-ad -- Either a Google AdWords Product Listing Ad or Product Extension Ad.
Feed -- A structured list of a merchant's on-hand, in-stock, physical product inventory, sent to Google.

Please note: All dates are for Non-U.S. registered feeds and are subject to change by Google.

Google Product-Listing-Ads Timeline

Seven important Google Merchant Center dates in 2012 for U.S registered feed items.

(1) May 14, 2012 -- Google announcement of AdWords policy reviews;
Merchant Impact: All feed items are disapproved for product-ads during Google's review.

(2) May 31, 2012 -- Google announcement of paid shopping ads; Experiments with PLA's;
Merchant Impact: Product-ads begin to show intermixed with listings; Small traffic drop for free ads.

(3) June 7, 2012 -- Google Trusted Stores program announced;
Merchant Impact: Shoppers can view a merchant's shipping performance and customer satisfaction data.

(4) June 28, 2012 -- Single-unit and commercial-offer product-ads increase;
Merchant Impact: Traffic drop for free ads continues; Traffic increase for product-ads.

(5) July 1, 2012 -- Google AdWords policy enforcement begins;
Merchant Impact: Items are dropped and feeds disapproved that do not adhere to AdWords policies.

(6) August 15, 2012 -- Deadline for AdWords discount credits for active Product Search Merchants;
Merchant Impact: Google AdWords will be full price for Google Shopping participants.

(7) October 17, 2012 -- Google Shopping composed exclusively of commercial ads;
Merchant Impact: All product traffic from commercial-offers; All listings contain a bid ranking-component.

Definitions:
PLA-- Product Listing Ad -- Google product-ad from merchant submitted feed data;
Single Unit -- Google.com sponsored ad from merchant submitted feed data;
Commercial Offer -- Google Shopping paid listings from merchant submitted feed data;
Product Extension Ad -- Existing Google AdWords text-ad that is augmented with feed data;
Product-ad -- Either a Google Product Listing Ad or a Google Product Extension Ad.
Feed -- A structured list of a merchant's on-hand, in-stock, physical product inventory sent to Google.

Please note: All dates are for U.S. registered feeds and are subject to change by Google.