Google Shopping Free Listings Are Back: What Retailers Need to Know

Good news for retailers and online stores: on April 21, Google announced Google Shopping free listings. In the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, the change could give many businesses extra visibility online at no cost.

Retail, an Industry in Crisis

For several years now, brick-and-mortar retail has faced growing pressure from the web. Ever-fiercer online competition has pushed many stores to sell both in person and online.

Today, retail is one of the industries hit hardest by the COVID-19 crisis. Digital channels have become a real lifeline for many businesses, and Google has also changed its local business listings during the pandemic.

Online Shopping Keeps Growing

The number of consumers shopping online keeps climbing. People search for everything from clothes and games to appliances and home decor. Online shopping knows no borders, and Google understands that well.

Aware of the economic strain the pandemic is putting on many small businesses, Google has decided to fast-track free listings on Google Shopping.

What Is Google Shopping?

Google Shopping is a price comparison tool. Products matching a search appear in the Shopping tab and in shopping results on the search results page, so people can compare offers and products quickly and easily.

Free Google Shopping Listings: A Boost for Retailers

Bill Ready, Google’s President of Commerce, announced a major change to Google Shopping. Free product listings will now appear alongside the paid Shopping ads, which remain in place.

The rollout starts in the U.S. by the end of April, with a global expansion planned before the end of the year.

Very soon, any merchant will be able to list products on Google for free. The goal is to connect retailers with shoppers simply and effectively.

In his announcement, Bill Ready noted that people run hundreds of millions of shopping searches on Google every day, and that many retailers have the products those shoppers want in stock and ready to ship, but are harder to find online.

The free listings are powered by Google Merchant Center, and more technical details are expected soon. We’ll share them as soon as they’re available.

New Partnerships

Google also announced new partnerships, including one with PayPal, so merchants can easily link their accounts, making the process safer for both sellers and shoppers.

Google also pointed to its existing partnerships with ecommerce platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce, which make it easier for merchants to manage products and inventory.

One More Tool in Your SEO Toolbox

Free Google Shopping listings will complement the SEO of your online store. It’s one more way to build organic visibility for your website. From now on, there are two fronts to compete on for unpaid visibility: the regular search results and Google Shopping. That’s significant extra exposure, and it pairs well with paid Google Shopping campaigns.

Finally, remember that Google’s shopping service was free from 2002 to 2012. This return to free listings is also part of Google’s battle with Amazon: a way to compete with the retail giant by building a massive product catalog of its own.

Référenceur, a French-speaking digital marketing agency from Belgium and Luxembourg, helps businesses with SEO and Google Shopping remotely, through video calls, shared screens, and monthly reporting. Request a free assessment to get your products in front of more shoppers.

Where Things Stand in 2026

Free product listings are still a standard part of Google Merchant Center: any retailer with an approved product feed can appear in Google’s shopping results without paying, alongside Shopping ads. Paid Shopping ads can run as standard Shopping campaigns or through Performance Max campaigns.