Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) are filled with a variety of features that compete for attention, and one of the most impactful of these is the Popular Products feature.
While some SEOs see these features as obstacles that push down traditional organic results, they also present unique opportunities to boost your brand’s visibility and drive traffic by prominently featuring your content.
In this blog, we’ll dive into data regarding the impact of the Popular Products feature, who can benefit the most from it, and how you can optimize your products to get included.
The popular products SERP feature is a specialized search result that showcases product-related information directly within search results.
It allows users to see detailed information about products from multiple brands at once without having to click through several websites.
Here’s an example of what it looks like:
Not to be confused with Google Shopping ads which appear like this:
When you click on one of the products in this feature, a Google-hosted product page with reviews, images, store options, and more will appear.
Google released this feature in January 2020, with the goal of helping consumers, “know what’s out there, find inspiration, compare your choices and decide what and where to buy.”
Products that appear prominently on the search results page gain more visibility, which can lead to higher click-through rates and increased sales.
As such, by effectively leveraging the popular products SERP feature, businesses can improve their online presence and boost conversions by making their products more accessible and attractive to search engine users.
But how often does this SERP feature actually appear and how high in the SERP does it typically present? Answering these questions will help you determine whether optimizing for this SERP feature is worth your time.
Let’s dive into the data.
Drawing from an extensive dataset of more than 500 million search queries analyzed in our Research Grid, we observed that from July 2022 to June 2024, the popular products feature surfaced in over 48 million searches on mobile and nearly 58 million searches on desktop.
Based on both desktop and mobile data, the prevalence of the popular product feature in top rank positions is only increasing.
As you can see, its appearance has increased steadily from July 2022 to July 2024 for rank positions 1-3 and 4-10 on desktop.
The trend is similar on mobile, with the popular product feature increasing 151% year over year for rank positions 1-3. The prominence and opportunity this SERP feature offers for nearly any ecommerce brand that optimizes within Google Merchant Center.
When it comes to which industries are most impacted by the popular products SERP feature, we once again referenced our Research Grid dataset to find the answer.
Here are the industries where the popular products feature appears most frequently in the SERP for related keywords.
The industries that are impacted the most include business and industrial (15.29%), home and garden (14.29%), apparel (11.38%), and hobbies and leisure (10.28%).
Given the substantial visibility and traffic opportunities provided by the SERP feature, companies within these industries would likely benefit by optimizing their product listings to increase their chances of getting included. In doing so, they can capitalize on the considerable SERP real estate the feature occupies, enhancing their online presence and consumer reach.
To optimize your chances of being included in the popular products feature, consider implementing the following strategies:
Uploading your product feeds to the Google Merchant Center allows Google to pull detailed product information directly into the SERPs. When doing so, ensure your product feed is accurate and up-to-date to increase the chances of your products appearing in relevant searches.
The attributes you’ll need to include are id, title, description, link, image_link, price, brand, gtin, and availability.
Use schema markup, such as Product schema, to provide Google with detailed information about your products. This helps Google understand and display your product data accurately in the SERP feature.
Use clear, high-quality images for your products, as they are crucial for attracting user attention in product listings.
Ensure your pricing is competitive and clearly displayed to attract potential customers.
Positive reviews can significantly enhance your product's appeal in search results, so encourage satisfied customers to leave feedback.
Craft compelling and keyword-rich titles and descriptions for your products to improve their relevance to potential search queries.
Interested in analyzing the frequency and ranking positions of the popular products SERP feature for your site? The team at our sister company, seoClarity, would behappy to provide tailored insights into its occurrence and the rank positions it holds for your target keywords.
