Google Testing New Google Merchant Center User Interface

I am hearing some reports that Google is testing a new user interface for the Google Merchant Center. The new interface is not just some design changes but an overhaul of the way you use Merchant Center.

Mike Ryan posted on Twitter with some hints about this new Google Merchant Center user experience. Mike said ” limited number of users are getting access to a new UI for Google Merchant Center. It appears to be a significant iteration on GMC, not just a cosmetic change.”

Mike said he believes the API will have similar or the same features on this new interface as the old one, maybe the API is changing with this, or maybe not?

Here is what Mike shared but I am still trying to find screenshots of the new UI, do you have any?

My understanding is that Google wants to simplify the GMC with this new launch. Ok, MC is sometimes rather clunky, or rather, things can be hidden. But my quiet fear is that “simplify” is a code word for reducing options and control.

— Mike Ryan (@mikeryanretail) October 28, 2022

Just last week I discussed on my podcast that I predict the Merchant Center will increasingly become a “center of gravity” in the Google Ads universe. So was I wrong? Is GMC getting dumbed down?

— Mike Ryan (@mikeryanretail) October 28, 2022

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This trend is visible with new insights released to GMC like pricing insights, bestseller and demand insights, competitor insights, and scorecards.

The operative word, in case you missed it, is insight.

— Mike Ryan (@mikeryanretail) October 28, 2022

That interface is bidirectional. Google wants to offer advertisers value from the Shopping Graph, but also naturally to extract value by encouraging certain actions, such as discounting, capturing reviews, and offering clear & competitive shipping policies.

— Mike Ryan (@mikeryanretail) October 28, 2022

To be clear, I haven’t seen the new Merchant Center – yet – but I’ve been predicting a change like this for quite a while, and this new UI could be the debut of not only a cosmetically but a *conceptually* different Merchant Center.

How advertisers will react? Usually: pic.twitter.com/uYE4pxY722

— Mike Ryan (@mikeryanretail) October 28, 2022

Again, if you have access to it, I am interested in sharing screenshots of it with the community.

Forum discussion at Twitter.