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You could light a lot of menorahs and Christmas trees with the energy that shoppers will expend hunting for the perfect gifts this holiday season. It’s why the season accounts for as much as 40% of annual retail sales, according to the National Retail Federation. With so much at stake, now is the time for retailers to make preparations for a successful holiday sales season. Head on over to Google Think Insights to learn about three areas you should begin focusing on in September, based on recent shopper surveys and 2012 holiday sales trends. Posted by Erin Dean, The Google Retail Team

(Cross-posted from the Google Inside Adwords Blog ) A few weeks ago, we announced that we’ll soon be enforcing the new unique product identifier requirements to continue improving data quality on Google Shopping. These new specifications help us serve better results to users while creating more opportunities for merchants. We highly recommend making the necessary changes to comply with data quality requirements, as better data quality is a key lever to improve the performance of your Product Listing Ads campaigns. Beginning on September 16th, all previously exempt accounts in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom as well as all accounts in Australia, Brazil, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, Japan, and the Netherlands will begin to be subject to these new requirements. By November, all violating offers will be rejected and will not be served through Product Listing Ads. These new feed specifications are already being enforced for all accounts in the United States and non-e...

(Cross-posted from the DoubleClick Search blog )   Dust off your textbooks and boot up your laptops: it’s time to go back to school! While “Back to School” might be a dreaded time for students, it also presents unique challenges (and opportunities) for retail search marketers. More than 60% of shoppers will begin their Back to School shopping online, and most shoppers report that online research will have a notable impact on their in-store purchase decisions. In a highly competitive online space, how can you as a search marketer work faster, act smarter, and make better decisions -- all before that final school bell rings?   Today, we want to help you beat the Back to School blues and take advantage of the second largest retail event of the year. So we’re opening our school supply box and sharing a few successes we’ve heard from search marketers who’ve done their homework. Below are just a few powerful tools from DoubleClick Search to make sure you’ll get voted “most likely ...

There’s something familiar about this summer. You might say it looks... phatter than it has in a while. It feels a little fresher than it has in a few years. Look out home-skillets: the trends of the ‘90s are making a comeback. THEN AND NOW: Promoting overalls ‘90s style ... and 2013 style (Image courtesy: Buzzfeed ) Think I’m buggin’? Whatever—scope the numbers. Since the beginning of the year, in the U.S., we’ve noticed significant increases in searches for many of the hallmark styles of this dope decade: Searches for [crop tops] were more than 110% higher in July ‘13 than in July ‘12  Searches for [high waisted jeans] were more than 120% higher in July ‘13 than in July ‘12  Searches for [acid wash shorts] were more than 50% higher in July ‘13 than they were in July ‘12  Searches for [grunge clothing] were more 80% higher in July ‘13 than in July ‘12, and climbing rapidly so far in August  Searches for [bucket hats] were more than 120% higher in July ‘13 than ...