Google’s new product titles report shows that Google is using AI-generated titles instead of retailer-supplied copy.
Google has been found to be rewriting brand’s product names using AI-generated titles.
Google’s new Product Titles report, which appears as part of AI Max for Shopping, will allow advertisers to see when and how Google has rewritten titles with Google AI alongside the original product titles.
The tech giant says that AI creates titles which are more relevant to the audience, but e-commerce expert Thomas Phillips, founder of DTC SEO Agency, warns that retailers should be wary of the implications of un-sanctioned product titles.
“This is much bigger than Google tweaking a few words in an advert. The product title is one of the first pieces of information a shopper sees, and now retailers cannot assume the title they submitted is necessarily the title being presented to that customer.”
“A rewritten title could perform brilliantly from a CTR perspective and still be worse for the business. It might remove an important product attribute, change how premium the product sounds, introduce wording the brand would never use or create an expectation that the landing page doesn’t fulfil,” Phillips added.
Small changes, big results
Small changes to wording could have disproportionately big consequences, he says. “If you’ve painstakingly built accurate structured product data, you don’t want an AI-generated title accidentally creating ambiguity around what somebody is buying.”
“The dangerous errors aren’t necessarily ridiculous ones. They’re the ones that sound completely believable.”
This takes away an important element of control for brands, who have lost certainty in how their products are shown to consumers.
If, for example, a brand has spent years carefully crafting its marketing and image to portray luxury and premium products, but Google’s AI decides that ads would perform better with “deal” or “cheap’ labelling, then advertisers could find their whole brand image undermined.
Enhanced visibility
The report does offer some visibility into the changes – and could even let advertisers get more insights into what Google deems as more relevant to audiences.
Advertisers will also be able to assess how well their own titles perform in comparison to the AI-generated titles – including impressions, CTR, product clicks, cost, and CPC.
Just because an AI generated title might bring the best CTR, this does not guarantee revenue or purchases – a sensational ad could bring in a better click through rate than ever, but could also fail to capture any sales.
“Once AI is generating customer-facing copy, you need quality control around the output,” Phillips argues, “I’d be particularly careful around competitor names, trademarks, discounts, product claims and anything that could imply an association the retailer hasn’t actually made.”
It’s particularly important for brands to use the new report to monitor and assess the AI generated titles and compare their success with the vendor-supplied copy. Consistent audits to review promotional language can help protect the brand image and performance.
