Google Premier Partner · Our own comparison shopping service (CSS)
Google Shopping CSS: so your full bid reaches the auction.
Your Shopping bid reaches the auction reduced. The deduction appears on no invoice.
Through arboro's comparison shopping service, your bid goes into the auction in full. At a fixed monthly price, with no mark-up on the cost per click and no share of revenue. Your feed stays where it is, and your customers still land directly on your product page.
We tell you beforehand whether it pays off for your Shopping budget. Even if the answer is no.
€99 per month for the first country, €49 for each additional one, plus VAT · No setup fee · Cancel with one month's notice to the end of the month
Shopware & Shopify development · Support · Agency switch · Shop migration · SEO/GEO · SEA · AI commerce
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A deduction you won't find on any invoice.
In 2017, the European Commission fined Google 2.42 billion euros for favouring its own price comparison service in search results. Since then, the following applies in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland: Shopping ads on the Google search results page are always placed by a Comparison Shopping Service (CSS), i.e. a price comparison service.
Google Shopping is one of them. For many retailers, it is simply the default setting that nobody ever changed.
Google itself confirms that Google Shopping deducts a fixed percentage of the merchant's bid before the bid enters the auction. Google does not publish the exact amount. In the CSS market, a figure of up to around 20% has been used for years.
Do the maths
- Does not reach the auction today
- €800
- arboro CSS costs
- €99
- Calculated additional bid in the auction
- +€701
Google does not publish the exact amount of the deduction. The calculation shows how much of your bid currently does not work for your position in the auction. It is not a saving on your Google Ads invoice.
This part of your bid does not work for your position in the auction. And because it is not shown separately anywhere, nobody notices it.
The deduction is not a fee you can see. It is a bid that arrives weaker than the one you placed.
A head start has become the norm.
In the first years after 2017, switching to another comparison shopping service was a real head start. Those who switched early bid with their full bid in the same auction against competitors whose bids had been reduced beforehand.
Today, several hundred comparison shopping services place ads on Google. In competitive product ranges, a considerable share of your competitors has long been bidding outside Google Shopping. Switching today no longer gives you a head start. It stops you paying for a disadvantage.
Those who switched early had an advantage.
Those who never switched pay for it today as a surcharge.
The effect is not on the invoice. It is in the auction.
Many retailers switch, look at their Google Ads invoice four weeks later, don't find 20% less there and drop the subject.
If your campaigns run with target ROAS or target CPA, the bid strategy keeps working towards the same target, but now with your full bid. What comes of it depends on how the bid strategy uses the additional room:
More from the same bid
Your bid takes full effect in the auction instead of being partly deducted beforehand.
More potential reach
Your ads can also bid in auctions where your reduced bid was not enough before.
More competitiveness in the auction
You compete on equal terms with competitors who have long been bidding through another CSS.
Whether this shows in lower click prices, more volume or better positions is decided by bid strategy, competition and demand together. That is why we don't promise a fixed percentage, but tell you beforehand how to read the effect.
arboro CSS: A setting, not a project.
arboro operates its own comparison shopping service in Google's CSS programme. Your Merchant Center is linked to arboro CSS once, after which your Shopping ads run through us instead of Google Shopping. For your customers, almost nothing changes: below the product image it says “By arboro” instead of “By Google”.
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Your full bid in the auction
The Google Shopping deduction no longer applies, and we add no mark-up of our own to the cost per click.
€99 per month instead of a revenue share
A fixed price per country, regardless of clicks, ad budget and revenue. No setup fee.
Your feed stays where it is
Your data feed is not changed and continues to run directly from Shopware or Shopify into your Merchant Center.
Ad → product page
No additional redirect. Your customer lands directly on your product page.
Your accounts stay your accounts
Merchant Center and Google Ads account remain entirely yours. Campaigns, history and settings remain unchanged.
Independent of your agency
You don't need to commission any other services from arboro for arboro CSS. Whoever manages your campaigns today continues to manage them.
You neither have to change your agency nor rebuild your campaigns. You change who your bid goes through into the auction.
Available in 21 countries.
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Austria · Belgium · Czech Republic · Denmark · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Ireland · Italy · Netherlands · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Slovakia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · United Kingdom
You only connect the countries in which you actually run Shopping ads.
You save the deduction with any CSS. The difference lies in the model.
Comparison shopping services work differently. Some charge a mark-up on the cost per click or a share of revenue. Some process your feed on their own systems first. With some, the click passes through an additional redirect before it reaches your shop.
With arboro, it stays simple: fixed monthly price, feed directly from your shop, ad → product page.
Three questions you should ask every CSS provider.
How do you earn: from a fixed price, from my clicks or from my revenue?
A good answer: a fixed price you know in advance. With a click mark-up or revenue share, the fee grows with your success.
Where does my feed go?
A good answer: your feed stays in your Merchant Center. Every intermediate step is another source of errors.
Does the click lead directly to my product page?
A good answer: yes, without a detour. Every additional redirect costs loading time and can interfere with your tracking.
If your agency operates its own CSS.
That is a legitimate model. You should just know whether the advantage reaches you or disappears into a flat fee. A question that belongs in every annual review.
Not a discount plan. A CSS with a team behind it.
The list price is rarely the final price. With many low-cost CSS providers, your feed first runs through their platform and the click through their own tracking before it reaches your shop. That costs loading time and adds another source of errors. If you want to enrich your product data there, you pay for add-ons. That is how €29 quickly turns into €300.
With arboro CSS, your feed stays in your Merchant Center and the click goes directly to your product page. arboro CSS is made for retailers who want to work with an agency rather than a sign-up form. The whole bill is on this page.
An honest calculation before you switch
You find out beforehand whether arboro CSS pays off for your Shopping budget in each country. Even if the answer is no.
Real contacts instead of a helpdesk
You clarify questions about Merchant Center, feed and Shopping ads with a team that takes responsibility for Google Ads as a Google Premier Partner and develops Shopware and Shopify itself.
A price that does not grow with you
€99 per month for the first country, €49 for each additional one. No mark-up on the cost per click, no revenue share, no setup fee.
A CSS is only cheap if the list price is the whole bill.
What arboro CSS costs. And when it does not pay off.
| arboro CSSPrices per country | |
|---|---|
| First country (e.g. Germany) | €99 per month, plus VAT |
| Each additional country | €49 per month, plus VAT |
| Germany, Austria and Switzerland together | €197 per month, plus VAT |
| Depends on click volume? | No |
| Mark-up on the cost per click | None |
| Share of budget or revenue | None |
| Setup | No setup fee |
| Cancellation | With one month's notice to the end of the month |
| Ad budget | you continue to pay directly to Google |
arboro CSS
Prices per country- First country (e.g. Germany)
- €99 per month, plus VAT
- Each additional country
- €49 per month, plus VAT
- Germany, Austria and Switzerland together
- €197 per month, plus VAT
- Depends on click volume?
- No
- Mark-up on the cost per click
- None
- Share of budget or revenue
- None
- Setup
- No setup fee
- Cancellation
- With one month's notice to the end of the month
- Ad budget
- you continue to pay directly to Google
Example calculation assuming 20%.
How large the share of your bid is that does not take effect in the auction today, for Shopping click costs through Google Shopping in one country:
| €500Shopping click costs per month | €2,000Shopping click costs per month | €10,000Shopping click costs per month | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share of bid not used in the auction (at 20%) | approx. €100 | approx. €400 | approx. €2,000 |
| arboro CSS (1 country) | €99 | €99 | €99 |
€500
Shopping click costs per month- Share of bid not used in the auction (at 20%)
- approx. €100
- arboro CSS (1 country)
- €99
€2,000
Shopping click costs per month- Share of bid not used in the auction (at 20%)
- approx. €400
- arboro CSS (1 country)
- €99
€10,000
Shopping click costs per month- Share of bid not used in the auction (at 20%)
- approx. €2,000
- arboro CSS (1 country)
- €99
This is not your saving on the invoice and not a break-even. It only shows how much of your bid is currently used for the Google Shopping deduction instead of for your position in the auction. What this means for you economically, we calculate with your figures.
When we advise against it.
With a small Shopping budget.
With a few hundred euros a month, the flat fee can largely eat up the possible advantage.
For countries without significant budget.
€49 for an additional market only pays off if there is also Shopping budget running there.
For accounts with almost only text ads.
The deduction only affects your product ads.
If switching does not pay off for your shop, that is a good result of our assessment. Not a bad one.
Here's how you switch to arboro CSS.
Discuss the switch
We check which comparison shopping service your ads currently run through and whether switching pays off for your budget in each country.
Approve the switch
You decide which countries run through arboro CSS.
Link Merchant Center
Usually 1–2 working days, with no setup fee. Your data feed is not changed in the process.
Ads run through arboro CSS
Without interruption, now with your full bid. We tell you how to read the effect: click prices, impression share and orders.
And if you want to get more out of your Shopping campaigns?
The CSS ensures your bid arrives. Whether it brings revenue depends on feed, tracking and campaign management. If you would like support there, you will find our Google Ads service for Shopware & Shopify. You don't need it for arboro CSS.
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All the facts about arboro CSS to pass on.
For your management, your marketing team or your agency: prices, countries, process and the key questions on just a few pages.
Who arboro CSS is right for.
For manufacturers and retailers with a Shopware or Shopify shop whose revenue depends to a relevant extent on Shopping ads. For managing directors and shop managers who want a pricing model that doesn't grow with their ad budget.
Who arboro CSS is not right for.
If your Shopping click costs are a few hundred euros a month or you run almost only text ads. We'd rather tell you that beforehand.
Frequently asked questions about Google Shopping CSS.
A price comparison service through which Shopping ads are placed on the Google search results page. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, every Shopping ad runs through a CSS. Google Shopping is one of them, arboro CSS is another.
There is no general answer. Google Shopping deducts a fixed percentage from the bid before the auction. Google does not publish the exact amount; the market works with up to around 20%. With arboro CSS, this deduction no longer applies, and we add no mark-up of our own to the cost per click. Whether this shows in lower click prices, more volume or better positions depends on bid strategy, competition and demand. Your invoice therefore does not automatically fall by 20%.
The higher your Shopping click costs, the stronger the effect in relation to the flat fee. With a few hundred euros a month, the fee can largely eat up the advantage. We calculate it with your figures before you decide.
€99 per month for the first country, €49 for each additional one, plus VAT. Germany, Austria and Switzerland together €197 per month. No setup fee, no mark-up on the cost per click, no share of ad budget or revenue. You continue to pay your ad budget directly to Google.
With one month's notice to the end of the month. Merchant Center, Google Ads account, feed and campaigns remain yours anyway. After cancellation, your Shopping ads run through Google Shopping again or through another CSS of your choice.
No. arboro CSS is independent of our SEA service. Whoever manages your campaigns today continues to manage them.
No. Your data feed is not changed and continues to run directly from your shop into Merchant Center. Campaigns, settings and history stay as they are. Merchant Center and Google Ads account remain entirely yours.
Hardly. Below the product image it says “By arboro” instead of “By Google”. The click leads directly to your product page, without any additional redirect.
For the Shopping ads that Performance Max serves on Google Search, yes. However, with Performance Max, the share of your budget this accounts for cannot be isolated as cleanly as with classic Shopping campaigns.
That depends on whether the advantage reaches you today. Ask how the CSS is billed, where your feed goes and whether the click leads directly to your product page. If the answers are clear and fair, there is no reason to switch.
Which comparison shopping service is your shop bidding through right now?
If you don't know the answer straight away, a short conversation is worthwhile. We look at your Shopping budget per country and tell you whether arboro CSS pays off for you. And if not, we tell you that too.
No standard pitch. Just a clear calculation with your figures.
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