Walmart Connect has made a few changes to their advertising options that Suppliers should be aware of to optimize advertising efforts on the platform. In this blog post, Harvest Group Digital Advertising Manager, Dallas Boote, provides a quick overview of four changes that have taken place in 2022 so far.
Search-Relevancy Changes
New factors are being included in Search-Relevancy, such as Contextual Relevancy & Customer Intent. This doesn’t change the way the algorithm is currently set up but could be beneficial for items that are similar or complementary to the searched term. See our full blog post about search-relevancy changes here!
128 Item Placement Restriction Gone
Previously, to serve ads in-grid, an item needed to fall within the top 128 organic items for a given search term. That rule has now been removed, allowing some less relevant items to serve ads in-grid.
These changes, while helpful, most likely won’t be a major driver to increase clicks and sales. If your items are outside the first 3-4 pages, don’t expect them to win top of search suddenly. Work with your digital team (or reach out to Harvest Group) to see what needs to happen to improve ad performance.
Organic & Sponsored Listings Separated
You may now see both an organic and sponsored item in search results – even if the items are the same. WMC used to limit search results to one item (sponsored or organic) but now allows both listings to serve, similarly to Amazon search pages.
Additional Sponsored In-Grid Placements
WMC is testing 2 additional sponsored placements at the top of search pages. You may now see up to 4 sponsored items (the entire top row on desktop) on pages with higher traffic. This is also similar to Amazon search pages.
Ready to Talk?
Harvest Group is actively managing our clients’ advertising business from a proactive approach and our teams stay up to date on all changes as a Walmart Platform Partner. If you’re interested in learning more about how these Walmart Connect changes might impact your advertising strategy, our team would be happy to talk. You can reach out to us at hello@harvestgroup.com or through our Contact Us form here.
