Shopping.com launches an automated bidding process

Shopping portal Shopping.com has introduced an automated pricing function that allows retailers to manage their bids for placement on the site without continual manual intervention. Shopping.com’s new Smart Bidding System will automatically increase the bid of a retailer who wants to stay in the number one spot in listings up to a limit set by the retailer, assuring that the retailer never pays more than one cent per click above the next highest bid.

So if Retailer A sets a maximum payment of 60 cents per click and the number one spot is occupied by Retailer B paying 45 cents per click, the system will automatically up Retailer A’s bid to 46 cents. The retailer will receive an automated alert when the bid hits 60 cents and the retailer can then decide whether to increase the maximum or accept a lower spot.

Until now, merchants at Shopping.com had to constantly check their rankings and submit new bids if they wanted to stay in the stop spot. Effective today, all Shopping.com merchants’ current bids have become Smart bids.