Google Commerce: Site Search on Steroids?

I know how surprised everyone must be that Google chose this particular time in the year for the release of Google Commerce Search, an Ecommerce search engine that can be customized for use on any website. It is meant to replace other site search features with a fully hosted, and functional site search that finishes users search queries, corrects them on typo’s and allows them to drill down with quickness to find the product that suits them best in record time. This sounds great, right? I thought so too until I checked the price tag: $50,000 at least, per year.

I’m going to cut right to the chase. Google Commerce Search is likely going to be another great, hugely useful product that will increase sales for many Ecommerce websites out there. Good luck finding a small business Ecommerce site in THIS! economy that is willing to  going to fork over that kind of money for what they’ll inevitably perceive is a site search on steroids.

By and large, small businesses aren’t going to be in a position to take advantage of this powerful search solution. If Google Commerce Search is fundamentally designed to help website visitors find products faster, then you should begin to see a real gap between the conversion rates of large Ecommerce sites as compared to smaller one’s.

Maybe Google should lower their starting price tag a bit so more small businesses can take advantage, even if only for a limited time. Until they decide to either bring the price down or allow Ecommerce owners to test the product on their website and see the benefit themselves, Google Commerce Search is going to be nothing more than a Ferrari in a parking lot filled with Civics.