CSS partner
CSS partner: your Google-approved route to ~20% lower Shopping click prices
Why pay Google a margin you do not need to?
You are probably overpaying for your Google Shopping clicks. Not because your bidding is wrong, but because you are not running through an approved CSS partner. The CSS Partner is a Google-approved Comparison Shopping Service. Same feed, same campaigns, same ads, just ~20% lower cost-per-click from day one.
Every time a Shopping ad runs through Google's own Comparison Shopping Service, a margin is added on top of your click price before your bid even enters the auction. That is not a flaw in your setup. It is simply how running direct through Google works.
Since 2017, every webshop in Europe has had the right to choose an independent, approved CSS partner instead. This changes nothing about your ads. They appear in the same positions, look identical to shoppers, and send traffic straight to your shop as usual. The only thing that changes is that Google's margin disappears, and your effective click price drops by up to 20%.
The CSS Partner is that route. We are Google-approved, we do not touch your campaigns, and you are live within 24 hours.
What is a CSS partner?
In short: every Shopping ad on Google must be formally submitted by a Comparison Shopping Service. By default, that is Google itself. But since the European Commission's 2017 ruling, you can choose an independent, approved CSS partner instead, and that is exactly what The CSS Partner is.
A CSS switch is not a campaign change. It is a setting at the account level in your Google Merchant Center. Your Google Ads campaigns, product feed, and performance history are untouched.
Want the full deep dive, including the mechanics behind the EU ruling and why the saving is real? Read our complete guide: What is a CSS partner? →
How it works: same setup, lower click price
A CSS switch with us is built to be about the lowest-risk change you will make to your Google Ads account this year. Three steps:
You sign up and grant Merchant Center access
You create an account with The CSS Partner and approve an access request in your Google Merchant Center. It takes under five minutes and requires no changes to your Google Ads account. You retain full ownership.
We handle the technical setup
We connect your Merchant Center to The CSS Partner as your CSS and verify the configuration. Your campaigns, feed, and bid strategies stay untouched. You do not need to do anything in Google Ads.
You are live within 24 hours
Your Shopping ads now run through The CSS Partner. You can verify it yourself: search Google Shopping and you will see “By The CSS Partner” in the small grey provider line beneath the ad. The lower click price is active immediately, no warm-up period, no reset of machine learning.
Pricing: 20 €/month per shop, every 5th shop free
No percentage of your ad spend. No hidden fees. No setup cost. Here is what it looks like:
| Number of shops | Paid shops | Per month (€) | Per year (€) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 20 € | 200 € |
| 5 | 4 | 80 € | 800 € |
| 10 | 8 | 160 € | 1.600 € |
| 15 | 12 | 240 € | 2.400 € |
| 20 | 16 | 320 € | 3.200 € |
| 20+ | Contact us | Contact us |
How the discount works: every 5th shop is free. Run 5 shops, you pay for 4. Run 10, you pay for 8. The price includes all 21 European CSS countries, no matter how many markets you sell into. No per-country fees.
Pay annually instead of monthly and you get 2 months free (12 months of coverage for 10 months of payment).
Running more than 20 shops, or need white-label for your agency portfolio? Contact us for a tailored quote →
What makes The CSS Partner different from other CSS providers
The technical CSS saving is identical no matter which CSS partner you choose. Google's regulation guarantees that. What differs between providers is everything around it.
1. We speak your language, in your country. The CSS Partner is localised into 29 languages with dedicated country pages. See what it means for your webshop. We do not think you should have to read a pricing page in a foreign language to save money on your own ads.
2. The price is flat and transparent. 20 €/month per shop. No percentage of your ad spend. No hidden fees. Every 5th shop is free, and you can see the full pricing model on this page without requesting a quote.
3. No lock-in. Cancel any time. If we are not delivering value, you should be able to move on without friction.
4. Direct contact with a person who built it himself. The CSS Partner was built by Magnus, who has run a digital marketing agency for 5 years and was missing exactly this product. Support is not a ticket queue in a different timezone. You write, and you get a reply from someone who actually understands Google Shopping.
CSS providers differ on pricing model, terms, and language. Our choice is a flat price per shop with every 5th free, no lock-in, a 60-day guarantee, and the page in your language. You can see the whole model here without requesting a quote.
Too good to be true? Here is how you know it is real
The regulation that makes the saving real. To understand why the CSS saving exists at all, you need to go back to 27 June 2017. That is the day the European Commission concluded a multi-year investigation into Google with a fine of EUR 2.42 billion (case AT.39740), at the time the largest competition fine in EU history.
The charge: Google had abused its dominance in the search market to give its own price comparison service an unfair advantage. As part of the remedy, Google was required to open the Shopping auction to third-party CSSs on fully equal terms. The Court of Justice of the EU upheld the ruling in 2024.
60-day guarantee. We back the saving with a 60-day guarantee. If you do not see a lower effective click price within the first 60 days, you get your money back. We can offer that guarantee because the mechanism behind the saving is regulated by the EU, not a claim we invented.
Who is behind The CSS Partner. The CSS Partner was built by Magnus, who has run a digital marketing agency for 5 years and works out of Aarhus, Denmark. The product exists because it was what he was missing himself: a transparent, Google-approved CSS with no lock-in and no hidden percentage fees. You can verify our approval yourself: search Google Shopping for a shop running through us and you will see “By The CSS Partner” in the provider line. That is not a claim. It is a public, verifiable fact in Google Merchant Center.
