The CSS Partner: frequently asked questions

A Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) is a company authorised to submit your product listings into the Google Shopping auction on your behalf. When your ads run through an authorised CSS instead of directly through Google, you typically pay around 20% less per click. The ads themselves look identical to shoppers. The CSS Partner is one such authorised CSS, operated by Gezar in Aarhus, Denmark.

Your cost-per-click, not your product prices. Your customers see the same prices, the same images and the same products. You rank in the same positions. The only thing that drops is what you pay Google per click. The 20% is a structural market average; most shops see 15 to 25% depending on their campaigns, bids and category.

Not because Google chose to offer it. On 27 June 2017 the European Commission fined Google 2.42 billion EUR (case AT.39740) for giving its own Shopping service an unfair advantage over rival comparison services. The remedy required Google to open the Shopping auction to authorised CSS providers on equal terms. When your bid enters through an authorised CSS, Google does not take the margin it takes on the direct track. That margin is roughly where the 20% goes.

It is settled EU law, not a loophole. Running through an authorised CSS is exactly the mechanism the EU required Google to provide under case AT.39740. It has been in force since 2017, was upheld by the Court of Justice of the EU in 2024, and is in active operation across Europe. Thousands of European webshops run through authorised CSS providers. The only surprising part is that most shops have never heard of it, partly because Google does not actively promote third-party CSS to merchants.

No. Same placement, same products, same images, same titles, same prices. The only visible change is a small grey line beneath each ad that shows your CSS provider instead of Google. Most shoppers never notice it.

No. CSS selection is a routing decision in the auction, not a quality signal, so your placements and ranking are unaffected. Your Google Ads account, campaign structure, bids, budgets, targeting, history and Quality Scores all stay exactly where they are. There is no relearning phase, because the switch happens at the Merchant Center level, below your campaigns.

No on both. We connect at the Merchant Center level only, which determines which CSS your Shopping ads run through. We do not see or touch your Google Ads account, your bids, your budgets or your campaign settings. You are not changing who manages your ads either, so you can use a CSS while managing your own ads, while working with any agency, or alongside any other tool.

No. Running through an authorised CSS is a standard, Google-approved method used by thousands of European shops. It operates inside Google's own CSS programme. There is nothing irregular about it from Google's perspective.

20 € per month. That covers every live CSS country on one subscription. No setup fee, no per-country fee, no volume tiers, no overage charges, no contract. All prices are shown ex VAT; local VAT applies according to your country.

Spend and countries do not change the price: 20 € per month per shop covers any Shopping spend level and every live CSS country, with no percentage-of-spend fees and no per-country add-ons. If one shop sells in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark at once, it still pays 20 € per month, not 20 € per country. Number of shops does change the price: there is one subscription per shop (per Merchant Center account). Every 5th shop is free (10 shops pay for 8), and over 20 shops: contact us for pricing. Get in touch before signing up if you want us to confirm the configuration for your specific setup.

There is no time-limited free trial. In practice your saving in month one will exceed the subscription cost at almost any meaningful Shopping spend, and you can cancel any time with no notice period beyond the current billing month. If you want to work through your own numbers first, talk to us before you sign up.

Monthly billing is the default. If you prefer annual invoicing, get in touch and we can arrange it.

Within 24 hours of you approving the Merchant Center connection. Most shops are live within a few hours. Your campaigns keep running throughout, with no downtime and no pause.

No. Your Shopping campaigns run continuously throughout the switch. The change happens at the infrastructure layer below your campaigns, so the algorithm has nothing to relearn.

Yes, you can switch back any time, and no, you lose nothing. There is no contract and no lock-in. You disconnect the CSS in your Merchant Center and your Shopping ads return to the direct Google track at the standard cost-per-click. The same one-step process works in reverse. Your account, campaigns, history and Quality Scores stay yours throughout, because they never moved in the first place.

No problem. You do not need to involve your agency in the switch, since the CSS connection sits at the Merchant Center level, separate from whoever manages your campaigns. Your agency may want to be aware so they can watch the CPC change in your account data.

Yes. We are an authorised CSS operating under Google's CSS programme, and our status is active and verified. You can confirm it yourself: search Google Shopping in one of our active markets and you will see By TheCSSPartner in the grey provider line beneath our merchants' ads.

You can go live today in every European country where Google CSS is available, all on one 20 €/month subscription. Google is also expanding Shopping into new EMEA markets across 2026 in two waves, before Back to School 2026 and before the 2026 holiday season. Exact dates have not been published by Google. Check the page for your specific country for its current status, and register your interest for a launching market so we can connect you as soon as it goes live.

The saving is permanent for as long as Google operates Shopping in Europe. The equal-access rule is established EU law, upheld in 2024, and the programme exists by EU regulatory order, so Google cannot unilaterally remove it. Programme terms can evolve, but the structural requirement to offer CSS access on equal terms has been upheld through legal challenge and is in active operation across Europe. Your ~20% lower CPC is simply the normal cost of running Shopping ads through an authorised CSS, not a limited-time offer.

No. A Google Partner agency manages your Google Ads campaigns. A CSS is a separate programme that decides how your Shopping bids enter the auction. They are different things, and you can use one, both, or neither.