We’ve all been wondering what Google was going to do with the Retail Media boom. After The Trade Desk (TTD) and Walmart Connect’s exclusivity came to an end, and Amazon’s offensive push into the market to gain wallet share, many of us were waiting to see what Google had up its sleeve.
A few months ago, Google released a Retail Commerce Beta on Display & Video 360 (DV360) that got a number of our own clients excited with the thought that they could overlay Costco audience data to their CTV buys. The news last week that Google was integrating Criteo’s supply into SA360 was the delightful surprise I quickly shared with my own team.
While retail media has quickly become one of the fastest-growing channels in digital, it hasn’t come without growing pains - hello fragmentation. Each network operates with its own rules, inventory, specs and measurement models. This inevitably leaves advertisers with the difficult task of stitching together insights and making sense of how retail fits into the broader customer journey.
Now, for your big box consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands, it’s a no brainer. However, the consumer goods market evolved to the growth coming more from your smaller direct to consumer (DTC) brands that become TikTok famous overnight… and those brands don’t have the same marketing budgets to spend with every retail media network out there.
It's why Google’s recent announcement that Criteo is the first on-site retail media supply partner in Search Ads 360 (SA360) is worth paying attention to. It’s not just another retail media integration. It signals a shift toward more connected strategies that link retail directly to performance-driven search. So the question is, why? Why Criteo? And why should you take note?
Why Criteo Matters
Criteo is an interesting first partner because it operates differently from most retail media networks. Many retail players keep their data and inventory locked within a walled garden, limiting how advertisers can reach and measure audiences. Criteo, by contrast, got its start on the open web and continues to position itself there.
By integrating with SA360, Criteo’s inventory becomes accessible to search marketers alongside their existing campaigns. This opens the door to reaching in-market shoppers at the very point they’re considering a purchase and doing so in a way that can be measured within a broader, cross-channel framework. Imagine taking Google in-market audiences and overlaying them on the open web.
For advertisers, that means campaigns aren’t just limited to impressions or clicks within the Google and Microsoft ecosystems within SA360. Instead, retail placements can now be woven into the customer journey from search through to sale.
Google’s Retail Media Strategy
What makes this move particularly notable is how it aligns with Google’s broader strategy for retail media. Within programmatic, namely DV360, we have commerce audiences. Criteo’s commerce grid is directly integrated into DV360. You also have the Retail Commerce Beta, which many are keen to gain access to. My original guess was that Retail Media would be more audience-focused with Google, but the integration of additional inventory makes sense in SA360.
Think about it, Programmatic is not necessarily looked at for the lower funnel. With Retail Media, you want to track sales. While others like TTD have done well in this space with the likes of Walmart Connect, Google’s claim to fame has originated in search. So, allowing Criteo’s inventory to be available via SA360 first is a smart move. The Criteo integration in SA360 is one part of a broader effort to connect retail across Google’s ad stack.
Seen together, these moves reflect a customer-journey lens. Google isn’t treating retail media as a silo. It’s connecting audiences and inventory in ways that help advertisers guide in-market shoppers across the funnel, meeting them when they’re scrolling, streaming, searching and shopping.
And this is where SA360 stands apart from Google Ads. While Google Ads offers reach and automation, SA360 is built for agencies and marketers who need to manage complexity across multiple engines, integrate retail media supply directly and measure performance holistically. The Criteo integration highlights how SA360 continues to evolve as the elevated hub for omnichannel campaign management.
Solving Fragmentation
One of the toughest challenges in retail media is fragmentation. Each network has its own buying mechanics, audience definitions and reporting capabilities. This makes it difficult to scale strategies or measure performance through a single source of truth.
With Google, you have an ecosystem through the Google Marketing Platform. This includes an ad server, a demand side platform, a search platform, analytics and cloud. Most clients who have SA360, also have Campaign Manager 360 (the ad server). Imagine with your search and retail media campaigns through one platform, and the power of all that floodlight data housed in the ad server. Those path to conversion reports will become an advantage to many. Google doesn’t want to treat retail media as an isolated channel, it wants its platforms to allow it to become part of an integrated plan; one that can be optimized and measured alongside other core media investments without always needing an MMM.
It’s not a complete solution to fragmentation yet, but it’s a meaningful step in the right direction.
What It Means for Marketers
For marketers, the Google–Criteo partnership unlocks:
- Extended reach: Access to retail placements within SA360, directly connected to search campaigns
- Smarter measurement: A more holistic way to tie retail media activity back to performance outcomes
- Progress toward simplicity: Early steps in reducing the complexity and fragmentation of retail media buying
As retail media spend continues to grow, advertisers need ways to connect the dots across the funnel. With Criteo as its first supply partner in SA360, Google is showing that it’s committed to building those bridges and helping brands meet customers wherever they are in the journey.
Interested in how retail media can enhance your search strategy? We can help. Connect with us to learn how you can get the most out of SA360 and beyond.
