Google Merchant Center Product Feed Specification

To start, let’s briefly explain what GMC (Google Merchant Center) is. To run product campaigns on the search network or use the product feed for other purposes (e.g., dynamic remarketing, which involves showing customers exactly the products they previously viewed in your store), you need to have an account created in Google Merchant Center. When creating an account, you configure it properly by reserving your store domain, providing company information, customer service contact details, and shipping cost information. The most crucial element is adding a correctly created product feed, which is processed by GMC.

The first processing of the product feed is relatively long and can take up to a few business days. Then, we integrate the Google Merchant Center service with Google Ads. If the entire process has been carried out correctly, we can use the product feed to generate a product campaign in Google Ads.

A product feed is a list of products containing mandatory and additional attributes. The use of each attribute and the frequency of data updates are subject to specific rules. Before generating a product feed, familiarize yourself with the rules for product ads found on the site: Google Merchant Center Product Data Specification. The most important information includes prohibited content that disqualifies a store from running campaigns, such as:

• Counterfeit products
• Dangerous products
• Products enabling dishonest behavior
• Inappropriate content (e.g., offensive, racist, promoting hatred, animal trade)
• Unacceptable content in product ads

Before creating the file, choose its format. The file can be created manually or generated dynamically in text (.txt) and XML (.xml) formats. For a small amount of data (e.g., creating a bestseller list), you can manually create the product feed in Google Sheets.

If you are working with Delante and want the product feed to be created manually, we will prepare a suitable template for you that can be edited. We can create more than one product feed and transform data in Google Merchant Center for better ad targeting.

When creating a product feed, you must include at least the mandatory attributes. Product attributes are a key element influencing the effectiveness of Google Ads campaigns. Below is a helpful list of mandatory attributes in the data file.

Basic Product Data:

• Identifier [id]
• Title [title] or Structured Title [structured_title]
• Description [description] or Structured Description [structured_description]
• Link [link]
• Image Link [image_link]

Price and Availability:

• Availability [availability]
• Availability Date [availability_date] – if the product is set to preorder
• Price [price]

Product Identifiers:

• Brand [brand] (for all new products except for movies, books, and music recordings)
• GTIN [gtin] (for all products with a known GTIN number to maximize offer effectiveness)
• MPN [mpn] (only for new products without a GTIN assigned by the manufacturer)

Detailed Product Description:

• Condition [condition] (if the product is used or refurbished)
• Adult [adult] (if the product contains adult content)
• Multipack [multipack] (for multipack products sold in Australia, Brazil, Czechia, France, Spain, Netherlands, Japan, Germany, United States, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Italy, as well as for free listings on Google, if a multipack has been created)
• Bundle [is_bundle] (for bundle products sold in Australia, Brazil, Czechia, France, Spain, Netherlands, Japan, Germany, United States, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Italy, as well as for free listings on Google, if a bundle containing the main product has been created)
• Certification [certification] (for products that require displaying specific certification information in product ads or free listings, e.g., due to local energy efficiency labeling regulations)
• Age Group [age_group] (for all apparel products intended for people in Brazil, France, Japan, Germany, United States, and United Kingdom, as well as for all products with an assigned age group and free listings for all products in the Clothing & Accessories category [identifier: 166])
• Color [color] (for all apparel products targeting Brazil, France, Japan, Germany, United States, and United Kingdom, as well as all products available in different colors and free listings for all products in the Clothing & Accessories category [identifier: 166])
• Gender [gender] (for all apparel products intended for people in Brazil, Japan, France, Germany, United States, and United Kingdom, as well as all products where the target audience gender is specified and free listings for all products in the Clothing & Accessories category [identifier: 166])
• Material [material] (if it plays a role in distinguishing products in a version set)
• Pattern [pattern] (if it plays a role in distinguishing products in a version set)
• Size [size] (required for all apparel products in the Clothing & Accessories > Clothing category [identifier: 1604] and Clothing & Accessories > Shoes category [identifier: 187] intended for people in Brazil, France, Japan, Germany, United States, United Kingdom, as well as for all products available in different sizes and free listings for all products in the Clothing & Accessories > Clothing category [identifier: 1604] and Clothing & Accessories > Shoes category [identifier: 187])
• Item Group Identifier [item_group_id] (required in countries like Brazil, France, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, as well as the United States, if the product has different versions and for free listings for all product versions)

Shipping:

• Shipping [shipping] (shipping costs are required for product ads and free listings in these countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Czechia, France, Spain, Netherlands, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Germany, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, United States, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Italy)

Tax:

• Tax [tax] (available only in the USA)

More details about attributes and full specifications can be found here.

After receiving the product feed or its URL, it is added to the Google Merchant Center service, where its download begins. The first download takes a bit longer, and the products and file are additionally verified. After loading the products, we get access to GMC diagnostics, where we can see which file attributes were added incorrectly. When adding a product feed, we can set up automatic file retrieval – an important element for e-commerce, where prices or other attributes change dynamically. We can set the file to download daily at a specific time.

We can always add additional data files containing extra data. For example, we can create the main data file automatically and add an additional manually created data file containing important information that we can transform using automatic rules. The product feed can be submitted in Excel or Google Sheets format. Data can be entered manually.

If you use platforms like BigCommerce, Prestashop, Shopify, or Magento, you can connect the platform directly with the Google Merchant Center API, significantly speeding up the integration process.

After adding the product feed, we will see the processing status of our products on the diagnostics timeline. Available statuses are:

• Rejected (products are not displayed)
• Pending (product is being processed)
• Expiring (product attributes or the entire file need to be updated)
• Active (product is displayed correctly)

source: Google Merchant Center Panel

Google Merchant Center offers specialists many possibilities for modifying the product feed. We can fix some errors in the product feed or optimize it to achieve better campaign results. A key element used in optimizing product campaigns is making changes to the file through the use of advanced automatic rules.

Operations We Can Use on Data Sources:

• Set to – Used to fill in an empty attribute, overwrite its value, or create a custom combination.
• Extract – Used to complete attributes with terms from the data file.
• Take latest – Used to complete an attribute with the latest value from the data file.

Operations We Can Use for Transformation Rules:

• Find and replace – Finds specific values and replaces them with new ones. This operation allows optimizing the product feed for specific keywords.
• Append – Adds values after the attribute name. This way, you can create more comprehensive attributes by adding, for example, additional keywords.
• Prepend – Adds values before the attribute name. The purpose of such actions can be similar to the “append” operation and involve optimizing the file for specific keywords.
• Split and choose – Allows selecting at least one element from a list of elements separated by commas, arrows, or another list.
• Clear – Allows removing the value of any attribute.

More about rules and their configuration in Google Merchant Center can be read here.

What we can achieve by using automatic rules for the product feed?

• Fixing errors in the file,
• Creating custom labels,
• Editing fields in the product feed,
• Optimizing product display for specific keywords.

Before publishing a rule, we should test it. We will get a preview of sample products from our product feed before and after transformations. If the changes are made correctly, we can publish them.

Proper implementation of the product feed is a crucial element of effective product campaigns. By creating custom rules, we can modify attributes or create new ones that help us better optimize the campaign. Changes in the GMC service, allowing the creation of additional product feeds, provide even greater opportunities for modifying and optimizing the feed. It is also important to remember that product feeds can be created solely for advertising network purposes.