Source : Merchant Center
We use the term item to describe a single product listing. If you are using Text or Tab delimited format, an item is equivalent to one line in your data feed. Items are similar to products, but we assume that products can occur in multiple variations. These variations - product variants - differ by color, material, pattern, or size. We use item to refer to a single variation of a product.
We also accept feeds formatted according to the Yandex specifications for data feeds targeting Russia.
Important Note:
- If you are using a delimited format, you can use the attribute names in either English or the language of your target country. Make sure that the attribute names (e.g., 'condition') and values (e.g., 'new') are always in the same language.
- If you are using XML or API, you must use English attribute names shown within the brackets.
- If you are using XML or API, you must use an underscore in place for a space within an attribute name (e.g., "image_link" instead of "image link".) A space within an attribute value is allowed (e.g., "in stock").
Basic Product Information
The following attributes contain basic information about your items.id [id] - An identifier of the item
When to include: Required for all items.
Type | Alphanumeric characters |
Text/Tab delimited | tddy123uk |
XML | <g:id>tddy123uk</g:id> |
- Once an item is submitted, the id must not change when you update your data feed or be used for a different product at a later point in time.
- For Switzerland only: If your website is in multiple languages, submit one feed per language. You may re-use the same id for the same item in each version of the feed for each language.
When to include: Required for all items.
Type | Text. Should not be longer than 70 characters |
Text/Tab delimited | Mens Pique Polo Shirt |
XML | <title>Mens Pique Polo Shirt</title> |
- Follow our Editorial guidelines closely. For example, do not include any promotional text such as "Free shipping", and do not use BLOCK CAPITALS.
- For variant products, you are required to include the common title of the variant items. For example if “Mens Pique Polo Shirt” is available in red and blue colors, you can have one of the following titles:
- Mens Pique Polo Shirt (Can be used for both variants)
- Mens Pique Polo Shirt - Red (For the red shirt)
- Mens Pique Polo Shirt - Blue (For the blue shirt)
- For mobile devices bundled with service contracts, you may include a price value of 0.00 USD for your items. The items must be submitted with the ‘google product taxonomy’ value of ‘Electronics > Communications > Telephony > Mobile Phones’ for phones or 'Electronics > Computers > Tablet Computers' for tablets and include the phrase “with contract” (or equivalent language) in the ‘title’.
- For mobile phones or tablets with payments plans in the US, submit the price of the downpayment as your ‘price’. The ‘title’ must include the phrase “with payment plan” (or equivalent language). For feeds targeting Brazil, please use the ‘installment’ attribute to submit mobile devices or tablets with payment plans. Phones or tablets with payment plans are not allowed in other target countries.
We recommend that you submit around 500 to 1,000 characters, but you can submit up to 10,000 characters. Descriptions should follow standard grammar rules and end with a punctuation mark.
When to include: Required for all items.
Type | Text |
Text/Tab delimited | Solid red, queen-sized bed sheets made from 100% woven polyester 300 thread count fabric. Set includes one fitted sheet, one flat sheet, and two standard pillowcases. Machine washable; extra deep fitted pockets. |
XML | <description>Solid red, queen-sized bed sheets made from 100% woven polyester 300 thread count fabric. Set includes one fitted sheet, one flat sheet, and two standard pillowcases. Machine washable; extra deep fitted pockets.</description> |
- Make sure to follow our Editorial guidelines closely. For example, do not include any promotional text such as "Free shipping", do not use BLOCK CAPITALS, and do not include a description of your brand or company.
- Additionally, the following information should not be included in descriptions:
- Links to your store or other websites
- Billing, payment, or sales information
- References to internal categorization systems, e.g. "Toys & Games > Toys > Baby Dolls"
- Comparisons to other products beyond the item you’re selling, e.g. “even better/faster/larger than X”
- Details about other products, accessories, or similar items available
Any category from Google’s product taxonomy must include the full path. For example, 'Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Jeans' is an acceptable value, but 'Jeans' is not.
When to include: For all target countries except Canada, India, and Russia, ‘google product category’ is required for all items that fall within the 'Apparel & Accessories', 'Media', and 'Software' categories. If your products do not fall into one of those categories - or if your feed targets Canada, India, or Russia - this attribute is recommended but not required.
Type | Predefined values from Google's product taxonomy |
Text/Tab delimited | Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Dresses |
XML | <g:google_product_category>Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Dresses</g:google_product_category> |
- 'Apparel & Accessories > Clothing'
- 'Apparel & Accessories > Shoes'
- 'Apparel & Accessories > Clothing Accessories > Sunglasses'
- 'Apparel & Accessories > Handbags, Wallets & Cases > Handbags'
- 'Apparel & Accessories > Jewelry > Watches'
- 'Media > Books'
- 'Media > DVDs & Movies'
- 'Media > Music'
- Software > Video Game Software' (Note: this category includes all computer games)
Category for mobile devices or tables with a price of 0.00 USD: For mobile devices bundled with service contracts, you may include a price value of 0.00 USD for your items. The items must be submitted with the ‘google product taxonomy’ value of ‘Electronics > Communications > Telephony > Mobile Phones’ for phones or 'Electronics > Computers > Tablet Computers' for tablets and include the phrase “with contact” (or equivalent language) in the ‘title’.
Examples of ‘google product category’ submissions:
Leggings fall under the 'Apparel & Accessories > Clothing' category specified above. When submitting leggings:
- Acceptable categories:
- 'Apparel & Accessories > Clothing'
- 'Apparel & Accessories > Clothing' > Pants'
- 'Apparel & Accessories > Clothing' > Pants > Leggings'
- Invalid categories
- 'Apparel & Accessories'
- Failing to provide any 'google product category'
- Acceptable categories:
- 'Apparel & Accessories'
- 'Apparel & Accessories > Jewelry
- 'Apparel & Accessories'> Jewelry > Rings'
- Invalid categories:
- Failing to provide any 'google product category'
When to include: Strongly recommended for all items if you have a categorization for your items.
Type | Text. You may include multiple product types if it's appropriate for your item. Separate by a comma for tab-delimited; Include multiple <product_type> attributes for XML. |
Text/Tab delimited | Home & Garden > Kitchen & Dining > Appliances > Refrigerators |
XML | <g:product_type>Home & Garden > Kitchen & Dining > Appliances > Refrigerators</g:product_type> |
The URL contained in this attribute is a direct link to your product page. In addition to the 'link' attribute, you may also specify an 'adwords redirect' attribute for tracking purposes. If you specify the 'adwords redirect' attribute, the user is sent to the URL specified in the 'adwords redirect' attribute. This URL must redirect to the same website as the one specified in the 'link' attribute. If you don’t specify the 'adwords redirect' attribute, the user is directly sent to the URL specified in the 'link' attribute
When to include: Required for all items.
Type | URL (this must include the http:// portion) |
Text/Tab delimited | http://www.example.com/asp/sp.asp?cat=12&id=1030 |
XML | <link>http://www.example.com/asp/sp.asp?cat=12&id=1030</link> |
- Read our policies carefully. All your URLs must link directly to webpages about your products without pop ups. We don't allow landing pages requiring sign ups, passwords, or direct links to files/email addresses.
- If you're performing maintenance on your site that affects your landing pages, you're required to remove your items from Google Shopping during that time.
- If multiple products are on the same page, it has to be straightforward for the user to find the right product. We recommend only one product per page.
- For variations of the same product, we recommend you submit URLs that pre-select the variant which the user clicked on in Google Shopping.
- The URL must not redirect or forward to a location external to your site.
- The URL must start with 'http://' or 'https://' and use the domain name you verified in Google Webmaster Tools and in the Settings of your Merchant Center account.
- Any symbols used must be replaced by URL encoded entities (e.g. comma = %2C).
If you have multiple different images of the item, submit the main image using this attribute, and include all other images in the 'additional image link' attribute.
Image size:
- Submit the largest, full-size image you have for the product, up to 4MB file size.
- We recommend images at least 800 pixels in height and width.
- Do not scale up images or submit thumbnails.
- For apparel products we require images of at least 250 x 250 pixels.
Type | URL. (Must start with 'http://' or 'https://'.) |
Text/Tab delimited | http://www.example.com/image1.jpg |
XML | <g:image_link>http://www.example.com/image1.jpg</g:image_link> |
- If you have no image of the item, you cannot submit the item.
- For products that fall under “Apparel & Accessories” and all corresponding sub-categories in feeds targeting the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP: If you are submitting product variants that differ in ‘‘color’, or ‘pattern’, or ‘material’, we require you to submit specific images corresponding to each of these variants. If you do not have the correct image for the variation of the product, you may not submit that variant. We recommend specific images for ‘size’ variants too. However, if these are not available you may submit the same image URL for items that differ in ‘size’.
- For all other countries and categories: If you cannot provide the appropriate images to submit your items as variants, you may list your variant products as a single item with multiple values for the variant attributes and provide the available image.
- The image must display the product. Do not submit a placeholder such as "No image", logo of the brand or logo of your store.
- Images of products must not contain logos or other promotions within the image.
- The main image of a multipack must display a single unit of the product.
- The accepted image formats are non-animated GIF (.gif), JPEG (.jpg/.jpeg), PNG (.png), BMP (.bmp), and TIFF (.tif/.tiff) and the file extensions for these images should correspond to their format.
- The accepted URL protocols are ‘http’ and ‘https’. Any symbols used within the image URL must be replaced by URL encoded entities (e.g. comma = %2C).
You can include up to 10 additional images per item by including the attribute multiple times. For tab-delimited, separate each URL by a comma. For XML, include each URL as a separate <additional_image_link> attribute.
When to include: For all items with multiple images.
Type | URL (Must include the http:// portion.) |
Text/Tab delimited | http://www.example.com/image1.jpg |
XML | <g:additional_image_link>http://www.example.com/image1.jpg</g:additional_image_link> |
- The same rules as for image link apply.
- 'new': The product is brand-new and has never been used. It's in its original packaging which has not been opened.
- 'refurbished': The product has been restored to working order. This includes, for example, remanufactured printer cartridges.
- 'used': If the two previous values don't apply. For example, if the product has been used before or the original packaging has been opened or is missing.
Type | Three predefined values accepted:
|
Text/Tab delimited | used |
XML | <g:condition>used</g:condition> |
- If you are submitting the attribute names in English, you must provide the attribute values in English as well.
Availability & Price
The attributes in this section are required in order to specify the availability and prices of your items. The availability and prices of your items can change quite frequently, and you need to make sure Google is notified of these changes as they happen. You can find advice on providing the most up-to-date or fresh data here.We regularly check these attributes, and if the values provided in these attributes are found to be different from the information presented on your website, we will remove all your items from Google Shopping. Please see our policies for more details.
availability [availability] - Availability status of the item
- 'in stock': Include this value if you are certain that it will ship (or be in-transit to the customer) in 3 business days or less. For example, if you have the item available in your warehouse.
- 'available for order': Include this value if it will take 4 or more business days to ship it to the customer. For example, if you don’t have it in your warehouse at the moment, but are sure that it will arrive in the next few days. For unreleased products, use the value 'preorder'
- 'out of stock': You’re currently not accepting orders for this product. (Important tip: When your products are out of stock on your website, don't remove them from your data feed. Provide this value instead).
- 'preorder': You are taking orders for this product, but it’s not yet been released.
Type | Four predefined values accepted:
|
Text/Tab delimited | in stock |
XML | <g:availability>in stock</g:availability> |
- You need to clearly indicate the availability of an item on the item's landing page by either explicitly noting the status (such that it's clear which of the above values describe the availability of the item), or mention how many days it takes until the item ships.
- Items that are no longer sold have to be removed from the feed entirely.
- If you are submitting the attribute names in English, you must provide the attribute values in English as well.
When to include: Required for all items.
Type | Number |
Text/Tab delimited | 15.00 USD |
XML | <g:price>15.00 USD</g:price> |
- For the US, don't include tax in the price. For all other countries except Canada and India, value added tax (VAT) has to be included in the price.
- The price must include a currency according to ISO 4217 Standard.
- Make sure to read our policies in detail. Only items with fixed prices are allowed in Google Shopping. Items with variable prices, such as auctions, and prices that require a membership in a club are not allowed.
- For items sold in bulk quantities, the price for the lowest purchasable number of items must be provided (not the per unit price) and the same price has to be straightforward to find on the landing page.
- For products on sale, we recommend including the 'sale price' attribute and submit the regular price (before sale) in the 'price' attribute. In this case, the sale price (instead of the regular price) must be straightforward to find on the page.
- You must not include a price value of 0.00 USD for your items. Items with zero prices may not appear in the search results (Note: The only exception is mobile devices bundled with service plans as detailed below).
- For mobile devices bundled with service contracts, you may include a price value of 0.00 USD for your items. The items must be submitted with the ‘google product taxonomy’ value of ‘Electronics > Communications > Telephony > Mobile Phones’ for phones and 'Electronics > Computers > Tablet Computers' for tablets and include the phrase “with contract” (or equivalent language) in the ‘title’.
- For mobile phones or tablets with payments plans in the US, submit the price of the downpayment as your ‘price’. The ‘title’ must include the phrase “with payment plan” (or equivalent language). For feeds targeting Brazil, please use the ‘installment’ attribute to submit mobile devices or tablets with payment plans. Phones or tablets with payment plans are not allowed in other target countries.
When to include: Recommended for items on sale. If your item is on sale and you don’t include this attribute, the sale price must be updated as the value in the 'price' attribute.
Format | Number |
Text/Tab delimited | 15.00 USD |
XML | <g:sale_price>15.00 USD</g:sale_price> |
- You must still include the 'price' attribute in your feed, which must reflect the non-sale price you have previously sold the item for.
- The price must include a currency.
- Submitted sale prices must exactly match the price displayed on your website. Both prices must be displayed on the landing page (the regular price and the sale price), but the sale price must be most prominent.
- You must not include a price value of 0.00 USD for your items. Items with zero prices may not appear in the search results.
When to include: Recommended for items which use the 'sale price' attribute.
Format | Start and end dates separated by a forward slash (/). The start is specified by the format (YYYY-MM-DD), followed by the letter ‘T’, the time of the day when the sale starts, followed by an expression of the timezone for the sale. The end date should be in the same format. |
Text/Tab delimited | 2011-03-01T13:00-0800/2011-03-11T15:30-0800 |
XML | <g:sale_price_effective_date>2011-03-01T13:00-0800/2011-03-11T15:30-0800</g:sale_price_effective_date> |
Unique Product Identifiers
Unique product identifiers are product codes or other identifying values associated with an individual product:- Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) submitted through the ‘gtin’ attribute. GTINs include UPC, EAN (in Europe), JAN (in Japan), and ISBN;
- Manufacturer Part Number (MPN) submitted through the 'mpn' attribute; and
- The manufacturer's brand name in the 'brand' attribute.
Custom goods are one-of-a-kind items for which no unique product identifiers exist, like vintage goods, collectibles, art, perishables, books published before 1970, and other special items.
Learn more about unique product identifiers.
Unique Product Identifier Rules
- Apparel categories: 'brand' is required. Additionally, for the categories listed below, you must submit at least 1 out of 'gtin' or 'mpn’:
- 'Apparel & Accessories > Shoes'
- 'Apparel & Accessories > Clothing Accesories > Sunglasses'
- 'Apparel & Accessories > Handbags, Wallets & Cases > Handbags'
- 'Apparel & Accessories > Jewelry > Watches'
- Media and software categories: 'gtin' is required
- All other categories: at least 2 of the following 3 identifiers are required: ‘brand’, ‘gtin’, and ‘mpn’.
- Exception: in categories where unique product identifiers are required but no such identifier exists for an item (e.g. custom goods), submit 'identifier exists' with a value of FALSE.
brand [brand] - Brand of the item
Type | Text |
Text/Tab delimited | Acme |
XML | <g:brand>Acme</g:brand> |
- You must not provide your store name as the brand unless you manufacture the product.
- UPC (in North America): 12-digit number such as 3234567890126
- EAN (in Europe): 13-digit number such as 3001234567892
- JAN (in Japan): 8 or 13-digit number such as 49123456 or 4901234567894
- ISBN (for books): 10 or 13-digit number such as 0451524233. If you have both, only include 13-digit number.
Type | 8-, 12-, or 13-digit number (UPC, EAN, JAN, or ISBN) |
Text/Tab delimited | 3234567890126 |
XML | <g:gtin>3234567890126</g:gtin> |
When to include: Required according to the Unique Product Identifier Rules for all target countries except for Canada, India, and Russia. This attribute is recommended for Canada, India, and Russia.
Type | Alphanumeric characters |
Text/Tab delimited | GO12345OOGLE |
XML | <g:mpn>GO1234568OOGLE</g:mpn> |
- MPNs are assigned by a manufacturer. A merchant-assigned identifier is not an appropriate value for this attribute, except in cases where the seller is also the manufacturer of the item.
- MPNs should typically be specific to a single unique product. For example, different colors of a product should have different MPNs.
When to include: Required according to the Unique Product Identifier Rules for all target countries except for Canada, India, and Russia. This attribute is recommended for Canada, India, and Russia.
Type | Boolean: TRUE or FALSE |
Text/Tab delimited | FALSE |
XML | <g:identifier_exists>FALSE</g:identifier_exists> |
Important:
- When the attribute is not specified, the default value is TRUE.
Examples of unique product identifier submissions:
Books- Rare old books: submit ‘identifier exists’ with a value of FALSE.
- New books (published after 1970): provide ISBN in the ‘gtin’ attribute.
- Hand made goods: submit ‘identifier exists’ with a value of FALSE.
- Antique goods: submit ‘identifier exists’ with a value of FALSE.
- Mass produced clothing: provide ‘brand’.
- Custom clothing: submit ‘identifier exists’ with a value of FALSE.
- Manufacturer-defined multipack: follow the Unique Product Identifier Rules as described above. This multipack should be treated as a single item.
- Merchant-defined multipack: follow the Unique Product Identifier Rules as described above for the individual base item in the multipack.
- A manufacturer-defined bundle (e.g., a camera body with a lens): follow the Unique Product Identifier Rules as described above. This bundle should be treated as a single item.
- A merchant-defined bundle (e.g., a custom bundle of camera, lens, and case): submit ‘identifier exists’ with a value of FALSE for these items and do not provide unique product identifiers, even if the bundle contains some individual items that have unique product identifiers.
Apparel Products
Apparel includes all products that fall under 'Apparel & Accessories' (including all sub-categories) in Google’s product taxonomy.For feeds targeting the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP:: The following attributes in this section are required across all products in the 'Apparel & Accessories' product category (including all subcategories):
- gender
- age group
- color
For all other countries: While the apparel attributes listed here are not currently required for countries outside the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP, they may become required in the future. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you include all the relevant attributes where possible.
gender [gender] - Gender of the item
- Male
- Female
- Unisex
Format | There are only three values accepted:
|
Text/Tab delimited | male |
XML | <g:gender>male</g:gender> |
- If you are submitting the attribute names in English, you must provide the attribute values in English as well.
- This attribute is required for items in the ‘apparel and accessories’ category targeting the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP. However, this attribute is only recommended for ‘pinback buttons’, ‘tie clips’, ‘wristbands’, ‘shoe covers’, ‘shoe laces’, ‘spurs’, ‘watch bands’ within the ‘apparel and accessories’ category.
- Adult
- Kids
Format | There are only two values accepted:
|
Text/Tab delimited | adult |
XML | <g:age_group>adult</g:age_group> |
- If you are submitting the attribute names in English, you must provide the attribute values in English as well.
- This attribute is required for items in the ‘apparel and accessories’ category targeting the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP. However, this attribute is only recommended for ‘pinback buttons’, ‘tie clips’, ‘wristbands’, ‘shoe covers’, ‘shoe laces’, ‘spurs’, ‘watch bands’ within the ‘apparel and accessories’ category.
- If an item is not clearly just for ‘kids, it should be declared as ‘adult’, as only one value may be submitted per item.
This defines the dominant color(s) for an item. When a single item has multiple colors, you can submit up to two additional values as accent colors:
- Combine the colors with ‘/’ in order of prominence (dominant color first, then at most two accent colors). For example, a black shoe with green accents should have a color value of 'Black / Green'. In the case of non-deformable goods in Apparel like jewelry or wooden accessories where finishes or materials are equivalent to color, the finish or material name can be submitted in the color attribute (e.g., 'Mahogany' vs. 'Stainless Steel' vs. 'Rose Gold').
- Limit the number of colors submitted to three values.
- If you're using XML, you must represent the '/' with /
Type | Text |
Text/Tab delimited | Black |
XML | <g:color>Black</g:color> |
- Color values that contain numbers (e.g., '0 2 4 6 8')
- Color values that contain non-alphanumeric characters (e.g., '
#fff000
') - Single letter color values (e.g., 'G') in Latin-based languages. Single letter color values in Chinese-Japanese-Korean languages (e.g., '红') are acceptable.
- Color values that reference the product or product image (e.g., 'see image')
- Descriptive values that are not actually valid color names (e.g. multicolor, various, variety, see image, N/A)
- Long color values exceeding 40 characters
- Long color values that are aggregates of several other colors (e.g.,
RedPinkBlue
). Instead:- If you are trying to indicate multiple colors for a single item (not product variants), specify a primary color, optionally followed by at most two secondary colors, separated by a '/'. Here replace
RedPinkBlue
withRed/Pink/Blue
- If you are trying to indicate multiple colors for multiple similar items (product variants), submit these as separate products each with the same item group ID and a different color value.
- If you are trying to indicate multiple colors for a single item (not product variants), specify a primary color, optionally followed by at most two secondary colors, separated by a '/'. Here replace
- If you submit a color value that violates the syntactic rules above, we may reject the entire item at the time of feed submission.
- We regularly verify the correctness of the attributes you submit, including color. If the values provided are found to be incorrect, we may remove all of your items from Google Shopping.
- This attribute is required for all items in the ‘Apparel & Accessories’ category targeting the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP.
- For apparel variants submitted to the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP: Each different color or color combination must be submitted as its own item, in conjunction with the 'item group id'. Visit submitting apparel products for more details.
- Use consistent names of colors across variants of the same product, as well as across multiple products of the same category.
- The values you provide may be displayed to users, so provide values that they will be able to understand.
This indicates the size of a product. You may any provide values which are appropriate to your items. Examples for sizing values can be found in this article.
When to include: Required for all apparel items in the 'clothing' and 'shoes' product categories in feeds that target the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP. Recommended for other countries and product categories (might become required in the future).
Type | Text |
Text/Tab delimited | XL |
XML | <g:size>XL</g:size> |
- This attribute is required for ‘clothing’ and ‘shoes’ sub-categories within the ‘apparel and accessories’ category targeting the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP.
- For apparel variants submitted to the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP: Each different size or size combination must be submitted as its own item, in conjunction with the 'item group id'. Visit submitting apparel products for more details.
- If sizes are complex, condense them into one value (e.g., “16/34 Tall” for neck size 16 inches, sleeve length 34 inches, and “Tall” fit).
- Use consistent size values across variants of the same product, as well as across multiple products of the same category. For example, within a group of t-shirts, use “S”, “M” , and “L” as sizes, not “S”, “Medium” , and “Lrg”.
- You may use the same ‘image’ URL value for size variants if specific images are not available but we recommend that the ‘link’ attribute leads to a page which specifies all the details about the variant item.
- The values you provide may be displayed to users, so provide values that they will be able to understand.
If you have apparel products which vary by ‘size’, ‘color’, ‘pattern’, or ‘material’, you must include all the required attributes outlined in this section, and also follow the approach outlined below.
Product Variants
We define variants as a group of identical products that only differ by the attributes ‘color’, ‘material’, ‘pattern’, or ‘size’.Variant-level information is required only for products in the “'Apparel & Accessories' category, and all related subcategories. Apparel variants are only required for feeds targeting the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP. For feeds targeting other countries, the attributes are recommended and may be required in the future.
If you don't include variant attributes in your feed, you shouldn't submit several variants of the same product as separate listings (ex: the same product in different colors, sizes). These items will be considered as duplicates which is against our Program Policies. You can find more details about submitting variant data below.
By submitting variant products, you will help shoppers find what they are looking for more easily by either enabling them to navigate between the different product variations on a details page or helping them discover additional colors, sizes, patterns etc. for a given product.
How to submit variant data
- Begin by submitting an item for each variant. For example, if you offer a t-shirt in 4 colors and 5 sizes, you need to submit 20 item variants.
- Include unique ‘id’ attribute values for each item variant, just like you would for all the other items in your feed.
- To identify these items as variants of one another, you are required to include the ‘item group id’ attribute (required for apparel items in the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP) and submit identical values of this attribute for each variant in a given group.
- Include variant attributes that indicate what makes each variant unique . You can use one or more of the following attributes: ‘color’, ‘material’, ‘pattern’, or ‘size’.
- You must only include single values for each of these variant attributes and the values of these attributes must be unique across all variants in the group. For example: If one item in a variant group includes the values “Blue” and “L” for the ‘color’ and ‘size’ attributes, all other items in the variant group must have values for ‘color’ and ‘size’, and each offer must have a different combination of values for those attributes.
- You only need to send us data for variant attributes if your product varies by that specific attribute. So, if your shirts are all made of cotton, there’s no need to send the “Material” attribute. However, if your shirts were available in three colors and three sizes, you would send us nine separate line items, varying by color and size.
- For apparel items, it is required that you provide a unique image of the specific variant if the item differs by ‘color’, ‘pattern’ or ‘material’. For variants that differ only by ‘size’, you may submit identical images. We recommend sending separate images for variant products in other categories as well. But at this time we will not enforce this as a requirement for any category other than Apparel & Accessories.
- We also recommend you submit URL links that pre-select the variant. For example, if a user selects the red dress in size 10, they should be taken to a landing page, where the “red” and “size 10” options are already selected. If this is not possible, you may include identical link attribute values for each of the variant items within a group.
For apparel products that vary by 'color', 'material', 'pattern', and/or 'size', it is required to include the ‘item group id’ for each variant, where each item has a unique combination of attribute values to describe each variant.
For all other countries and categories:
All variant attributes in this section are recommended for apparel- and non-apparel variants, but may become required in the future. However, If you choose to include ‘item group id’, it is required that you also include at least one of the following variant attributes: ‘color’, ‘size’, ‘pattern’, ‘material’ and following the corresponding variant guidelines.
Please see this article for more information on submitting variant apparel products.
Important: When naming your variant products, be sure to include the title common to all variant items. Visit the ‘title’ attribute for more details.
item group id [item_group_id] - Shared identifier for all variants of the same product
When to include:Required for variant apparel products in the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP. For other countries, if variant data is submitted with specific images then include the ‘item group ID’.
Type | Alphanumeric code |
Text/Tab delimited | AB12345 |
XML | <g:item_group_id>AB12345</g:item_group_id> |
- This attribute is required only for variant apparel products in the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP.
- The ‘Item group id’ attribute is different from the ‘ID’ attribute. An ‘Item group ID’ attribute will have common values for a group of variants whereas the ‘ID’ attribute should have unique values across a group of variants and for all other items, as well.
- The values provided for item group id must be unique between products, and only shared by items that are variants of the same product.
- If you send us an ‘item group id’ attribute, we will automatically look for variant attributes. Conversely, if you did send us ‘Item group id’, you should ensure you send us at least one variant attribute.
This defines the dominant color(s) for an item. When a single item has multiple colors, you can submit up to two additional values as accent colors:
- Combine the colors with ‘/’ in order of prominence (dominant color first, then at most two accent colors). For example, a black shoe with green accents should have a color value of 'Black / Green'. In the case of non-deformable goods in Apparel like jewelry or wooden accessories where finishes or materials are equivalent to color, the finish or material name can be submitted in the color attribute (e.g., 'Mahogany' vs. 'Stainless Steel' vs. 'Rose Gold').
- Limit the number of colors submitted to three values.
- If you're using XML, you must represent the '/' with /
Type | Text |
Text/Tab delimited | Black |
XML | <g:color>Black</g:color> |
- Color values that contain numbers (e.g., '0 2 4 6 8')
- Color values that contain non-alphanumeric characters (e.g., '
#fff000
') - Single letter color values (e.g., 'G') in Latin-based languages. Single letter color values in Chinese-Japanese-Korean languages (e.g., '红') are acceptable.
- Color values that reference the product or product image (e.g., 'see image')
- Descriptive values that are not actually valid color names (e.g. multicolor, various, variety, see image, N/A)
- Long color values exceeding 40 characters
- Long color values that are aggregates of several other colors (e.g.,
RedPinkBlue
). Instead:- If you are trying to indicate multiple colors for a single item (not product variants), specify a primary color, optionally followed by at most two secondary colors, separated by a '/'. Here replace
RedPinkBlue
withRed/Pink/Blue
- If you are trying to indicate multiple colors for multiple similar items (product variants), submit these as separate products each with the same item group ID and a different color value.
- If you are trying to indicate multiple colors for a single item (not product variants), specify a primary color, optionally followed by at most two secondary colors, separated by a '/'. Here replace
- If you submit a color value that violates the syntactic rules above, we may reject the entire item at the time of feed submission.
- We regularly verify the correctness of the attributes you submit, including color. If the values provided are found to be incorrect, we may remove all of your items from Google Shopping.
- This attribute is required for all items in the ‘Apparel & Accessories’ category targeting the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP.
- For apparel variants submitted to the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP: Each different color or color combination must be submitted as its own item, in conjunction with the 'item group id'. Visit submitting apparel products for more details.
- Use consistent names of colors across variants of the same product, as well as across multiple products of the same category.
- The values you provide may be displayed to users, so provide values that they will be able to understand.
When to include: Required for all apparel variants that differ by material for feeds that target the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP. Recommended for other countries and product categories (might become required in the future).
Type | Text |
Text/Tab delimited | Leather |
XML | <g:material>Leather</g:material> |
- For apparel variants submitted to the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP: Each item that differs in ‘material’ must be submitted as its own item, in conjunction with the 'item group id'.
- The values you provide may be displayed to users, so provide values that they will be able to understand.
As a rule of thumb, if a user can choose to select different patterns on the landing page of your product, include all variant items in the same item group. Otherwise, use separate item groups.
When to include: Required for all apparel variants that differ by pattern for feeds that target the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP. Recommended for other countries and product categories(might become required in the future).
Type | Text |
Text/Tab delimited | Striped |
XML | <g:pattern>Striped</g:pattern> |
- For apparel variants submitted to the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP: Each item that differs in ‘pattern’ must be submitted as its own item, in conjunction with the 'item group id'.
- The values you provide may be displayed to users, so provide values that they will be able to understand.
This indicates the size of a product. You may any provide values which are appropriate to your items. Examples for sizing values can be found in this article.
When to include: Required for all apparel items in the 'clothing' and 'shoes' product categories in feeds that target the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP. Recommended for other countries and product categories.
Type | Text |
Text/Tab delimited | XL |
XML | <g:size>XL</g:size> |
- The values you provide may be displayed to users, so provide values that they will be able to understand.
- For apparel variants submitted to the US, UK, DE, FR, and JP: Each different size or size combination must be submitted as its own item, in conjunction with the 'item group id'. Visit submitting apparel products for more details.
- If sizes are complex, condense them into one value (e.g., “16/34 Tall” for neck size 16 inches, sleeve length 34 inches, and “Tall” fit).
- Use consistent size values across variants of the same product, as well as across multiple products of the same category. For example, within a group of t-shirts, use “S”, “M” , and “L” as sizes, not “S”, “Medium” , and “Lrg”.
- You may use the same ‘image’ URL value for size variants if specific images are not available but we recommend that the ‘link’ attribute leads to a page which specifies all the details about the variant item.
Tax & Shipping
Taxes and shipping are an important part of the total cost of items. In fact, shipping cost is the most common reason for users abandoning their shopping choices. The 'tax' attribute is only applicable to feeds targeting the US - for all other countries except for Canada and India, value added tax (VAT) has to be included in the price. For Canada and India, it is required to submit prices that are exclusive of applicable taxes.There are three ways to specify tax (US only) and shipping costs:
- Settings in the Merchant Center: We offer various ways to specify tax and shipping costs if your pricing structure is relatively simple. For example, if you have one shipping price for all your items, or if you use a structure based on the weight of the packaged item (in that case, include the shipping weight attribute), our system can easily accommodate your tax and shipping information. Learn more.
- Attributes in the feed: By using the tax and shipping attributes below, you can model more complex tax and shipping cost structures.
- Combination of the two: You can specify default tax and shipping information in the Merchant Center, and then override those defaults for certain products by specifying the attributes below.
If you can’t provide accurate tax or shipping information, please provide estimates. For example, you can provide tax as well as shipping cost for each product and state individually by using the tax and shipping attributes. Please estimate tax and shipping costs such that the total cost in Google Shopping results is either correct or overestimated for the majority of users.
tax [tax]
This attribute has four parts:
- country (optional): The country an item is taxed in according to ISO 3166 standard (at the moment, it's always 'US')
- region (optional): The geographic region that a tax rate applies to. In the US, the two-letter state abbreviation, ZIP code, or ZIP code range using * wildcard.
- rate (required): The tax rate as a percent of the item price, i.e., a number as a percentage
- tax_ship (optional): Boolean value for whether you charge tax on shipping, y for yes or n for no - the default value is n
When to include: For items in feeds which target the US, use this attribute if you want to specify taxes for a particular item, or you want to override the default tax costs specified in the Merchant Center settings. If you do not provide tax information using one of these methods for each item, your items won’t show up in Google Shopping results.Learn more.
Type | Each tax attribute group consists of four sub-attributes:
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Text/Tab delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon, and each tax attribute group with a comma. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations. All colons, even for blank values, are required, i.e., three colons are required.::0: US::0: US:CA:8.25:y,US:926*:8.75:y |
||||||||||||||||||||
XML | The four sub-attributes are country, region, rate, and tax ship. Include each tax attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:tax> <g:country>US</g:country> <g:region>MA</g:region> <g:rate>5.00</g:rate> <g:tax_ship>y</g:tax_ship> </g:tax> |
This attribute has four sub-attributes:
- country (required): The country to which an item will be delivered (as an ISO 3166 country code). The default value for this sub-attribute is your feed's target country.
- region (optional): The geographical region to which a delivery rate applies.
- service (optional): The name of the shipping method.
- price (required): Fixed delivery price.
Note: Please remember that you must only provide direct-to-consumer shipping rates, as per our Program Policies. Rates for other methods, like ship-to-store delivery, are not allowed.
When to include: If you want to specify shipping cost for this item, or you want to override the default shipping cost specified in the Merchant Center settings. Learn more.
Type | Each shipping attribute group consists of four sub-attributes:
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Text/Tab delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon, and each shipping attribute group with a comma. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations. All colons, even for blank values, are required, i.e., three colons are required.AU:::5.95 AUD |
||||||||||||||||||||
XML | The four sub-attributes are country, region, service, and price. Include each shipping attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:shipping> <g:country>AU</g:country> <g:region>NSW</g:region> <g:service>Ground</g:service> <g:price>5.95 AUD</g:price> </g:shipping> |
This attribute has four sub-attributes:
- country (required): The country to which an item will be delivered (as an ISO 3166 country code). The default value for this sub-attribute is your feed's target country.
- region (optional): The geographical region to which a delivery rate applies.
- service (optional): The name of the shipping method.
- price (required): Fixed delivery price.
Note: Please remember that you must only provide direct-to-consumer shipping rates, as per our Program Policies. Rates for other methods, like ship-to-store delivery, are not allowed.
When to include: If you want to specify shipping cost for this item, or you want to override the default shipping cost specified in the Merchant Center settings. Learn more.
Type | Each delivery attribute group consists of four sub-attributes:
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Text/Tab-delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon and each delivery attribute group with a comma. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations. All colons, even for blank values, are required, i.e. three colons are required.JP:::1000 JPY |
||||||||||||||||||||
XML | The three sub-attributes are country, service and price. Include each delivery attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:shipping> <g:country>JP</g:country> <g:region>JP-23</g:region> <g:service>Standard</g:service> <g:price>1000 JPY</g:price> </g:shipping> |
This attribute has four sub-attributes:
- country (required): The country to which an item will be delivered (as an ISO 3166 country code). The default value for this sub-attribute is your feed's target country.
- region (optional): The geographical region to which a delivery rate applies.
- service (optional): The name of the shipping method.
- price (required): Fixed delivery price.
Note: Please remember that you must only provide direct-to-consumer shipping rates, as per our Program Policies. Rates for other methods, like ship-to-store delivery, are not allowed.
When to include: If you want to specify shipping cost for this item, or you want to override the default shipping cost specified in the Merchant Center settings. Learn more.
Type | Each delivery attribute group consists of three sub-attributes:
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Text/Tab-delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon and each delivery attribute group with a comma. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations. All colons, even for blank values, are required, i.e. three colons are required.FR:::4.95 EUR |
||||||||||||||||||||
XML | The three sub-attributes are country, service and price. Include each delivery attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:shipping> <g:country>FR</g:country> <g:service>Standard</g:service> <g:price>4.95 EUR</g:price> </g:shipping> |
- For feeds targeting the US, UK, Germany and France, it is required to provide shipping costs for every item, either by specifying the global default shipping costs in the Merchant Center settings, or by providing this attribute. If you do not provide shipping costs using one of these methods for each item, your items won’t show up in Google Shopping results.
This attribute has four sub-attributes:
- country (required): The country to which an item will be delivered (as an ISO 3166 country code). The default value for this sub-attribute is your feed's target country.
- region (optional): The geographical region to which a delivery rate applies.
- service (optional): The name of the shipping method.
- price (required): Fixed delivery price.
Note: Please remember that you must only provide direct-to-consumer shipping rates, as per our Program Policies. Rates for other methods, like ship-to-store delivery, are not allowed.
When to include: If you want to specify shipping cost for this item, or you want to override the default shipping cost specified in the Merchant Center settings. Learn more.
Type | Each delivery attribute group consists of three sub-attributes:
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Text/Tab-delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon and each delivery attribute group with a comma. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations. All colons, even for blank values, are required, i.e. three colons are required.DE:::4.95 EUR |
||||||||||||||||||||
XML | The three sub-attributes are country, service and price. Include each delivery attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:shipping> <g:country>DE</g:country> <g:service>Standard</g:service> <g:price>4.95 EUR</g:price> </g:shipping> |
- For feeds targeting the US, UK, Germany and France, it is required to provide shipping costs for every item, either by specifying the global default shipping costs in the Merchant Center settings, or by providing this attribute. If you do not provide shipping costs using one of these methods for each item, your items won’t show up in Google Shopping results.
This attribute has four sub-attributes:
- country (required): The country to which an item will be delivered (as an ISO 3166 country code). The default value for this sub-attribute is your feed's target country.
- region (optional): The geographical region to which a delivery rate applies.
- service (optional): The name of the shipping method.
- price (required): Fixed delivery price.
Note: Please remember that you must only provide direct-to-consumer shipping rates, as per our Program Policies. Rates for other methods, like ship-to-store delivery, are not allowed.
When to include: If you want to specify shipping cost for this item, or you want to override the default shipping cost specified in the Merchant Center settings. Learn more.
Type | Each delivery attribute group consists of three sub-attributes:
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Text/Tab-delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon and each delivery attribute group with a comma. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations. All colons, even for blank values, are required, i.e. three colons are required.NL:::4.95 EUR |
||||||||||||||||||||
XML | The three sub-attributes are country, service and price. Include each delivery attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:shipping> <g:country>NL</g:country> <g:service>Standard</g:service> <g:price>4.95 EUR</g:price> </g:shipping> |
This attribute has four sub-attributes:
- country (required): The country to which an item will be delivered (as an ISO 3166 country code). The default value for this sub-attribute is your feed's target country.
- region (optional): The geographical region to which a delivery rate applies.
- service (optional): The name of the shipping method.
- price (required): Fixed delivery price.
Note: Please remember that you must only provide direct-to-consumer shipping rates, as per our Program Policies. Rates for other methods, like ship-to-store delivery, are not allowed.
When to include: If you want to specify shipping cost for this item, or you want to override the default shipping cost specified in the Merchant Center settings. Learn more.
Type | Each delivery attribute group consists of three sub-attributes:
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Text/Tab-delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon and each delivery attribute group with a comma. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations. All colons, even for blank values, are required, i.e. three colons are required.ES:::4.95 EUR |
||||||||||||||||||||
XML | The three sub-attributes are country, service and price. Include each delivery attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:shipping> <g:country>ES</g:country> <g:service>Standard</g:service> <g:price>4.95 EUR</g:price> </g:shipping> |
This attribute has four sub-attributes:
- country (required): The country to which an item will be delivered (as an ISO 3166 country code). The default value for this sub-attribute is your feed's target country.
- region (optional): The geographical region to which a delivery rate applies.
- service (optional): The name of the shipping method.
- price (required): Fixed delivery price.
Note: Please remember that you must only provide direct-to-consumer shipping rates, as per our Program Policies. Rates for other methods, like ship-to-store delivery, are not allowed.
When to include: If you want to specify shipping cost for this item, or you want to override the default shipping cost specified in the Merchant Center settings. Learn more.
Type | Each delivery attribute group consists of three sub-attributes:
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Text/Tab-delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon and each delivery attribute group with a comma. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations. All colons, even for blank values, are required, i.e. three colons are required.IT:::4.95 EUR |
||||||||||||||||||||
XML | The three sub-attributes are country, service and price. Include each delivery attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:shipping> <g:country>IT</g:country> <g:service>Standard</g:service> <g:price>4.95 EUR</g:price> </g:shipping> |
This attribute has four sub-attributes:
- country (required): The country to which an item will be delivered (as an ISO 3166 country code). The default value for this sub-attribute is your feed's target country.
- region (optional): The geographical region to which a delivery rate applies.
- service (optional): The name of the shipping method.
- price (required): Fixed delivery price.
Note: Please remember that you must only provide direct-to-consumer shipping rates, as per our Program Policies. Rates for other methods, like ship-to-store delivery, are not allowed.
When to include: If you want to specify shipping cost for this item, or you want to override the default shipping cost specified in the Merchant Center settings. Learn more.
Type | Each delivery attribute group consists of three sub-attributes:
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Text/Tab-delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon and each delivery attribute group with a comma. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations. All colons, even for blank values, are required, i.e. three colons are required.GB:::4.12 GBP |
||||||||||||||||||||
XML | The three sub-attributes are country, service and price. Include each delivery attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:shipping> <g:country>GB</g:country> <g:service>Royal Mail</g:service> <g:price>4.12 GBP</g:price> </g:shipping> |
- For feeds targeting the US, UK, Germany and France, it is required to provide shipping costs for every item, either by specifying the global default shipping costs in the Merchant Center settings, or by providing this attribute. If you do not provide shipping costs using one of these methods for each item, your items won’t show up in Google Shopping results.
This attribute has four sub-attributes:
- country (required): The country to which an item will be delivered (as an ISO 3166 country code). The default value for this sub-attribute is your feed's target country.
- region (optional): The geographical region to which a delivery rate applies.
- service (optional): The name of the shipping method.
- price (required): Fixed delivery price.
Note: Please remember that you must only provide direct-to-consumer shipping rates, as per our Program Policies. Rates for other methods, like ship-to-store delivery, are not allowed.
When to include: If you want to specify shipping cost for this item, or you want to override the default shipping cost specified in the Merchant Center settings. Learn more.
Type | Each delivery attribute group consists of four sub-attributes:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Text/Tab-delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon and each delivery attribute group with a comma. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations. All colons, even for blank values, are required, i.e. three colons are required.BR:::11.42 BRL |
|||||||||||||||||||||
XML | The four sub-attributes are country, region, service and price. Include each delivery attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:shipping> <g:country>BR</g:country> <g:region>BR-SP</g:region> <g:service>Standard</g:service> <g:price>11.42 BRL</g:price> </g:shipping> |
- For feeds targeting the US, UK, Germany and France, it is required to provide shipping costs for every item, either by specifying the global default shipping costs in the Merchant Center settings, or by providing this attribute. If you do not provide shipping costs using one of these methods for each item, your items won’t show up in Google Shopping results.
This attribute has four sub-attributes:
- country (required): The country to which an item will be delivered (as an ISO 3166 country code). The default value for this sub-attribute is your feed's target country.
- region (optional): The geographical region to which a delivery rate applies.
- service (optional): The name of the shipping method.
- price (required): Fixed delivery price.
Note: Please remember that you must only provide direct-to-consumer shipping rates, as per our Program Policies. Rates for other methods, like ship-to-store delivery, are not allowed.
When to include: If you want to specify shipping cost for this item, or you want to override the default shipping cost specified in the Merchant Center settings. Learn more.
Type | Each delivery attribute group consists of three sub-attributes:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Text/Tab-delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon and each delivery attribute group with a comma. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations. All colons, even for blank values, are required, i.e. three colons are required.CZ:::124.42 CZK |
|||||||||||||||||||||
XML | The three sub-attributes are country, service and price. Include each delivery attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:shipping> <g:country>CZ</g:country> <g:region></g:region> <g:service>Standard</g:service> <g:price>124.42 CZK</g:price> </g:shipping> |
This attribute has four sub-attributes:
- country (required): The country to which an item will be delivered (as an ISO 3166 country code). The default value for this sub-attribute is your feed's target country.
- region (optional): The geographical region to which a delivery rate applies.
- service (optional): The name of the shipping method.
- price (required): Fixed delivery price.
Note: Please remember that you must only provide direct-to-consumer shipping rates, as per our Program Policies. Rates for other methods, like ship-to-store delivery, are not allowed.
When to include: If you want to specify shipping cost for this item, or you want to override the default shipping cost specified in the Merchant Center settings. Learn more.
Type | Each delivery attribute group consists of three sub-attributes:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Text/Tab-delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon and each delivery attribute group with a comma. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations. All colons, even for blank values, are required, i.e. three colons are required.CH:::6.15 CHF |
|||||||||||||||||||||
XML | The three sub-attributes are country, service and price. Include each delivery attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:shipping> <g:country>CH</g:country> <g:service>Standard</g:service> <g:price>6.15 CHF</g:price> </g:shipping> |
This attribute has four sub-attributes:
- country (required): The country to which an item will be delivered (as an ISO 3166 country code). The default value for this sub-attribute is your feed's target country.
- region (optional): The geographical region to which a delivery rate applies.
- service (optional): The name of the shipping method.
- price (required): Fixed delivery price.
Note: Please remember that you must only provide direct-to-consumer shipping rates, as per our Program Policies. Rates for other methods, like ship-to-store delivery, are not allowed.
When to include: If you want to specify shipping cost for this item, or you want to override the default shipping cost specified in the Merchant Center settings. Learn more.
Type | Each delivery attribute group consists of three sub-attributes:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Text/Tab-delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon and each delivery attribute group with a comma. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations. All colons, even for blank values, are required, i.e. three colons are required.CA:::10.00 CAD |
|||||||||||||||||||||
XML | The three sub-attributes are country, service and price. Include each delivery attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:shipping> <g:country>CA</g:country> <g:service>Standard</g:service> <g:price>10.00 CAD</g:price> </g:shipping> |
This attribute has four sub-attributes:
- country (required): The country to which an item will be delivered (as an ISO 3166 country code). The default value for this sub-attribute is your feed's target country.
- region (optional): The geographical region to which a delivery rate applies.
- service (optional): The name of the shipping method.
- price (required): Fixed delivery price.
Note: Please remember that you must only provide direct-to-consumer shipping rates, as per our Program Policies. Rates for other methods, like ship-to-store delivery, are not allowed.
When to include: If you want to specify shipping cost for this item, or you want to override the default shipping cost specified in the Merchant Center settings. Learn more.
Type | Each delivery attribute group consists of three sub-attributes:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Text/Tab-delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon and each delivery attribute group with a comma. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations. All colons, even for blank values, are required, i.e. three colons are required.IN:::10.00 INR |
|||||||||||||||||||||
XML | The three sub-attributes are country, service and price. Include each delivery attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:shipping> <g:country>IN</g:country> <g:service>Standard</g:service> <g:price>10.00 INR</g:price> </g:shipping> |
This attribute has four sub-attributes:
- country (required): The country to which an item will be delivered (as an ISO 3166 country code). The default value for this sub-attribute is your feed's target country.
- region (optional): The geographical region to which a delivery rate applies.
- service (optional): The name of the shipping method.
- price (required): Fixed delivery price.
Note: Please remember that you must only provide direct-to-consumer shipping rates, as per our Program Policies. Rates for other methods, like ship-to-store delivery, are not allowed.
When to include: If you want to specify shipping cost for this item, or you want to override the default shipping cost specified in the Merchant Center settings. Learn more.
Type | Each delivery attribute group consists of three sub-attributes:
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Text/Tab-delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon and each delivery attribute group with a comma. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations. All colons, even for blank values, are required, i.e. three colons are required.RU:::10.00 RUB |
||||||||||||||||||||
XML | The three sub-attributes are country, service and price. Include each delivery attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:shipping> <g:country>RU</g:country> <g:service>Standard</g:service> <g:price>10.00 RUB</g:price> </g:shipping> |
This attribute has four sub-attributes:
- country (required): The country to which an item will be delivered (as an ISO 3166 country code). The default value for this sub-attribute is your feed's target country.
- region (optional): The geographical region to which a delivery rate applies.
- service (optional): The name of the shipping method.
- price (required): Fixed delivery price.
Note: Please remember that you must only provide direct-to-consumer shipping rates, as per our Program Policies. Rates for other methods, like ship-to-store delivery, are not allowed.
When to include: If you want to specify shipping cost for this item, or you want to override the default shipping cost specified in the Merchant Center settings. Learn more.
Type | Each delivery attribute group consists of four sub-attributes:
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Text/Tab-delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon and each delivery attribute group with a comma. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations. All colons, even for blank values, are required, i.e. three colons are required.US:::6.49 USD |
||||||||||||||||||||
XML | The four sub-attributes are country, region, service and price. Include each delivery attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:shipping> <g:country>US</g:country> <g:region>MA</g:region> <g:service>Ground</g:service> <g:price>6.49 USD</g:price> </g:shipping> |
More detailed examples for the US
-
Nationwide shipping rate:
US::ground:8.95 USD
-
State-level shipping rate:
US:CA:ground:7.95 USD
-
Zipcode range shipping rate:
US:943*:ground:6.95 USD
-
Zipcode-level shipping rate:
US:94343:ground:5.95 USD
-
Nationwide shipping rate:
<g:shipping>
<g:country>US</g:country>
<g:service>Ground</g:service>
<g:price>8.95 USD</g:price>
</g:shipping>
-
State-level shipping rate:
<g:shipping>
<g:country>US</g:country>
<g:region>CA</g:region>
<g:service>Ground</g:service>
<g:price>7.95 USD</g:price>
</g:shipping>
-
Zipcode range shipping rate:
<g:shipping>
<g:country>US</g:country>
<g:region>943*</g:region>
<g:service>Ground</g:service>
<g:price>6.95 USD</g:price>
</g:shipping>
-
Zipcode-level shipping rate:
<g:shipping>
<g:country>US</g:country>
<g:region>94343</g:region>
<g:service>Ground</g:service>
<g:price>5.95 USD</g:price>
</g:shipping>
- For feeds targeting the US, UK, Germany and France, it is required to provide shipping costs for every item, either by specifying the global default shipping costs in the Merchant Center settings, or by providing this attribute. If you do not provide shipping costs using one of these methods for each item, your items won’t show up in Google Shopping results.
When to include: Required if you have set up a shipping rule in the Merchant Center that is based on weight.
Type | We accept only the following units of weight: lb, oz, g, kg. |
Text/Tab delimited | 3 kg |
XML | <g:shipping_weight>3 kg</g:shipping_weight> |
- The weight must include a number and a unit of weight. We accept the following units: lb, oz, g, kg.
Merchant-Defined Multipacks
Multipacks are packages that include several identical products to create a larger unit of sale, submitted as a single item. Merchant-defined multipacks are custom groups of identical products submitted as a single unit of sale.multipack [multipack] - Submit merchant-defined multipacks
When to include: Required if applicable to submit merchant-defined multipacks for all target countries.
Type | Integer, greater than 1 (multipacks cannot contain 1 item) |
Text/Tab delimited | 6 |
XML | <g:multipack>6</g:multipack> |
- The price attribute must contain the total price for the multipack.
- The main image of the multipack must display the base product: the single manufacturer-defined product that is the base item of the multipack (i.e., one unit of the custom multipack).
- The unique product identifiers of the base product should be submitted according to the Unique Product Identifier Rules.
- This attribute should NOT be used to indicate the number of items in a manufacturer-defined multipack.
- When the base product of a merchant-defined multipack is a manufacturer-defined multipack, the attribute should indicate the number of manufacturer-defined multipacks being bundled, and the unique product identifiers for the manufacturer-defined multipack should be provided.
- Images, descriptions, and all other attributes submitted for multipacks must be in alignment with the our feed specifications and the Google Shopping Policies.
Example of a merchant-defined multipack submission:
A custom multipack containing 6 bars of soap: the ‘multipack’ attribute should be 6, the unique product identifiers for a single bar of soap should be provided according to the Unique Product Identifier Rules, and we recommend that the description should include "multipack" and include the quantity (6).
Adult Products
Google cares about the family status of the product listings you submit in order to make sure that appropriate content is shown to an appropriate audience. You should use the ‘adult’ attribute to indicate that individual items will be considered “adult” or “non-family safe”.For more information on our “adult” or "non-family safe” status please refer to our Family Status Policy.
adult [adult]
If your website generally targets an adult audience and contains adult-oriented content with or without nudity, sexually explicit content or language, you are responsible for labeling your site as intended for an adult audience by ticking the checkbox “This site contains ‘non-family safe’ or adult products as defined by our policy” in the “General settings” section of the Merchant Center account. Where you fail to do so, Merchant Center accounts containing product listings considered as “non-family safe” will be suspended.
If your website doesn’t generally target an adult audience but you are promoting some product listings containing adult oriented content with or without nudity, sexually explicit content or language, such product listings should be submitted with an ‘adult’ attribute value set to TRUE. This will indicate that the correlating product listing contains “adult” or “non-family-safe” content as defined by our policy. Where you fail to do so, your account will be considered as “adult” or “non-family-safe” and disapproved and your items will not appear on Google Shopping.
When to include: If you are submitting items that are considered “adult” or non-family safe and would like to label them at the item level for all target countries.
Type | Boolean: TRUE or FALSE |
Text/Tab delimited | TRUE |
XML | <g:adult>TRUE</g:adult> |
- This attribute is a supplement to the option in the General settings tab of Merchant Center to select that your account includes data feeds that may contain product listing that will be considered "non-family safe." By using the ‘adult’ attribute, you are acknowledging that individual items, rather than your entire website, may be “non-family safe.”
- You need to ensure that the landing page being accessed from a family safe product listing is completely free from adult content.
- If the checkbox “This site contains ‘non-family safe’ or adult products as defined by our policy” in the “General settings” section of the Merchant Center account is not checked and the value of the ‘adult’ attribute is left blank or the attribute is not provided, we will assume that the value of adult is FALSE.
AdWords attributes
adwords grouping [adwords_grouping]
Type | string |
Text/Tab delimited | comforters |
XML | <g:adwords_grouping>comforters</g:adwords_grouping> |
adwords labels [adwords_labels]
Type | string |
Text/Tab delimited | clothing, shoes |
XML | <g:adwords_labels>clothing</g:adwords_labels>, <g:adwords_labels>shoes</g:adwords_labels> |
adwords redirect [adwords_redirect]
Type | URL |
Text/Tab delimited | http://www.merchant.com/product.html |
XML | <g:adwords_redirect>http://www.merchant.com/product.html</g:adwords_redirect> |
Unit Prices (EU Countries and Switzerland Only)
These attributes allow you to submit the unit pricing for your applicable products in feeds targeting European Union countries and Switzerland.Please note that you should not submit both unit prices and energy labels for an item.
unit pricing measure [unit_pricing_measure]
Unit pricing attributes are recommended only for specific products that require unit pricing to comply with local, state, or federal laws applicable to the country your product listings are targeting. For example, if your product listings are targeting any of the EU member states or Switzerland please consider the legal requirements on this matter defined in the national implementation acts of the EU directive 98/6/EC and any other applicable local law.
When to include: Recommended if applicable for items in feeds targeting the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. It is also recommended to submit the ‘unit pricing base measure’ attribute in conjunction with ‘unit pricing measure’.
Type | Numerical value + unit. Weight (mg, g, kg), volume (ml, cl, l, cbm), length (cm, m), and area (sqm) are supported. |
Text/Tab delimited | 225g |
XML | <g:unit_pricing_measure>225g</g:unit_pricing_measure> |
- The price attribute or the sales price attribute (if the sale is active) will be used in order to calculate the unit price of this item (e.g. if price is 3 EUR, ‘unit pricing measure’ is 150ml, and ‘unit pricing base measure’ is 100ml the unit price would be 2 EUR / 100ml).
- The unit price will be rounded to the nearest amount allowed in the local currency and values exactly half-way between two values will be rounded up (e.g. 0.5 EUR-cent will be rounded up to 1 EUR-cent)
- The numerical value has to be a positive number. Examples: 1.5kg, 150ml, 3sqm
You should only submit unit pricing attributes for specific products that require unit pricing to comply with local, state, or federal laws applicable to the country your product listings are targeting. For example, if your product listings are targeting any of the EU member states or Switzerland please consider the legal requirements on this matter defined in the national implementation acts of the EU directive 98/6/EC and any other applicable local law.
When to include: Recommended if applicable for items in feeds targeting Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. You should only submit this attribute if you also submit ‘unit pricing measure’, but it is not required to show unit prices.
Type | Integer value + unit. Weight (mg, g, kg), volume (ml, cl, l, cbm), length (cm, m), and area (sqm) are supported. |
Text/Tab delimited | 100g |
XML | <g:unit_pricing_base_measure>100g</g:unit_pricing_base_measure> |
- The integer value has to be 1, 10, or 100. Additionally, 75cl, 50kg, and 1000kg are accepted.
- ‘Unit pricing measure’ and ‘unit pricing base measure’ have to use the same type of measurement (e.g. you cannot use weight units for one and volume units for the other one).
- A unit without a integer value is not accepted.
- Google might show a different base measure in order to make the unit prices on a page more comparable.
Energy Labels (EU Countries and Switzerland Only)
This attribute allows you to submit the energy label for your applicable products in feeds targeting European Union countries and Switzerland.Please note that you should not submit both unit prices and energy labels for an item.
energy efficiency class [energy_efficiency_class]
You should only submit the energy efficiency class attribute for specific products that require it to comply with local, state, or federal laws applicable to the country your product listings are targeting. For example, if your product listings target any of the EU member states or Switzerland, please consider the legal requirements on this matter defined in the national implementation acts of the EU directive 2010/30/EU and any other applicable local law.
When to include: Recommended if applicable for items in feeds targeting Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands.
Type | Enumeration: G, F, E, D, C, B, A, A+, A++, A+++ |
Text/Tab delimited | A+ |
XML | <g:energy_efficiency_class>A+</g:energy_efficiency_class> |
- Products that might require this attribute include but are not limited to: refrigerators, freezers, combined washer-driers, wine-storage appliances, washing machines, tumble dryers, dishwashers, ovens, water heaters and hot water storage appliances, air conditioners, electrical lamps and luminaires, and televisions.
- For conventional water heaters, solar water heaters, heat pump water heaters, and packages of water heater and solar device the water heating energy efficiency class should be provided.
- For reversible air conditioners, the energy efficiency class for heating (average season) should be provided.
Nearby Stores
If you are a multi-channel retailer with physical presence, Google Shopping can show your store locations next to your products. If the user is looking at one of your products and has specified a location close to one of your stores, Google Shopping will show your store(s) on a map. We will display the phone number in case the user wants to check availability of the item, and the user can get driving directions to find your store easily.To enable this feature, you need to submit your store locations through Google Places. Learn more. Once you have provided your store locations, you may specify if an item is only available for purchase online and not in your physical store by providing the attribute below.
online only [online_only] - Whether an item is available for purchase only online
There are only two accepted values:
- 'y': if any item is not available in your store to purchase.
- 'n': if a customer can buy the posted item at your physical location - this is the default assumption.
Type | Boolean: y or n |
Text/Tab delimited | y |
XML | <g:online_only>y</g:online_only> |
There are only two accepted values:
- 'y': if any item is not available in your store to purchase.
- 'n': if a customer can buy the posted item at your physical location - this is the default assumption.
Type | Boolean: y or n |
Text/Tab delimited | y |
XML | <g:online_only>y</g:online_only> |
Loyalty Points (Japan Only)
The attribute below only applies to feeds which target Japan. It lets you specify how many and what type of loyalty points the customer receives when buying a product.loyalty points [loyalty_points] - Loyalty points that users receive after purchasing the item
When to include: Recommended for items targeting Japan for which the user gets loyalty points.
This attribute has three parts:
- name (optional): Name of loyalty points program. It is recommended to limit the name to 12 full-width characters or 24 roman characters.
- points value (required): The retailer’s loyalty points in absolute value.
- ratio (optional): The ratio of a point when converted to currency. Google assumes currency based on Merchant Center settings. If ratio is left out, it defaults to 1.0.
Type | Each loyalty point program group consists of three sub-attributes:
|
||||||||||||||||
Text/Tab-delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations. All colons, even for blank values, are required, i.e. three colons are required. You should include attributes in the order of priority.Program A:100:1.0 This means 100 points where 1 point equals 1.0 currency unit.Program B:100:0.5 This means 100 points where 1 point equals 0.5 currency units.Program C:100: Leaving 'ratio' blank, which defaults to 1.0:100: Simplest form |
||||||||||||||||
XML | The three sub-attributes are name, points, and ratio. Include each loyalty points attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:loyalty_points> <g:name>Program A</g:name> <g:points_value>100</g:points_value> <g:ratio>1.0</g:ratio> </g:loyalty_points> |
Multiple Installments (Brazil Only)
The attribute below only applies to feeds which target Brazil. It lets you specify an additional option for users to pay in multiple installments.installment [installment] - Number and amount of installments to pay for an item.
When to include: For items submitted to Brazil that can also be paid in multiple installments.
This attribute has two parts:
- Months (required): The number of installments the buyer has to pay.
- Amount (required): The amount the buyer has to pay per month. Include the currency.
Type | Each installment group consists of two sub-attributes:
|
||||||||||||
Text/Tab-delimited | Separate each sub-attribute with a colon. Do not enclose sub-attribute values within quotations.6:50 BRL This means payments for 6 months at 50 BRL per month. |
||||||||||||
XML | The two sub-attributes are months and amount. Include each installments attribute group as a separate attribute.<g:installment> <g:months>6</g:months> <g:amount>50 BRL</g:amount> </g:installment> |
- The installment option you include must not require the possession of a loyalty card.
Additional Attributes
The two attributes below allow you to control the destination of your items, and the period during which your items are valid.excluded destination [excluded_destination] - Excluded destinations of your items
When to include: If you are using either Google Shopping or Commerce Search and you would like to exclude the item from either of these destinations.
Format | Two predefined values accepted:
|
Text/Tab delimited | Commerce Search |
XML | <g:excluded_destination>Commerce Search Search</g:excluded_destination> |
When to include: If you would like an item to expire earlier than 30 days from the upload date of the feed.
Type | ISO 8601 format: YYYY-MM-DD. Note are GMT |
Text/Tab delimited | 2004-08-19 |
XML | <g:expiration_date>2004-08-19</g:expiration_date> |