The 15 mandatory attributes to sell on Google Shopping
Selling on Google Shopping requires the e-tailer to fill in a number of attributes relating to their products, so that they can be categorised and offered to internet users according to their wishes. Some of these attributes are optional (but highly recommended) and only serve to better position the products in the search results, while other attributes are required for inclusion on Google Shopping.
Here are some tips from the Google Shopping Policy and the Google Help Center for online merchants.
Each product ID must be unique in your Merchant Center account and cannot be reused in multiple product feeds from your e-commerce site. If you have multiple feeds, the item IDs contained in different feeds must be composed of unique sequences of letters and numbers.
Be careful, once an item has been indexed, you must ensure that you do not modify its unique identifier when updating your data feed!
The product title is a mandatory attribute that corresponds to the name of your article. Google recommends that you include characteristics in the title of your article that allow the user to differentiate this product from others at a glance (colour, size, brand, etc.) but recommends in its Writing Guidelines that you do not add promotional text such as "Free Shipping" or use UPPERCASE letters.
The product description allows each merchant to freely indicate relevant information about their items, such as the target age range, product compatibility specifications or any important technical aspects to be known before purchase. It may also be desirable to indicate the most visual aspects of the item, including the shape, pattern, texture or design of the item.
The product description can be up to 5,000 characters long (including punctuation), but Google recommends using between 500 and 1,000 characters in general.
The [google_product_category] attribute indicates the category (only one) of the proposed product within the Google product classification tree. If your items belong to more than one category, include only the most relevant category.
All categories in the Google Shopping Thesaurus must be filled in with the full path to the relevant category. For example: "Clothing & Accessories > Clothing > Pants > Jeans" is an acceptable value, but "Jeans" alone is not valid.
This attribute also allows you to indicate a category of the proposed product, but according to your own classification. Here you can include multiple [product type] attribute values including the full category string. This attribute is not strictly mandatory but is strongly recommended by Google.
The [link] attribute allows you to enter the URL that the user will follow when they click on your item in Google Shopping to get to the landing page. Tracking URLs can be used to differentiate between visitors coming from Google Shopping.
The mobile landing page URL is used to specify which links on the article page should be offered to the visitor using a mobile device. These are pages that have been optimised for smartphones and ensure a better user experience, reducing landing page load times and providing an interface that is more conducive to converting the visitor into a buyer. The mobile landing page URL is optional but recommended for better performance.
The [image_link] attribute is used to fill in the address of the main image associated with a product. This is also the first image that users see on detailed product pages.
As a reminder, Google recommends using the largest possible image of your product, in high resolution and at full size, which can be up to 4 MB.
Google recommends using images of at least 800 x 800 pixels (250 x 250 pixels for images of clothing products) but does not recommend enlarging the images or proposing images in which the product does not occupy more than 90% of the image (75% seems a good ratio).
The [condition] attribute is used to indicate the state of the product sold. Only three values are accepted in this field:
[new] if the product is new and has never been used. The attribute*[new]** corresponds to a product sold in its original packaging and which has not been opened or unpacked,
[refurbished] if the product has been restored to working order.
[used] in other cases, if the product has already been used or the original packaging is damaged or missing.
The availability status of your products must be updated regularly so that users know if their order can be delivered as soon as possible. Only 3 values are accepted for the [availability] attribute:
[preorder] if you accept orders for this product, even if it is not yet distributed. In this case, the [availability date] attribute allows you to specify the day when the product can be shipped.
In this case, the [availability date] attribute allows you to specify the day when the product can be shipped, * [in stock] if you are accepting orders for this product and are able to fulfill the orders instantly.
[out of stock] if you are not able to accept orders for this product due to insufficient stock.
The price of the item must be clearly visible on the landing page and the user must be able to quickly and easily identify the item of interest with the price corresponding to their initial search.
The [brand] attribute allows the brand name of the item sold to be entered (in accordance with the rules relating to unique product codes) except for Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, India, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden and Turkey. Please note that Google does not allow you to use your shop name as a brand name.
The [identifier_exists] attribute is used for items that belong to categories for which the unique product code is mandatory, but for which merchants do not have it. In the absence of a unique product code for their category (GTIN, manufacturer reference or brand), merchants must use the [identifier exists] attribute with a value of 'FALSE'.
To sell on Google Shopping, it is necessary to indicate the international item code of the product. The GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) can be entered in one of the following formats depending on the country of sale and the type of item offered:
UPC (in North America): 12-digit code, for example 3234567890126
EAN (in Europe): 13-digit code, for example 3001234567892
JAN (in Japan): 8 or 13 digit code, e.g. 49123456 or 4901234567894
ISBN (for books): 10 or 13 digit code, e.g. 0451524233.
The manufacturer reference is a mandatory attribute that identifies a product using a manufacturer's own name and complements the GTIN code, with which the MPN can be cross-referenced, if applicable. Note that manufacturer references cannot be assigned by the merchant, but directly by the manufacturer of an item.
Here are some tips from the Google Shopping Policy and the Google Help Center for online merchants.
Product ID [id]
Each product ID must be unique in your Merchant Center account and cannot be reused in multiple product feeds from your e-commerce site. If you have multiple feeds, the item IDs contained in different feeds must be composed of unique sequences of letters and numbers.
Be careful, once an item has been indexed, you must ensure that you do not modify its unique identifier when updating your data feed!
The product title: [title]
The product title is a mandatory attribute that corresponds to the name of your article. Google recommends that you include characteristics in the title of your article that allow the user to differentiate this product from others at a glance (colour, size, brand, etc.) but recommends in its Writing Guidelines that you do not add promotional text such as "Free Shipping" or use UPPERCASE letters.
The product description: [description]
The product description allows each merchant to freely indicate relevant information about their items, such as the target age range, product compatibility specifications or any important technical aspects to be known before purchase. It may also be desirable to indicate the most visual aspects of the item, including the shape, pattern, texture or design of the item.
The product description can be up to 5,000 characters long (including punctuation), but Google recommends using between 500 and 1,000 characters in general.
The Google category of the product: [google_product_category]
The [google_product_category] attribute indicates the category (only one) of the proposed product within the Google product classification tree. If your items belong to more than one category, include only the most relevant category.
All categories in the Google Shopping Thesaurus must be filled in with the full path to the relevant category. For example: "Clothing & Accessories > Clothing > Pants > Jeans" is an acceptable value, but "Jeans" alone is not valid.
The product category: [product_type]
This attribute also allows you to indicate a category of the proposed product, but according to your own classification. Here you can include multiple [product type] attribute values including the full category string. This attribute is not strictly mandatory but is strongly recommended by Google.
The URL of the article page on your site: [link]
The [link] attribute allows you to enter the URL that the user will follow when they click on your item in Google Shopping to get to the landing page. Tracking URLs can be used to differentiate between visitors coming from Google Shopping.
Mobile Landing Page URL: [mobile_link]
The mobile landing page URL is used to specify which links on the article page should be offered to the visitor using a mobile device. These are pages that have been optimised for smartphones and ensure a better user experience, reducing landing page load times and providing an interface that is more conducive to converting the visitor into a buyer. The mobile landing page URL is optional but recommended for better performance.
The main product image URL: [image_link]
The [image_link] attribute is used to fill in the address of the main image associated with a product. This is also the first image that users see on detailed product pages.
As a reminder, Google recommends using the largest possible image of your product, in high resolution and at full size, which can be up to 4 MB.
Google recommends using images of at least 800 x 800 pixels (250 x 250 pixels for images of clothing products) but does not recommend enlarging the images or proposing images in which the product does not occupy more than 90% of the image (75% seems a good ratio).
The state of the product: [condition]
The [condition] attribute is used to indicate the state of the product sold. Only three values are accepted in this field:
[new] if the product is new and has never been used. The attribute*[new]** corresponds to a product sold in its original packaging and which has not been opened or unpacked,
[refurbished] if the product has been restored to working order.
[used] in other cases, if the product has already been used or the original packaging is damaged or missing.
The availability of the product: [availability]
The availability status of your products must be updated regularly so that users know if their order can be delivered as soon as possible. Only 3 values are accepted for the [availability] attribute:
[preorder] if you accept orders for this product, even if it is not yet distributed. In this case, the [availability date] attribute allows you to specify the day when the product can be shipped.
In this case, the [availability date] attribute allows you to specify the day when the product can be shipped, * [in stock] if you are accepting orders for this product and are able to fulfill the orders instantly.
[out of stock] if you are not able to accept orders for this product due to insufficient stock.
The price of the item: [price]
The price of the item must be clearly visible on the landing page and the user must be able to quickly and easily identify the item of interest with the price corresponding to their initial search.
The product brand: [brand]
The [brand] attribute allows the brand name of the item sold to be entered (in accordance with the rules relating to unique product codes) except for Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, India, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden and Turkey. Please note that Google does not allow you to use your shop name as a brand name.
The identifier attribute exists: [identifier_exists]
The [identifier_exists] attribute is used for items that belong to categories for which the unique product code is mandatory, but for which merchants do not have it. In the absence of a unique product code for their category (GTIN, manufacturer reference or brand), merchants must use the [identifier exists] attribute with a value of 'FALSE'.
The international item code: [GTIN]
To sell on Google Shopping, it is necessary to indicate the international item code of the product. The GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) can be entered in one of the following formats depending on the country of sale and the type of item offered:
UPC (in North America): 12-digit code, for example 3234567890126
EAN (in Europe): 13-digit code, for example 3001234567892
JAN (in Japan): 8 or 13 digit code, e.g. 49123456 or 4901234567894
ISBN (for books): 10 or 13 digit code, e.g. 0451524233.
The manufacturer reference: [MPN].
The manufacturer reference is a mandatory attribute that identifies a product using a manufacturer's own name and complements the GTIN code, with which the MPN can be cross-referenced, if applicable. Note that manufacturer references cannot be assigned by the merchant, but directly by the manufacturer of an item.
Updated on: 09/02/2024
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