What are the Requirements to Google Shopping feed?
Google Merchant feed is where you want to upload product details from Google. This is where Google Shopping and Google's eCommerce assets put up your stuff. Users in Google Shopping Search results see some items and these goods They also appear on Google's key search results pages with organic listings. Google Merchant Center is a platform that lets you upload product lists for Google Store, product ads and google market search. You will need to ensure that your company complies with the Merchant Center google feed guidelines listed here before establishing a Merchant Center account and setting up your product details.
Requirements for Google Shopping feed
1. Follow the Merchant Center guidelines
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Advertise only products available for direct purchase: The goods that you advertise in Shopping Ads must be available for purchase through your store. You are not permitted to use Shopping Ads to support affiliate or pay-per-click links to items, either as a member of the Affiliate Advertisement Beta or as a Comparison Shopping Service (CSS). Links promoted in Shopping Advertising need to directly lead users to a page that allows them to purchase the advertised product.
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Use an official language: Use the official language of that country when selling the goods to a specific country. You may also place your goods on advertising in more than 1 official language. Just make sure you send specific product data for each language, and that the product data links in the same language to the landing pages. Using the same official language explicitly for:
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Your website
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The product data that you apply
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The language you pick when you register your user data.
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Tell customers about your return and refund policy: People who buy from your website should be able to use your return and refund policies. Ensure the policy on returns and refunds is transparent and easy to find. Even if you don't give returns or refunds, still specifically mention your policy. Your policy should explain exactly how you treat returns and refunds, including:
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What the user is supposed to do
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Under what conditions you give returns and refunds
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The Time frame in which you accept returns
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When your user can request a refund
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Collect user information responsibly and securely: Be careful with the user-gathered information. In particular, follow these guidelines:
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Collect personal information, such as credit card numbers, safely on an SSL-protected page.
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Do not sell contact information of your users
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Do not use personal information or photos of users in ads without their permission
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The primary purpose of your site should not be to collect personal information of users.
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Do not give free products or discounts except under such circumstances: purchasing of a product as part of a marketing campaign where the primary objective is not to obtain users ' personal information.
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Follow the relevant Shopping ads policies: Google has other rules that are not specifically referred to this article about just what kind of advertising you can and cannot advertise about Google through shopping advertisements and surfaces. And make sure that the items you plan on advertising comply with the applicable Shopping Policy before you sign up for a Merchant Center account. There are rules for Shopping Advertising, Shopping Activities and other Merchant Center programs.
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Verify and claim your website URL: You may need to assert and check your domain in Search Console to ensure you are the owner of your site, and to prevent anyone from claiming your account. You'll need to be able to edit your website's HTML or upload files to your server to check your URL.
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Fulfil the Website requirements: We have a set of policies detailing criteria at the site level for your site. We can search your website for some specific requirements based on the merchant center programs that you are participating in:
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Accurate contact information: Your website must show appropriate and reliable contact information, including a phone number and/or email address.
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Secure checkout process: Payment and transaction processing, as well as the collection of any sensitive and financial personal information from the user, must be done through a secure processing server (SSL-protected, with a valid SSL certificate HTTPS://).
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Return policy: Your site must provide a simple and clear return policy.
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Billing terms and conditions: Provide clear and conspicuous billing terms and conditions in your sites to users.
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2. Product data specification requirements
You will need to format your product data to follow the product data Google feed requirements when you are ready to send your products through the merchant center. There are design guidelines that clarify how to apply the data so that we can understand it. While there is a lot of information in the specification, reading through it can be useful now so that you can understand what kind of information you are going to get:
Required attributes for Google Merchant center feed
Required |
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Required |
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Required |
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Required |
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Required |
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Availability |
Required |
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Required |
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Brand |
Product’s brand name is required except movies, books, and musical recording brands) |
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Optional attributes for Google Merchant center feed
Additional_image_link |
Optional |
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Mobile_link |
Optional |
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Availability_date |
Optional |
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Cost_of_goods_sold |
Optional Costs associated with the sale of a particular item as defined in the accounting convention you have established. These costs may include material, labour, freight, or other overhead costs. By submitting COGS to your products, you will gain insight into other measures, such as your gross margin and the amount of revenue generated by your Shopping Ads. |
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Expiration_date |
Optional |
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Sale_price |
Optional |
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Sale_price_effective_date |
Optional |
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Google_product_category |
Optional |
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Conclusion
These attributes are used to indicate the specific characteristics of the product that users commonly search for. Attributes can help you control the appearance of your ad when you advertise variants. These attributes are also used to help potential customers filter attributes when searching for Google shopping Ads.
Further readings on Google Feed