Understanding Google product feed specifications is essential to promote your products on Google through the Google Merchant Center. A product data feed, also known as a product feed, is a file that contains all the essential product information, such as product title, price, ID, SKU, image, etc. Google Shopping feed has specified certain attributes that sellers must include in their product feed.

These attributes are required, optional, and conditional, depending on the product or circumstances. In this guide, we’ll explain what you need to know to list your products correctly.

What is a Shopping Feed?

A shopping feed is a file that contains a list of product details that need to be submitted to online marketing channels. You can submit the product feed either manually through a manual spreadsheet, schedule fetch, or content API.

The Content API provides customized control over product listings, offers automated real-time updates and feedback, and grants access to comprehensive reporting and insights for optimized listings.

As mentioned above, the product attributes can be required, optional, and conditional based on the product or circumstances. Here, we will take a look at the required attributes.

Required Attributes for a Google Shopping Feed

A required attribute is the product information that must be shared in your product feed. If you don’t include it, the product will not be submitted and the shopping platform won’t be able to show your products to buyers. Below are some of the required attributes:

1. Product ID [id]

This is a unique identifier for each product, and Google uses this attribute to track information about the product. You can add up to 50 characters to your product id. Use the product’s SKU if possible and keep the ID the same when updating data.

E.g. N3124

2. Title [title]

This is the name of your product, limited to 150 characters. However, the title displayed on shopping ads is only 70 characters long, so it’s recommended to keep it short. Accurately describe your product as it appears on the landing page, avoiding promotional text, all caps, or foreign characters, as there are special feeds for adding this.

E.g. XYZ Pro Short Sleeve Training Top

3. Description [description] 

Write the description of your product, with a maximum of 5000 characters. Match the description on your landing page, avoid promotional content, and only include product-related information.

Eg. The XYZ Pro Short Sleeve Training Top provides performance-ready comfort with sweat-wicking fabric and a streamlined fit. Ideal for any workout.

4. Link [link] 

This is the URL of your product’s landing page. Use a verified domain link, starting with “http” or “https,” and avoid interstitial pages.

E.g. http://www.example.com/short-sleeve-training-top

5. Image link [image_link] 

This is the URL of your product’s main image. The URL should begin with “https” or “http” and be crawlable by Google. The image should vividly display your product in an accepted format (JPEG, WebP, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF), without borders, watermarks, or promotional text.

E.g. http://www.example.com/images/mens-cotton-tshirt-blue.jpg

6. Availability [availability] 

This indicates whether your product is in stock. Supported values include “In-stock,” “out-of-stock,” “preorder” or “backorder.” This should match the availability on your landing page and checkout pages. If set to preorder or backorder, include the availability date.

7. Price [price]

This is the price of your product. It should match the price on your landing page and checkout page, displayed with the currency of the targeted territory. Ensure the product can be bought online at the submitted price without any membership fees.

E.g. USD 299.99 $

Let’s understand what required attributes need to be submitted for an electronic store:

Suppose you are running an online store that sells electronics, specifically smartphones. Here’s how the required attributes would look for submitting the feed to Google Merchant Center:

Required attributes

Attribute Name	Attribute Value
Product ID	Smartphone-001
Product Title	XYZ- 128GB – Phantom Black
Product Description	Features a sleek design with a 6.1-inch Dynamic AMOLED display, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, and a 128GB storage option. Enjoy photography with its 50MP camera and experience long-lasting battery life.
Product Link	http://www.example.com/xyz-128gb
Product Image_Link	http://www.example.com/images/xyz-128gb.jpg
Product Availability	in_stock
Product Price	799.99 USD

Final thoughts

By now, you know enough about the required attributes of Google product feed specifications, along with how to add attributes to a Google product feed. Regardless of your number of products, uploading products manually might be difficult as it involves updating them manually, which is time-consuming.

To solve this, certain product feed management tools, such as Simprosys Google Shopping Feed, automate the feed upload process, meaning you don’t have to perform manual actions to upload product details.

Further, our upcoming articles will focus on optional attributes that can be submitted according to different product categories or circumstances.