Google Merchant Center Product Feed: Specification Guide

A Google Merchant Center product feed is a structured file or data connection that tells Google what you sell: one row per product, with attributes such as title, price, availability, image and identifiers. Every Shopping ad and free listing is built from it, so the quality of the feed sets the ceiling for your Shopping results.

This guide covers the attributes Google expects, how each one should be formatted, where feeds come from, and a checklist to run before you scale spend. The exact requirements change, so treat the Google product data specification as the source of truth and use this article as a working map.

What does Google require in a product feed?

Most products need the same core set of attributes. Missing or invalid values are the most common reason items are disapproved, which we cover separately in our guide to fixing disapproved products.

Attribute	What it is	Common mistake
`id`	A unique, stable identifier for each product	Changing IDs after an update, which resets the product’s history
`title`	The product name shown in ads	Generic titles with no brand, size or colour
`description`	A plain-text description	Pasting marketing copy or HTML
`link`	The product page URL	Pointing to a redirect or a different product
`image_link`	The main product image URL	Low-resolution images, watermarks or promotional overlays
`price`	Price with currency	A feed price that differs from the price on the page
`availability`	In stock, out of stock, preorder or backorder	Feed says in stock while the page says sold out
`condition`	New, refurbished or used	Omitting it for used or refurbished products
`brand`	The manufacturer or brand	Using the store name instead of the product brand

Price and availability must match the landing page. Google crawls your pages, and mismatches are a frequent cause of item-level disapprovals and, if they persist, account warnings.

Which attributes are recommended but often skipped?

These do not block approval in most categories, but they decide how well your products match searches and how you can structure campaigns.

gtin, mpn and brand: product identifiers help Google match your item to the right product. See our guide to GTIN, MPN and brand in Google Shopping for how to find and validate them. If a product genuinely has no identifier, set identifier_exists to no rather than inventing a value.
google_product_category: the category from Google’s taxonomy. A specific category improves matching.
product_type: your own category path, useful for structuring campaigns and reports.
item_group_id: groups the variants of one product (sizes, colours) together.
color, size, gender, age_group: required for apparel in many regions and valuable elsewhere.
sale_price: shown alongside the regular price when you run promotions.
shipping and shipping_weight: needed when shipping settings in Merchant Center are not enough on their own.
custom_label_0 to custom_label_4: free-form labels you define, such as margin tier, best seller or seasonal. They let you split products into separate campaign groups. See custom label strategy for Shopping campaigns.

How should titles, descriptions and images be written?

Titles. The title is the single most influential text field. Put the most important words first, because ads can truncate long titles. A reliable pattern is brand, product type, key attribute, then variant details such as size or colour. Avoid promotional text (“Free shipping”, “Best price”) and capital letters for emphasis, which Google’s editorial rules reject.

Descriptions. Write a plain-text description of what the product is and does. Include the specifications a shopper would ask about. Do not include links, contact details or promotional claims.

Images. Use a clear photo of the product on a plain background for the main image. Avoid watermarks, logos, text overlays and placeholders. Google has minimum image sizes and recommends larger images for better display, so check the current specification for your category. Our guide on image optimization for Shopping listings goes deeper.

Where does the feed come from?

You have four common options, and the right one depends on your platform and how often your catalogue changes:

Platform integration. Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and similar platforms offer a Google channel or app that generates and syncs the feed. This is the fastest start, but you inherit the platform’s field mapping, which often needs correcting.
Scheduled file fetch. Host a feed file (XML or text) at a URL and let Merchant Center fetch it on a schedule. Good for custom catalogues and feed tools.
Google Sheets. Suitable for small catalogues. Easy to edit by hand, difficult to keep accurate at scale.
API. Push product data programmatically through Google’s Merchant API, the successor to the older Content API for Shopping. Best for large or fast-changing catalogues.

Whichever you choose, add a supplemental feed when you need to override or enrich fields without touching the primary source, for example to add custom labels or fix titles.

Pre-launch checklist

Run this before you spend on ads, and again after any large catalogue change:

Every product has a unique, stable id.
Titles lead with brand and product type and contain no promotional text.
price and availability match the product page exactly.
Each link returns a working page, not a redirect chain.
Main images load, are not watermarked and meet the size rules.
gtin, mpn and brand are present where they exist.
Variants share an item_group_id.
Apparel products have color, size, gender and age_group.
google_product_category is set to the most specific category.
Shipping and return policies are configured in Merchant Center.
The Diagnostics tab shows no critical item issues.
Custom labels reflect the campaign structure you plan to use.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum a product feed needs? Every product needs a unique id, title, description, link, image link, price and availability. Brand, identifiers and category become important quickly because they affect approval and matching.

How often should the feed update? At least daily, and more often if price or stock changes frequently. A stale feed creates price and availability mismatches, which lead to disapprovals.

Do I need GTINs for every product? Use the real GTIN when the product has one, because it improves matching. If the product genuinely has none, such as handmade or custom items, mark it as having no identifier instead of supplying a made-up value.

Why does Merchant Center show different data from my feed? Google also reads structured data and the page itself, and a supplemental feed or automatic improvements can override fields. Check the Diagnostics tab and the product’s source when values differ.

Can a bad feed hurt my Google Ads results? Yes. Disapproved products cannot show, vague titles match the wrong searches, and missing custom labels remove your ability to separate high-margin products from the rest.

Need the feed audited?

A clean feed is the cheapest improvement to Shopping performance. Our Google Shopping management service starts with a feed audit covering attributes, diagnostics and policy issues. If you want a second opinion before you spend more, request a feed audit.