The identifier for each item has to be unique within your account, and cannot be re-used between feeds. If you have multiple feeds, ids of items within different feeds must still be unique.
Important:
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.
We recommend you include the brand of your item, the name of the item, and the characteristics which differentiate the item from other products, and the category of the product where it makes sense. For variations of the same product, make sure to include the differences from the other variants (such as color or size).
When to include:Required for all items.
Important:
Follow Google'sEditorial guidelinesclosely. For example, do not include any promotional text such as "Free shipping", and do not use BLOCK CAPITALS.
Only the first 70 characters of the title will be displayed.
For variant products, make sure to include the common title of the variant items as well as the variant descriptors, such as color and size.
description [description] - Description of the item
DotFeed will extract this information for you and feed it to Google. You might choose to optimize the data by embedding key words and phrases into the description. Remember, too, that every product has a tab in the AspDotNetStorefront product-management console for "Product Feeds". If you use that tab, you can enter an alternative description and many people optimize that alternative very successfully. Please feel free to ask for more information byposting a request. For information on how to use DotFeed rules to do so, please seehere.
Include only information relevant to the item, but be comprehensive since we use this text to find your item. We recommend you submit around 500 to 1000 characters, but you can submit up to 10000 characters.
When to include:Required for all items.
Important: Make sure to follow Google'sEditorial guidelinesclosely. 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 store.
google product category [google_product_category] - Google's category of the item
DotFeed provides the rules engine to help you match each of your items to a Google Product Category.
For example, you might set a rule that declares "if this item has as AspDotNetStorefront category of sports equipment> ice hockey > footwear then put "Sporting Goods > Team Sports > Hockey > Ice Hockey Skates" into Google Product Category.
This attribute contains the category of the product according to Google’s product taxonomy. Use either the accepted shortened values listed below or the more detailed, full category paths listed inGoogle's product taxonomy.
Any category from Google’s taxonomy must include the full path. For example, 'Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Jeans' is an acceptable value, but 'Jeans' is not. This attribute only accepts values that are predefined by Google’s taxonomy.
When to include:Required for all items that belong to the 'Apparel and Accessories', 'Media', and 'Software' categories, and are in feeds which target the US, UK, Germany, France, or Japan. If your products do not fall into one of the categories listed below, or if your feed doesn't target one of the required countries, this attribute isrecommendedbut not required. Also, this attribute may berequiredin the future. If you choose not to provide a 'google product category' value for other product categories, leave the attribute blank. This attribute should be included in addition to, not as a replacement for, the 'product type' attribute.
Important:
Products that fall into Clothing or Shoes categories must use the more specific categories provided in thefull Google product taxonomy. It is not sufficient to provide the general category 'Apparel & Accessories' for these items.
Items that do not belong in the clothing or shoes categories should include the 'Apparel & Accessories' value or the more specific categories provided in the Google product taxonomy.
product type [product_type] - Your category of the item
DotFeed will extract and feed this data for you.
This attribute contains the category of the product according to your taxonomy. As with the 'google product category' attribute, include the category with full “breadcrumb” information. (DotFeed will do that on your behalf). For example, 'Books > Non-Fiction > Sports > Baseball' is better than just 'Baseball'. Any separator such as > or / may be used. You can include multiple values of this attribute if you have multiple categories assigned to products.
When to include:Strongly recommended for all items if you have a categorization for your items.
link Link - URL directly linking to your item's page on your website
DotFeed will extract and feed this data for you, and will add tracking information so that visitors drawn to your site from Google Shopping are recognized and recorded, providing ROI monitoring.
The user is sent to this URL when your item is clicked on Product Search. Google also refers to this as thelanding page. It must point to a page showing the exact item the user was looking at.
When to include:Required for all items.
Read Googlepoliciescarefully. 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.
Important:
If you're performing maintenance on your site that affects your landing pages, you're required to remove your items from Product Search 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 Product Search.
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).
image link [image_link] - URL of an image for the item
DotFeed will extract and feed this data for you.
This is the URL of an associated image for a product. Submit full-size images for your products and do not submit thumbnail versions of the images. For all apparel products, we require images of at least 250 x 250 pixels and recommend images of at least 400 x 400 pixels.
If you have multiple images of the item, submit the main view using this attribute, and include all other views in the 'additional image link' attribute.
When to include:Required for all items (For feeds targeting Japan, this is a recommended attribute, not a required attribute).
Important: If you're selling multiple variations of a product (such as a t-shirt in multiple colors), you must give an image of the correct variation (except for variations of sizes). If you do not have the correct image for the variation of the product, you may not submit the item:
If you have no image for your item, you cannot submit the item.
Do not submit a placeholder such as "No image", logo of the brand or logo of your store.
Images must not contain logos or other promotions.
additional image link [additional_image_link] - Additional URLs of images of the item
DotFeed enables you to add multiple images for a single item through establishing rules. Images must be added in the form of an http:// or https:// address and should ideally be 400 x 400 pixels.
If you have additional images for this item, include them in this attribute. For example, if you have images that show the product from a different angle than the main image, or if you have images of the packaging or the product in various settings. You can include up to 10 additional images per item
When to include:For all items with multiple images.
Important: The same rules as for image link apply.
condition [condition] - Condition or state of the item
DotFeed will extract this value and feed it. If you have not been populating your AspDotNetStorefront database with information about the condition of an item, then you can use the DotFeed rules engine to do so. (For example: "if my product name is not empty, then put "new" into the condition field") AspDotNetStorefront versions 8.0.1.2 and earlier did not store the "condition" and users of these legacy versions will need to use the Dot Feed rules engine. For information on how to use DotFeed, please seehere.
There are only three accepted values:
'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.
When to include:Required for all items.
Availability and Price
The following attributes 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. The freshness and frequency of the data feed is one of the many bonuses of using DotFeed to manage your rules. Google regularly checks these attributes, and if the values provided in these attributes are found to be different from the information presented on your website, Google will remove all your items from Product Search. Please see theirpoliciesfor more details.
availability [availability] - Availability status of the item
DotFeed will assume a value of "in stock", so you should use the mapping rules to reset those where, perhaps, your inventory defies a status of "in stock".
The availability attribute only has four accepted values:
'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.'
'preorder': You are taking orders for this product, but it’s not yet been released.
When to include:Required for all items in feeds targeting the US, Japan, UK, Germany, France. Recommended for feeds targeting all other countries (although might become required in the future).
Important:
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. (Note: It is acceptable to include 'available for order' in your feed and note "out of stock" on your website.)
Items that are no longer sold have to be removed from the feed entirely.
DotFeed will extract and feed this information for you.
The price of the item has to be the most prominent price on the landing page. If multiple items are on the same page with multiple prices, it has to be straightforward for the user to find the correct item and corresponding price.
When to include:Required for all items.
Important:
For the US, don't include tax in the price. For all other countries, value added tax (VAT) has to be included in the price.
Make sure to read Google'spoliciesin detail. Only items with fixed prices are allowed in Product Search. 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 the most prominent 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 the most prominent price on the page.
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.
Important:
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.
sale price effective date [sale_price_effective_date] - Date range during which the item is on sale
If you are declaring a sale, then you will need to use the DotFeed rules engine to set your Sale start date.
Used in conjunction with sale price. This attribute indicates the date range during which the sale price applies. Learn more aboutsubmitting sale price information.
When to include:Recommended for items which use the 'sale price' attribute.
Unique Product Identifiers
Unique product identifiers such asUPC,EAN,JANorISBNallow Google to show your listing on the appropriate product page. If you don't provide the required unique product identifiers, your store may not appear on product pages, and all your items may be removed from Product Search. Google requires unique product identifiers for all products - except for custom made goods. For apparel, you must submit the 'brand' attribute. For media (such as books, movies, music and video games), you must submit the 'gtin' attribute. In all cases, Google recommends that you submit all three attributes.
You need to submit at least two attributes of 'brand', 'gtin' and 'mpn', but Google recommends that you submit all three if available. For media (such as books, movies, music and video games), you must submit the 'gtin' attribute, but we recommend that you include 'brand' and 'mpn' if available.Learn more.
DotFeed will extract and feed this information for you. It is, of course, your role to make sure that your Manufacturer field in AspDotNetStorefront is populated, or that you use the DotFeed rules to provide the missing information.
When to include:Required for all items - except for books, media and custom made goods, or if you're providing 'mpn' and 'gtin'.
Important:
You must not provide your store name as the brand unless you manufacture the product.
gtin [gtin] - Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) of the item
It will be part of your responsibility to use the DotFeed mapping rules to provide the GTIN.
In this attribute, you will include Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) for your products. These identifiers include UPC (in North America), EAN (in Europe), JAN (in Japan), and ISBN (for books). You can include any of these values within this attribute:
UPC: 12-digit number such as 001234567891
EAN: 13-digit number such as 1001234567891
JAN: 8 or 13-digit number such as 12345678 or 1234567890123
ISBN: 10 or 13-digit number such as 0451524233. If you have both, only include 13-digit number.
When to include:Required for all items - except apparel and custom made goods, or if you're providing 'brand' and 'mpn'.
mpn [mpn] - Manufacturer Part Number (MPN) of the item
DotFeed will extract and feed this information for you as long as you have been using the Manufacturer Part # in AspDotNetStorefront. Otherwise you will most likely use the DotFeed rules engine to generate the MPN.
This code uniquely identifies the product to its manufacturer. In particular, the combination of brand and MPN clearly specifies one product.
When to include: Required for all items - except apparel, media, and custom made goods, or if you're providing 'brand' and 'gtin'.
Product Variants
Variants are versions of the same product which only vary based on colors, materials, patterns, or sizes. Examples include dresses of different sizes and colors, digital cameras of different colors, and food items of different size capacities.
How to submit variant data
Submit one item per variant.DotFeed will manage the creation of these "items" for you.For example, if you offer a t-shirt in 4 colors and 5 sizes, you need to submit 20 items (if you offer all color size combinations). Don’t submit the master item as a separate listing, only all "child" or variant items. Each variant must have a unique id value, but must share the same value in the item group id attribute. Each variant within the group must have the same set of variant attributes, and the combination of values of those attributes must be unique.
Important:When naming your variant products, be sure to include the title common to all variant items, as well as the variant attributes, such as color and size. Titles must not be identical across variant items in the same 'item group id' group, but should also contain the common title of the items.
The four possible variant attributes are 'color', 'material', 'pattern', and 'size'. The variant attributes cannot be given multiple values if the item group id attribute is supplied is supplied for that item. For example:
If one item in a group of variants supplies the values "Blue" and "L" for the color and size attributes, all other items in the group must have values for color and size, and each item must have a different combination of values for those attributes.
You might sell a sofa in different colors and fabrics, and two different lengths. The material attribute can have values like "Canvas" and "Twill", the color attribute can have values like "Cherry Red" and "Sand", and the size attribute can have values "Sofa" and "Long Sofa".
You might offer USB flash drives in different colors and sizes (capacities). In this case, the size attribute can have values like "16 GB" and "32 GB" and the color attribute could have values like "Blue" and "Charcoal".
For US merchants:It is required to provide the following variant attributes for all apparel products. Please seethis articlefor more information on submitting variant apparel products.
item group id [item_group_id] - Shared identifier for all variants of the same product
DotFeed will extract and feed this information for you.
All items that are color/material/pattern/size variants of the same product must have the same item group id. If you have a “Parent SKU” that is shared by all variants of a product, you can provide that as the value for 'item group id'.
When to include:Required for variant apparel products in the US. Recommended for all other categories and countries submitting variant products.
Important:
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 an item group id is supplied, at least one variant attribute must also be supplied for the group of items.
DotFeed will extract and feed this information for you.
Note: This attribute is also described in the section on Apparel Products. Please do not submit two versions of this attribute per item.DotFeed will take care of this for you.
This defines the dominant color(s) of an item. When a single item has multiple colors, combine them with ‘/’ in order of prominence (dominant color first, then accent colors). For example, a black shoe with green accents should have a color value of 'Black / Green'. This attribute can also be used for finishes as well (e.g., 'Mahogany' vs. 'Stainless Steel').
When to include:Required for all apparel items in the 'Apparel & Accessories' product category in feeds that target the US. Recommended for other countries and product categories (might become required in the future).
Important:
Use consistent names of colors across variants of the same product, as well as across multiple products of the same category.
Only provide the color(s) of one item - do not list the colors of all variations of the product in one item.
The values you provide may be displayed to users, so provide values that they will be able to understand.
If you're using XML, you must represent the '/' with /
If you sell apparel, you will need to use the DotFeed rules engine to populate this information.
The material or fabric that a product is made out of. For example, a sofa might have values of "Canvas", "Twill", "Velvet", etc.
When to include:Required for all apparel items in feeds that target the US that differ by material. Recommended for non-apparel products and feed targeting other countries (might become required in the future).
Important:
Only provide the material of one item - do not list the materials of all variations of the product in one item if you are providing the item group id attribute. If you are not able to submit variant items, you may list the materials of all the variations as long as you do not include the item group id attribute.
The values you provide may be displayed to users, so provide values that they will be able to understand.
If you sell apparel, you will need to use the DotFeed rules engine to populate this information.
The pattern or graphic print featured on a product. For example, a t-shirt might have a logo of a sports team and have pattern values of "Bears", "Tigers", etc. A dress might come in two prints, and have pattern values of "Polka Dot", "Striped", "Paisley", etc. 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 items in feeds that target the US that differ by pattern. Recommended for non-apparel products and feed targeting other countries (might become required in the future).
Important:
Only provide the pattern of one item - do not list the patterns of all variations of the product in one item if you are providing the item group id attribute. If you are not able to submit variant items, you may list the patterns of all the variations as long as you do not include the item group id attribute.
The values you provide may be displayed to users, so provide values that they will be able to understand.
DotFeed will extract and feed this information for you.
Note: This attribute is also described in the section on Apparel Products. Please do not include two versions of this attribute per item.
DotFeed will take care of this for you.
This indicates the size of a product. You may any provide values which are appropriate to your items. Examples are:
"XS", "S", "M", "L", "XL" for garments
"17/36 Tall" for a men's dress shirt
When to include:Required for all variant apparel items in the 'Clothing' and 'Shoes' product categories in feeds that target the US. Recommended for other countries and product categories (might become required in the future).
Important:
The values you provide may be displayed to users, so provide values that they will be able to understand.
Only provide the size of one item - do not list all the available sizes of all variations of the product unless you are not a US merchant and are not able to provide the appropriate variant images and data.
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".
Apparel Products
Apparel includes all products that fall under 'Apparel & Accessories' inGoogle's product taxonomy(including subcategories such as clothing and shoes).
Submitting variant apparel products
If you have apparel products which vary by size, color, pattern, or material, it is recommended that you follow the approach outlined in theVariant Product section.
For US merchants:It is required to provide the following variant attributes for all apparel products. Please seethis articlefor more information on submitting variant apparel products. For single apparel products, you must use the attributes in this section. In particular, you must provide 'size' and 'color' for all products in the 'Apparel & Accessories > Clothing' and 'Apparel & Accessories > Shoes' product categories.
DotFeed will extract and feed this information for you.
Note: This attribute is also described in the section on Variant Products. Please do not submit two versions of this attribute per item.
DotFeed will take care of this for you.
This defines the dominant color(s) of an item. When a single item has multiple colors, combine them with ‘/’ in order of prominence (dominant color first, then accent colors). For example, a black shoe with green accents should have a color value of 'Black / Green'. This attribute can also be used for finishes as well (e.g., 'Mahogany' vs. 'Stainless Steel').
When to include:Required for all apparel items in the 'Apparel & Accessories' product category in feeds that target the US. Recommended for other countries and product categories (might become required in the future).
Important:
Use consistent names of colors across variants of the same product, as well as across multiple products of the same category.
Only provide the color(s) of one item - do not list the colors of all variations of the product in one item.
The values you provide may be displayed to users, so provide values that they will be able to understand.
If you're using XML, you must represent the '/' with /
DotFeed will extract and feed this information for you.
Note: This attribute is also described in the section on Variant Products. Please do not include two versions of this attribute per item.
DotFeed will take care of this for you.
This indicates the size of a product. You may any provide values which are appropriate to your items. Examples are:
"XS", "S", "M", "L", "XL" for garments
"17/36 Tall" for a men's dress shirt
When to include:Required for all variant apparel items in the 'Clothing' and 'Shoes' product categories in feeds that target the US. Recommended for other countries and product categories (might become required in the future).
Important:
The values you provide may be displayed to users, so provide values that they will be able to understand.
Only provide the size of one item - do not list all the available sizes of all variations of the product unless you are not a US merchant and are not able to provide the appropriate variant images and data.
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”.
Tax and 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, value added tax (VAT) has to be included in the price.
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.
You are required to use one of the ways above to specify tax and shipping in the US, and only shipping information in the UK, Germany and France.
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 Product Search results is either correct or overestimated for the majority of users.
DotFeed assumes that you will feed your tax rules to Google Merchant Center, although you can use the rules engine to populate "tax" at a product level.
DotFeed assumes that you will feed your shipping rules to Google Merchant Center, although you can use the rules engine to populate "shipping" at a product level.
shipping weight [shipping_weight] - Weight of the item for shipping
DotFeed will extract and feed this information for you, assuming that you have populated the weight field in your AspDotNetStorefront store.
This is the weight of the product used to calculate the shipping cost of the item. If you have specified a global shipping rule that is dependent on shipping weight, this attribute will be used to calculate the shipping cost of the item automatically.
When to include:Required if you have set up a shipping rule in the Merchant Center that is based on weight.
Important:
The weight must include a number and a unit of weight. We accept the following units: lb, pound, oz, ounce, g, gram, kg, kilogram.
