Back in June 2014, internet search engine company Google announced that it would be releasing an update to its Shopping Feed Specification application. It is hoped that the changes will allow online retailers to organize their product data better, and so reach more potential customers. All users of Google Product Listing Ads should make careful note of the changes made in this update to Google Shopping Feed 2014.
Some of the changes made include:
- Advertisers can now enter a separate landing page URL, to improve the experience of users shopping on a mobile phone
- New requirements for merchant-defined bundles. These refer to situations where it is necessary to purchase two or more products together, such as a camera and a lens, and there are now new requirements for displaying linked purchases such as these.
- The ‘available for order’ attribute is replaced by the ‘in stock’ facility
- A new ‘availability date’ attribute, allowing companies to inform buyers of when items will be available for delivery.
- Better descriptions of clothing items, including two new size attributes
- New recommendations on image quality when submitting images of the products being offered
- A new landing page content policy, which includes new guidelines for use of landing page URLs
- Clearer information on what the character limits are when describing each attribute
Some of these changes will require users to update their current product data by the end of September 2014 at the latest. However, sellers can make use of the new facilities immediately.
The complete list of attributes required from users of Shopping Feed Specification can be found at https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/188494 This covers areas such as:
- The name of the item.
- A brief description.
- The mobile landing page URL that links to the item.
- The URL of the item on the seller’s website.
- An image of the item.
- Availability and price information.
- Product identification numbers..
- Details of which locations delivery can be made to.
