Merchant Center product data: the required fields

This applies to any brand that advertises products on Google, whether it sells shoes, furniture, tyres or books. The rules come from Google's own specification, and where a page is unclear we say so.

Required, recommended, optional: how Google labels them

Google marks each attribute on the specification page as required, optional, or "it depends". The page has no separate "recommended" tier. The nearest thing is the wording for GTIN, which it calls strongly recommended when the product has one (product data specification).

So read the three tiers like this:

• Always required: the seven attributes above. Every product needs them.
• Required in some cases: the attribute is mandatory when the product or the target country calls for it. Apparel in Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States needs age_group, gender, color and size, for example.
• Optional: in Google's words, "you can submit this attribute if you want to help boost your product's performance", and a product serves without them.

Two formatting rules apply to everything: attribute names and supported values are submitted in English, and words in an attribute name are joined with underscores, as in image_link (product data specification).

The seven attributes every product needs

Where an AI wrote the title or description, Google offers structured_title and structured_description in their place, with the same length limits (product data specification).

Three details trip people up:

• The values must match the page. price and availability have to agree with the landing page and the checkout. An out-of-stock item still has to show a price on the page.
• Price zero is not allowed, except for mobile devices sold with a contract and physical goods sold only by subscription.
• A coming image rule. The page announces a minimum of 500 x 500 pixels for image_link, enforced from January 31, 2027 (product data specification).

The ones that depend on the product

These are required only when they apply, and then missing them has the same effect as missing a required attribute (same page).

• brand: required for all new products except movies, books and music recordings, 70 characters at most. Placeholders such as "N/A" or "Generic" are not accepted.
• availability_date: required for preorder, in ISO 8601 form, within a year ahead.
• condition: required for used and refurbished items, optional for new.
• item_group_id: required for variants (the same shoe in three sizes) in Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
• is_bundle and multipack: required for custom bundles and multipacks in the listed countries.
• adult: required if the product has adult content.
• certification: required where energy-label rules apply (EU, EFTA, UK).
• warranty: required where local rules ask for warranty information, such as Quebec.
• shipping: shipping costs are required for Shopping ads and free listings in 21 countries, among them the US, the UK, Germany, France and Japan.

Required against recommended, by group

Source for every row: Merchant Center Help: product data specification. The page shows a "Required" icon on sale_price while its text says optional, so treat it as optional and check the live page.

google_product_category and product_type are optional in general. Send the category as a numeric ID, which Google recommends, or as the full path, never both. Only the first product_type value is used for bidding and reporting in Shopping campaigns.

GTIN, brand and MPN: the identifier trio

Identifiers are where most real feeds go wrong, so Google gives them their own page (GTIN help).

A GTIN is the number printed under a barcode. Google accepts UPC (12 digits), EAN (usually 13), JAN (8 or 13, Japan only), ISBN-13 for books and ITF-14 for multi-item packages. Use digits only, check the digit count and the check digit, and avoid the restricted prefixes 2, 02 and 04 and the coupon ranges (GTIN help). Each variant, such as another colour or size, needs its own GTIN.

The logic in short:

1. The product has a manufacturer-assigned GTIN. Send it. Without it the product "may have limited visibility".
2. It has no GTIN, but a brand and an MPN. Send brand and mpn. The MPN is required only if there is no GTIN.
3. It has none of these. Set identifier_exists to no. Google allows that for a media item without a GTIN, an apparel item without a brand, or another item with no GTIN and no MPN and brand pair (product data specification).
4. Never invent one. Do not put an internal SKU in the GTIN field, and do not send no when identifiers exist, or the product may be disapproved.

What goes wrong when something is missing

To see these errors in your own feed before Google does, run it through our feed inspector and read Google Merchant Center feed errors. A clean feed is also the base of a shopping campaign: see what Performance Max is and how to set it up.

Keeping the data right over time

A feed is not a one-time job. Prices, stock and landing pages change, and Google checks that the submitted values match the page. Keep the id stable when you update a product: Google asks for it to stay the same across updates. Fill the optional attributes that describe your products well, since Google presents them as the way to improve ad performance, though the page does not put a number on it.

Framepx is an AI system that reads a product feed and turns it into ads. It works from the same attributes, so a feed that passes Merchant Center is also the better starting point there; see how it works.

Frequently asked questions

Which attributes are required for every product?

id, title, description, link, image_link, availability and price (product data specification).

Do I need a GTIN for every product?

No. Google strongly recommends one when the product has a manufacturer-assigned GTIN, and says you need not send one when none is assigned. A wrong value causes disapproval (GTIN help).

Is brand always required?

For all new products except movies, books and music recordings. Placeholders such as "Generic" are not accepted (product data specification).

What happens if a required attribute is missing?

The product cannot serve in ads and free listings until you submit it (product data specification).