Setting up Google Shopping and Merchant Center for an effective advertising campaign

What is Google Shopping and how does it work?

Google Shopping — is a service from Google that allows shoppers to search for products, compare their prices, and make purchases. Products are displayed in search results, in a special "Shopping" tab,  on partner sites through banner ads, and can also be integrated into image search results. This approach has significant advantages, as it provides high visibility of products specifically for those users who are already actively searching for a particular product. Ads with photos, price, ratings, and other details make such ads more attractive than text options, which significantly increases clickthrough rates. Thanks to this, Google Shopping not only helps attract new customers, but also provides high-quality traffic with high conversion, since ads are targeted at buyers who are already ready to make a purchase.

 

Google Shopping — is an ideal solution for businesses that sell physical goods, such as clothing, appliances, cosmetics, or home goods. This advertising is especially effective for online stores that want to increase the visibility of their products, as well as for local sellers who want to attract customers in a specific region. If the business has competitive prices and a well-structured product catalog, such advertising will help to get quality traffic and increase sales.
 

Google shopping settings: what do you need to get started?

To launch Google Shopping ads, you need to complete several key steps:

 

• Compliance with Google policies: You need to make sure that your site and products comply with Google Shopping policies, such as delivery, returns, and payment security.
• Google Merchant Center account: You need to register for a merchant account and verify your site. This is the main platform for managing product information.
• Product feed: You need to prepare a data feed — a file in XML, TXT, or Google Sheets format that contains detailed information about the products presented on your site.
• Product feed optimization: Product titles and descriptions should be clear, relevant, and include keywords. It is worth using high-quality images with appropriate sizes.
• Google Ads account: Preparing a Google Ads account that will be linked to Google Merchant to launch advertising campaigns.
• Linking Google Merchant Center to Google Ads: In the merchant settings, you should link it to the account. This will allow you to use data from the feed to create shopping ads.
• Advertising campaign: A new campaign of the "Shopping" type is created in Google Ads. Strategic goals, budget and geotargeting are selected. Depending on the goals and budget, a bidding strategy is set up. 
   

What is Merchant Center and what you need to set it up

Merchant Center is a tool for merchants who want to advertise their products on Google Shopping, Google Search, and other services. Merchant Center allows such merchants to upload and manage information about their products, including their titles, descriptions, prices, images, and availability. This tool allows you to easily synchronize your data with Google Ads and launch effective shopping campaigns.

 

Main setup steps:

Account registration and site verification:

• Account registration on Merchant Center.
• Site verification (meta tag, file on the server, DNS record or integration via Google Analytics/Tag Manager).

Account settings:

• Filling in basic information: Business name, contact information, country and currency.
• Choosing shipping and payment methods.

Creating a data feed:

• Creating and uploading product data through one from the methods offered.
• The feed specifies important parameters: Title, price, description, image, ID, category, etc.

Tax and shipping settings:

• Indicates tax settings  and shipping options (price, regions, speed).

Data feed validation:

• After uploading the feed, it is checked whether all products are displayed correctly and corrections are made if there are errors.

Google Ads integration:

• Connects Merchant Center with Google Ads to run shopping campaigns.

What is a Google Shopping feed?

A product feed is a structured file that contains all the necessary information about the products sold in an online store. This file is used to transfer data to the merchant center, where they become the basis for advertising campaigns in Google Shopping.

 

A product feed is required to automatically update product data in Google Merchant Center. Thanks to this, your ads always contain up-to-date information about prices, product availability, images, etc. This is especially important if you have a large catalog of products where changes occur regularly. The structure of the feed adapts to Google's requirements, and its regular update helps to avoid errors and ensures high-quality interaction with potential buyers.

 

The user sees the product as an ad in Google Shopping, which includes the name, image, and price. The ad also includes a link that takes you to the product page in your online store, allowing you to quickly make a purchase.

 

The Google Shopping feed allows you to automate the creation and updating of ads without manual intervention. This reduces the risk of errors, saves time, and allows you to scale your advertising even for large catalogs.
 

What is included in the feed Google Shopping?

 

The feed contains basic information about products in the form of attributes. All of this data helps the search engine interpret the product correctly and show it to the right users.

 

Feed parameters

 

It contains basic information about the products, such as a unique ID, title, description, price, category, brand, link to the product page, link to the image, as well as availability status and condition of the product. For many products, global identifiers such as GTIN (barcode) or MPN (manufacturer's product number) are important.
Additional parameters include promotional price, shipping information, and taxes. These parameters are used to better refine your ads and attract buyers.

 

How to fill in the required feed fields for Google Shopping

 

• id (identifier): Unique product code, up to 50 characters.
• title (name): Short and accurate name that attracts attention.
• description (description): Detailed text with product characteristics.
• link (link): URL of the product page on your site in https:// format.
• image_link (image link): URL of the main image of the product in JPEG, PNG or GIF format.
• price (price): Price of the product with currency indication.
• availability (availability): Product status (in stock, out of stock, available for pre-order).
• brand (brand): Product manufacturer's name.
• gtin (barcode): Global Trade Number (EAN, UPC).
• mpn (model number): Unique model number from the manufacturer (used if there is no GTIN).
• condition (condition): Condition of the product (used, new or refurbished).
• google_product_category (Google category): Product category according to Google's directory.
• shipping (delivery): Shipping cost in the format country:price (for example, "UA:50.00 UAH").
• sale_price (promotional price): Reduced price of the product, if there is a promotion.
• custom_label_0–4 (additional labels): Labels for internal classification (for example, "best sellers", "seasonal products").
   

Google Shopping product feed: what are the formats

 

The feed can be created in XML, TXT, Google Sheets, or the integration API. The choice of format depends on the volume of products and the frequency of data updates. XML and API are best suited for large stores with regular changes, while Google Sheets is convenient for small catalogs.

 

XML

 

• Rules: A tag structure where each product is described as , with nesting and order that meet Google requirements. Each tag (, , etc.) corresponds to a specific attribute of the product.
• Advantages: Flexible (complex structures can be added as needed), CMS/ERP compatible, clear structure.

 

TXT

 

• Rules: Tabular format, where each row is a product, and the columns (separated by tabs or commas) contain attributes, with a mandatory first row for headers that correspond to these attributes (e.g. "id", "title", "price").
• Advantages: Easy to edit, integrate, and test. Suitable for small businesses with a limited range.

 

Google Sheets

 

• Rules: Data is entered into Google Sheets, the first row must contain column headers with attribute names.  The file is linked to Merchant Center via URL.
• Advantages: Easy data update, shared access - several people can work with the table in real time.

 

Content API

 

• Rules: Data is transmitted directly to Google Merchant Center via JSON/XML queries. Supports all product attributes available in feeds.
• Advantages: Automatic real-time updates, high accuracy, suitable for large stores where the assortment changes frequently.

 

It is also important to adhere to the following requirements for the feed: its relevance, i.e. regular updates to keep the information fresh. The data in the feed for Google Shopping must be accurate and correspond to what is indicated on the site, including prices, availability and product descriptions. Quality also plays a key role: use clear and high-quality images, relevant product names and avoid errors so that your ads look professional and attractive to buyers. A properly created and optimized feed will help attract more buyers and improve the effectiveness of advertising campaigns.

How to upload a feed to Google Merchant Center to avoid errors

To upload a feed for Google Merchant Center without errors, it is important to prepare the file correctly and follow the requirements. Before uploading, check that all required attributes are filled in correctly. It is worth avoiding unnecessary characters in the fields, incorrect date, price or currency formats. If the feed is transmitted via URL, you need to make sure that the link is accessible and meets security requirements (HTTPS). For Google Sheets, you should check the correctness of the headers and column order.

 

Common errors during upload:

 

• Invalid file format – incorrectly formatted XML or TXT (unclosed tags, extra commas, missing column headers).
• Missing required attributes – for example, the price, name, or image link is missing.
• Incorrect values ​​– incorrect price format (100.00 instead of 100.00), missing currency (UAH).
• Unavailable image URL – the image link does not work or leads to an error page.
• Difference between feed and site – the price in the feed does not match the price on the site, which may lead to product blocking.
• Prohibited content – the product does not comply with Google policies.
• Duplicate id – the same identifiers for different products.

 

To avoid problems, it is worth checking the feed in Google Merchant Center before publishing, using the debugging tool, and setting up automatic updates so that the data is always up-to-date.

Google Shopping setup services from Restudio

Our company provides services for setting up Google Merchant Center, data feed and shopping campaigns. Thanks to a comprehensive approach, we ensure advertising effectiveness, maximize return on investment and attract target customers. Here's how we work:

 

1. Analysis and audit: We conduct a detailed analysis of your business, product range and competitors. We study the target audience, their needs and behavior. We also assess how well your site meets the requirements of Google Merchant Center and, if necessary, advise on making changes.
2. Strategy development: We form an individual advertising strategy taking into account the budget, goals and features of your product. We plan the structure of campaigns to achieve maximum reach and conversions.
3. Data feed setup: We create or optimize an existing product feed to meet Google requirements. We ensure the correct transmission of key and additional parameters.
4. Setting up an account in Google Merchant Center: We register and set up an account. We connect and verify your website. 
5. Creating and launching advertising campaigns: We set up shopping campaigns in Google Ads, integrating them with Merchant Center. We constantly monitor campaign results. We optimize the feed and campaigns based on analytics, improving data quality and relevance.
6. Reporting and consulting: We provide reports on the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and advise on further improvement and expansion of advertising.

 

Thanks to this approach, we provide precise settings for advertising campaigns that help your products gain maximum visibility in Google Shopping and generate stable profits.