Product Feed Optimisation · Titles, Attributes & Quality

The product title is the single most important feed attribute for Shopping performance. Google uses the title as the primary signal for matching your product to relevant search queries — the words in your title determine which queries your product is eligible to appear for. A poorly-structured title with vague or missing keywords results in low impression volume and irrelevant matches.

Title length

Maximum: 150 characters. Google typically displays 70 characters in the Shopping listing. Place the most important information (product type, brand, key attribute) within the first 70 characters. Additional detail in characters 71–150 improves query matching even when not visible.

Title structure by category

Keywords in titles

Research the actual queries shoppers use for your product type using Google Keyword Planner and the Search Terms report from existing Shopping campaigns. Include the most common query phrasing in the title. A product title that exactly mirrors how shoppers search ("men's waterproof hiking boots") will outperform a manufacturer-style title ("AquaShield XTR-500 Trail Footwear").

Product images are the most visually prominent element of a Shopping listing — they are seen before the title and price in many contexts. Image quality directly affects CTR.

Image requirements

• Minimum: 100 x 100 pixels for non-apparel; 250 x 250 for apparel
• Recommended: 800 x 800 pixels minimum; 1,000 x 1,000 or larger for high-end products
• White or transparent background preferred — Google's Shopping interface uses white backgrounds; images on coloured backgrounds can appear visually inconsistent
• Product only — no watermarks, no promotional text, no borders
• Product should fill 75–90% of the frame

Additional image links

The additional_image_link attribute allows up to 10 additional product images. Google may use these for Shopping listings that display multiple images, Google Images, and future surface expansions. Include lifestyle images, multiple angles, and size/colour variants in additional images.

Product descriptions (attribute: description, max 5,000 characters) are used for query matching and appear in Google Shopping product detail pages. While less visible than titles, descriptions contribute to query matching — particularly for longer, more specific queries that the title alone may not cover.

Best practices: write the description for the product's actual use and benefits; include relevant secondary keywords naturally (colour variants, materials, compatible uses); avoid keyword stuffing (it is prohibited by Google policy); do not include pricing or promotional language in descriptions.

GTIN (Global Trade Item Number — the barcode number) is required for all products that have one assigned by the manufacturer. GTINs include EANs (13-digit European), UPCs (12-digit North American), and ISBNs (books). Providing accurate GTINs gives Google unambiguous product identification — enabling better product matching and Shopping performance.

Products with GTINs may appear in Google Shopping price comparison results (showing prices from multiple retailers for the same product) — this can be advantageous if you are price competitive, or a disadvantage if you are not.

MPN (Manufacturer Part Number) is an alternative identifier for products without GTINs — custom products, made-to-order items, spare parts. Provide one or the other (GTIN preferred) for all products.

Custom labels (attributes: custom_label_0 through custom_label_4) allow you to attach your own tags to products — these are not visible to users but are used in Google Ads to segment products into different campaign structures or bid groups.

Common custom label use cases

Merchant Center provides a feed quality assessment showing the percentage of products that are approved, disapproved, or have warnings. Monitor these metrics in the Products section:

• Active products. Approved products eligible to serve in Shopping results
• Disapproved products. Products blocked from serving — require fixing before they can appear
• Products with issues. Products that are serving but have quality issues that may reduce performance or risk future disapproval

Target: 95%+ active products. Disapproval rates above 5% indicate systemic feed issues — missing required attributes, policy violations, or data accuracy problems — that need structured investigation and remediation.

Product data in the feed must stay current. Price and availability mismatches between the feed and the actual website are the most common cause of product disapprovals and Shopping ad policy violations. Feed maintenance approaches by scale:

• Small catalogues (<500 products). Manual spreadsheet feed uploaded weekly; automated via Google Sheets scheduled fetch.
• Mid-size catalogues (500–10,000). CMS/e-commerce platform plugin (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento) generating and automatically submitting the feed on price/availability changes.
• Large catalogues (>10,000 products). Content API for Shopping — programmatic feed submission in real-time as product data changes; eliminates all price/availability mismatch risk.

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