Google Shopping feed that actually converts — not just one that validates

Google Shopping accepts XML (RSS or Atom format) or delimited text files (CSV/TSV). XML is most common as it handles special characters reliably. For catalogues over 20,000 products, compressed CSV is more efficient. Google also accepts feeds via the Content API for large-scale or frequently-updating catalogues. Trajekt generates XML by default and switches to CSV automatically for large feeds.

Required fields include: id, title, description, link, image_link, price, availability, brand, and condition. For products with barcodes, gtin is effectively required. Additional required fields depend on the product category — apparel requires size and gender, for example. Missing required fields cause product disapprovals in Merchant Center.

Google requires feed updates at least every 30 days to prevent products from expiring. For e-commerce with changing prices and stock, daily updates are strongly recommended. If you have flash sales or frequent stock changes, twice-daily updates keep your listings accurate. Trajekt supports up to twice-daily automatic feed refreshes with a stable URL for Google to fetch from.

A GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) is a product barcode — for UK products this is typically an EAN-13. While not technically mandatory, Google strongly prefers GTINs as they improve product matching accuracy. Products without GTINs must include identifier_exists: no and may have lower visibility. Trajekt maps GTINs from your product barcodes automatically.

Common disapproval reasons: price mismatch between feed and website, missing required fields, low-quality images (minimum 100×100px), mismatched title or description vs landing page, availability mismatch, and policy violations. Trajekt validates your feed against common disapproval causes before submission and logs warnings for potential issues.

Standard Shopping campaigns give you manual control over product groups, bids, and targeting. Performance Max uses your Merchant Center feed across all Google surfaces — Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail — using Google's AI for targeting and bidding. Both use the same product feed. A well-optimised feed improves performance in both campaign types.

No. Google Shopping uses XML with g: namespace attributes, submitted to Merchant Center. ChatGPT Shopping uses JSONL with different field names, delivered via SFTP to OpenAI. They are incompatible formats. Trajekt can generate both from the same source data — connect your store once and output to both platforms simultaneously.

Custom labels (custom_label_0 through custom_label_4) let you add your own segmentation data to products. Common uses include profit margin tiers, seasonal flags, clearance status, bestseller tags, and new arrivals. You can then set different bids per segment in Shopping campaigns. Trajekt's rules engine sets custom labels based on any field in your product data.

Steps: 1) Create Google Merchant Center account and verify your website, 2) Go to Products > Feeds > Add Primary Feed, 3) Choose target country (UK) and language, 4) Select 'Scheduled fetch' as upload method, 5) Enter your Trajekt feed URL. Google then fetches your feed on your chosen schedule automatically. You never need to manually upload again.

google_product_category is a numeric ID from Google's product taxonomy that categorises your products for better targeting. For example, 1604 covers outerwear, 5672 covers tops and shirts. Providing accurate categories improves visibility in category Shopping searches. Trajekt's rules engine can map your product_type values to correct Google taxonomy IDs automatically.