In this section, we will look at how a paid Google product feed can be used in Google Shopping advertising.

Google product feeds are part of the Product Feeds extension. The extension also includes conversion tracking, which provides comprehensive information about the effectiveness of your advertising (e.g., how many people have clicked on your ad and then placed an order in your online store).

Ordering product feeds

Only an admin account can order product feeds.

Here's how to order a new Google product feed for an online store version.

  1. In the admin panel, go to Account > Apps > Product feeds.
  2. Press Order new product feed and select the store version to which the product feed is associated.

    The product feed contains information about all products that are visible in the store version.

  3. Select the target countries for the feed.
    • The countries available for selection depend on the language of the version. A feed for an English version can be targeted to any country, but a Finnish feed, for example, is only available in Finland.
    • To add or remove target countries afterwards, press the three-point icon on the product feed row and select Edit.
  4. Accept the terms of service and save the feed.
  5. Optional: If necessary, enter the Google conversion settings (conversion ID and conversion label), which can be accessed via the three-point icon on the product feed row.
    • After you have entered the conversion settings, Google Ads allows you to track the sales generated through the feed's ads.
    • You can also add the conversion tracking later or remove it by modifying the feed settings.

      The Google Ads conversion settings defined in the feed settings will overwrite any other Ads tracking scripts that are used in the version.

The identifier and address of the feed you ordered will now appear at the bottom of the extension page. You can inspect the contents of the feed by copying its address and pasting it into the address bar of your browser.

After you have saved the feed, its costs will be included in the next invoice you receive from MyCashflow.

After ordering the feed you can copy its address to the product advertising service you want.

Availability

This section explores how the Google feed supports different countries, languages and currencies. After setting these correctly you can, for example, create Google Shopping ads optimized for a certain target area.

Feed destination countries and languages

From the list below, see where you can advertise your products with the Google product feed. You can target a campaign for an English-language store version to any country on the list, but depending on the destination country, product feeds from store versions in other languages may also be possible (the alternative languages are shown for each country in parentheses). Learn more about using product feeds in different languages and currencies.

  • Netherlands (Dutch)*
  • Australia
  • Belgium (Dutch, French)*
  • Spain (Spanish)
  • Ireland
  • Italy (Italian)
  • Austria (German)*
  • Canada
  • Greece
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxemburg
  • Portugali (portugali)
  • France (French)
  • Sweden (Swedish)**
  • Germany (German)
  • Slovakia
  • Finland (Finnish, Swedish)**
  • Denmark (Danish)
  • Estonia (Estonian)
  • United States

* you must offer home delivery for the products on offer.

** you must offer home delivery or pickup from a pickup point for the products on offer.

If a country or language you are interested in is missing from the table, please contact the MyCashflow customer support via the admin panel's chat feature, for example. We can investigate whether it is possible to broaden the support for languages and countries.

Updating the product feed

Product feeds are updated automatically once a day in the early morning. Changes made to products in the online store or additions or deletions of products are therefore not immediately visible in the feeds.

You can also update the product feed manually on the admin panel page Account > Apps > Product feeds by pressing the button next to the feed to be updated. You can update the feed once every 30 minutes.

Specifying the language and currency of a product feed

You can specify the language and currency of your product feed according to the target country, which will make your ads more efficient in this country.

Here's how to specify the language and currency according to the target country:

  1. Enable the Currency Converter extension, and select the target country's currency in its settings.

    If you sell to Sweden, you may want to enable Klarna Payments in your Swedish version in order to be able to accept payments directly in the Swedish krona.

  2. Create a store version in the language of the target country.
    • Select the target country's currency as the version's default currency.
    • Select the target country as the version's default country.

When you specify store version settings according to the instructions above, your customers will see the same information and prices both in the ads that appear in the Google networks and in your online store.

Using product features to modify the contents of the product feed

Almost all of the product data supported by Google can be specified as product features, including details for which there is no built-in support in MyCashflow (e.g., condition or energy efficiency class).

This is how you can add new product information:

  1. Create a new product feature for the product data you want to add:

    As the product feature identifier, enter the Google product data identifier (e.g., condition).

  2. Create the necessary values for the product feature.

    If there are restrictions set by Google regarding the contents of the product data (e.g., gender or condition), you can see them on the list of Google product data attributes.

  3. Add the product feature to products that should contain the product data in the Google product feed.

    New product information will be included in the product feed when the feed is next updated .

Deleting a product feed

Here's how to delete a product feed from a version and terminate the associated advertising:

  1. In the admin panel, go to Account > Apps > Product feeds.

    The ordered product feeds are listed in the bottom section on the extension page.

  2. Press the Delete button for the product feed to be deleted.

    A dialog window opens, asking for confirmation that you want to delete the feed permanently.

  3. Press the Delete button in the dialog window.

    The product feed is deleted from the list of feeds.

The advertising associated with the deleted product feed will cease once the ad service's bot next time checks the updates for your product feeds.

Product feed content

The product information is included in the feed entries, some of which are automatically determined by system-generated information and some by the product information you define yourself. Additionally, you can define optional input fields with MyCashflow's product features.

The type of input field below is indicated by the entry's font according to the following format:

The input is in XML format.

Required

At least the following information must be specified for Google to accept the product into its system:

  • Name <g:title>: the product name must be specified in the product form's Name field. If the product has variations, the same input field will also include the variation name from the Stock tab of the product card.
  • Visibility (the product must be visible in the product feed's store version and belong to a product category that is visible in some version).
  • Package size (which must be supported by at least one shipping method available for shipments to the target country).
  • Description <g:description>: write a short description in the product form field Description. Additionally, the feed description includes the product form field Product information.
  • Price <g:price>: the normal price and currency of the product or product variation.
  • Product type <g:product_type>: the entire category path of the product in the online store.
  • Image link <g:image_link>: the URL address for the main image of the product or product variation.
  • Google product category <g:google_product_category>: Product category according to Google's classification system.

    If the Google product category is Apparel & Accessories, also specify the following attributes of the target audience and the product:

    • gender
    • age group
    • product color
    • product size.

    The gender and age group can be set by using CSV import. To set the color and size, use product features.

Manufacturer's product identifiers

The manufacturer's product identifiers identify the product on the international market and improve its findability. However, not all products have an identifier. If you're not sure what the correct product identifier is, leave the information unspecified, as incorrect information may result in product disapproval.

  • GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) <g:gtin>: a primary product identifier, typically an EAN identified by a barcode on the product or its packaging. (Enter the ID in the Barcode field on the product card's Stock tab. Learn more about barcodes.)
  • Brand <g:brand>: a brand that is clearly visible on the product or its packaging. (If the brand has already been added to your store, it will be included in the Brand drop-down menu in the product form's Visibility settings section. Learn more about adding and editing brands.)
  • MPN (Manufacturer Part Number) <g:mpn>: manufacturer's product number. (Enter the product number in the Product code field in the product form's Purchasing price, product numbers & suppliers information section.)
  • Identifier exists <g:identifier_exists>: the value is true if GTIN or both brand and MPN have been specified. The value is false, if no product identifier has been specified, or if only brand or MPN has been specified.

Read more about the manufacturer's product identifiers on Google's website.

Additional product management information

  • ID <g:id>: the store's own identifier to identify a product or product variation.
  • Link <g:link>: the URL address for the product or product variation page.
  • Additional image link <g:additional_image_link>: the URL address for an additional product image (max. 10 additional images).

Detailed product description

  • Item group ID <g:item_group_id>: a unique identifier for the main product of a product variation.
  • Condition <g:condition>
  • Material <g:material>
  • Pattern or graphic printing <g:pattern>
  • Color <g:color>
  • Size <g:size>
  • Gender <g:gender>
  • Age group <g:age_group>
  • Adult entertainment <g:adult>: the product is related to sex, is erotic in nature or contains nudity.
  • Product information <g:product_detail>: technical or other additional information about the product using the following sub-definitions:
    • Attribute name <g:attribute_name>
    • Product attribute value <g:attribute_value>

Availability and complementary pricing information

  • Availability <g:availability>: information regarding the availability of the product or product variation. Possible values:
    • in stock [in stock]
    • product out of stock [out of stock]
    • preorder [preorder], if the product form's Limited availability section includes a defined start date
    • backorder [backorder], if the product is out of stock and an alternative delivery time has been set for it in the stock settings.
  • Availability date <g:availability_date>: the starting time of the product's or product variation's availability, if the product is pre-orderable.
  • Cost of goods sold <g:cost_of_goods_sold>: the purchase price for the product or product variation.
  • Sale price <g:sale_price>: based on a discount campaign that applies to the product or product variation.
    The sale price has to meet the following requirements:
    • The product has been available at its regular price for at least 90 days.
    • The discount is greater than 5% and less than 90%.
    • The campaign duration is limited.
  • Sale price effective date <g:sale_price_effective_date>: the time the sale price for the product or product variation is effective.

Locations

  • Excluded destination <g:excluded_destination>: this setting allows you to exclude the product from a certain kind of program or advertising campaign by using the following identifiers:
    • Shopping_ads
    • Buy_on_Googlelistings
    • Display_ads
    • Local_inventory_ads
    • Free_listings
    • Free_local_listings

Shipping

  • Shipping <g:shipping>: the following shipping information is fetched by the system:
    • Shipping country <g:country>: an allowed target country for the product.
    • Shipping price <g:price>: the price for shipping the product.

Other settings

  • Own identifier 0–2 <g:custom_label_n>: your own identifier to organize Shopping campaign bids and reporting.