Merchant Center Product Feed Optimisation: The Most Important Attributes

The short answer

The most important Merchant Center product feed attributes are product ID, title, description, link, image link, price, availability, brand, GTIN or MPN, Google product category, product type, item group ID, shipping, sale price, and custom labels.

Some attributes help products get approved. Others help Google understand what the product is. The best feeds do both: they keep products eligible and make the catalogue easier to match, segment, and optimise.

For ecommerce brands running Shopping or Performance Max, feed optimisation is not admin. It is performance work.

Why feed attributes matter

Google Shopping and retail Performance Max campaigns rely heavily on product data. Feed attributes influence:

• Whether products are approved
• Which searches products match to
• What appears in the ad
• Click-through rate
• Product grouping
• Reporting quality
• Bidding and segmentation
• PMax automation quality

If the feed is weak, Google has weaker inputs. Campaign changes can help, but they cannot fully compensate for poor product data.

The most important required attributes

These attributes keep products eligible and understandable.

Attribute	Why it matters
ID	Stable product identifier used for reporting and history
Title	One of the strongest relevance and click-through signals
Description	Adds product context and long-tail relevance
Link	Sends users to the product page
Image link	Major click-through and approval factor
Price	Needed for ads and comparison
Availability	Prevents wasted clicks on unavailable products
Brand	Helps Google understand the product
GTIN or MPN	Improves product matching and eligibility
Condition	Required for many products

Do not only ask whether these fields exist. Ask whether they are useful.

Product title

Product title is one of the highest-impact fields.

Strong titles usually include:

• Brand
• Product type
• Key attribute
• Size, colour, material, or gender where relevant
• Search language customers use

Example format:

• Brand + Product Type + Key Feature + Size/Variant
• Product Type + Use Case + Material + Brand

Avoid:

• Keyword stuffing
• Internal shorthand
• Vague titles
• Missing variant details
• Titles that start with unhelpful promotional text

Better titles help Shopping and PMax understand the product and improve the ad shown to shoppers.

Product description

Descriptions are less visible than titles, but they still add useful context.

Use descriptions to clarify:

• Use case
• Features
• Materials
• Compatibility
• Sizing
• Benefits
• Included items

Avoid copying thin manufacturer text if it does not explain the product clearly.

Google product category

Google product category maps your item into Google's taxonomy.

It matters because:

• Some categories have specific requirements
• Google uses it to understand the product
• It can affect approval and matching
• It supports cleaner reporting

Use the most specific accurate category available. Do not leave important categories vague.

Product type

Product type is your own taxonomy. It should reflect how you want to manage and report the catalogue.

Good product types are:

• Consistent
• Hierarchical
• Commercially useful
• Aligned with site categories
• Stable over time

Example:

• Footwear > Running Shoes > Trail Running Shoes
• Skincare > Moisturisers > SPF Moisturisers

This helps reporting, segmentation, and custom labels.

Brand and identifiers

Brand, GTIN, and MPN help Google match your products to known items.

Use:

• Brand for the manufacturer or recognised brand
• GTIN where available
• MPN where GTIN is not available
• Identifier exists only when appropriate

Missing or incorrect identifiers can reduce matching quality and create Merchant Center issues.

Image link

Images affect approval and click-through rate.

Strong images are:

• Clear
• High resolution
• Product-focused
• Accurate to the variant
• Free of overlays or promotional text where not allowed
• Consistent with the landing page

For fashion, beauty, homeware, and lifestyle products, image quality can materially affect performance.

Price, sale price, and availability

Price and availability must match the landing page.

Check:

• Price
• Sale price
• Sale price effective date
• Availability
• Shipping
• Tax where relevant
• Currency

Mismatches can cause disapprovals or poor user experience. They also waste clicks when users land on unexpected pricing or unavailable items.

Item group ID and variants

Use item group ID to connect variants of the same product.

Important variant attributes include:

• Colour
• Size
• Material
• Pattern
• Age group
• Gender

This helps Google understand product families and show the right variant.

Shipping

Shipping affects both approval and conversion.

Include accurate:

• Shipping country
• Service
• Price
• Delivery time
• Free shipping rules

If shipping is expensive or unclear, Shopping click-through and conversion can suffer.

Custom labels

Custom labels are not shown to shoppers, but they are extremely useful for management.

Use custom labels for:

• Margin band
• Price band
• Stock level
• Seasonality
• Bestseller status
• Promotion status
• Product lifecycle
• Performance tier

Custom labels turn the feed into a management layer. They help you separate products by commercial priority.

Which attributes matter most for PMax?

For Performance Max, the most important feed attributes are the ones that improve product understanding and segmentation:

• Title
• Product type
• Google product category
• Brand
• GTIN
• Image
• Price
• Availability
• Custom labels

PMax has less manual query control than Standard Shopping, so feed clarity matters even more.

Feed optimisation order

Use this order:

1. Fix disapprovals and limited products.
2. Ensure price, availability, and links are accurate.
3. Improve product titles.
4. Clean product type and category.
5. Add missing identifiers.
6. Improve images.
7. Add custom labels.
8. Review shipping.
9. Segment campaigns or asset groups using the improved data.

Do not jump straight to campaign restructuring if the product data is weak.