Optimize exports to Google Merchant Center with rule boxes
Optimize exports to Google Merchant Center with rule boxes in Data View in Productsup.
Google has specific requirements for exports to Google Merchant Center. Several rule boxes let you optimize your data feed in Data View to meet these requirements.
Note
Some rule boxes only apply to specific sales verticals. For example, the Set Size Type or Set Gender rule boxes mainly relate to clothing retailers.
The following list shows how you can optimize your data feed for GMC with rule boxes. Select the link to go to the necessary section:
Tip
Some rule boxes use regular expressions (regex). See Transform data with regular expressions and split strings to learn about regex. The rule boxes that use regex are:
Set Age Group by Regex
Set Condition by Regex
Set Gender by Regex
Set Size Type by Regex
You can get a suggestion on a necessary regular expression:
Select a necessary rule box.
Select the >_ icon in a rule box and describe the result you want to achieve in the Regex generator window.
Select Generate.
Select copy below the Answer field.
Paste the copied answer into the RegEx field of the rule box.
Set a valid age group for products
Google accepts the following entries for the age group column:
adult
kid
infant
toddler
newborn
You can replace your values with valid age groups in your data feed with one of the two rule boxes:
Set Age Group
Set Age Group by Regex
The Set Age Group rule box lets you add a necessary value to your attribute column by selecting from the age groups valid for GMC.
Go to Data View from the site's main menu.
Choose the Intermediate stage or the desired export channel from the drop-down menu in the upper ribbon.
Select Edit in the necessary image column.
Select the Add Box drop-down menu.
Search for and select the Set Age Group rule box.
Select the relevant age group from the drop-down menu.
Select Save.
The Set Age Group by Regex rule box lets you specify the values you want to replace with age groups for GMC.
Go to Data View from the site's main menu.
Choose the Intermediate stage or the desired export channel from the drop-down menu in the upper ribbon.
Select Edit in the necessary attribute column.
Select the Add Box drop-down menu.
Search for and select the Set Age Group by Regex rule box.
Define a regular expression for each possible age group entry.
Select Save.
For example, if you enter #(women)?(female)?(men)?(male)# in Adult, the platform replaces any of these values with adult in the attribute's column.
Set a valid availability for products
Google accepts the following entries for the availability column:
in stock
refurbished
out of stock
preorder
You can replace your entries with valid static values in your data feed with one of the two rule boxes:
Set Availability
Set Availability by Stock
The Set Availability rule box lets you add a necessary value to your attribute column by selecting from the availabilities valid for GMC.
Go to Data View from the site's main menu.
Choose the Intermediate stage or the desired export channel from the drop-down menu in the upper ribbon.
Select Edit in the necessary attribute column.
Select the Add Box drop-down menu.
Search for and select the Set Availability rule box.
Select the relevant availability type from the drop-down menu.
Select Save.
The Set Availability by Stock rule box lets you set the stock value to in stock or out of stock for every product with stock greater than 0.
Go to Data View from the site's main menu.
Choose the Intermediate stage or the desired export channel from the drop-down menu in the upper ribbon.
Select Edit in the necessary attribute column.
Select the Add Box drop-down menu.
Search for and select the Set Availability by Stock rule box.
Select the attribute column containing the stock information from the drop-down menu.
Select Save.
Set a valid condition for products
Google accepts the following entries for the condition column:
new
refurbished
used
You can replace your entries with valid static values in your data feed with one of the two rule boxes:
Set Condition
Set Condition by Regex
The Set Condition rule box lets you add a necessary value to your attribute column by selecting from the conditions valid for GMC.
Go to Data View from the site's main menu.
Choose the Intermediate stage or desired export channel from the drop-down menu in the upper ribbon.
Select Edit in the necessary attribute column.
Select the Add Box drop-down menu.
Search for and select the Set Condition rule box.
Select the relevant condition type from the drop-down menu.
Select Save.
The Set Condition by Regex rule box lets you specify the values you want to replace with conditions valid for GMC.
Go to Data View from the site's main menu.
Choose the Intermediate stage or the desired export channel from the drop-down menu in the upper ribbon.
Select Edit in the necessary attribute column.
Select the Add Box drop-down menu.
Search for and select the Set Condition by Regex rule box.
Define a regular expression for each possible condition entry.
Select Save.
For example, if you enter #(new)?(packaged)# in New, the platform replaces any of these values with new in the attribute's column.
Set a valid expiration date for products
To set an expiration date in the expiration date column for your export to GMC, take the following actions:
Go to Data View from the site's main menu.
Choose the Intermediate stage or the desired export channel from the drop-down menu in the upper ribbon.
Select Edit in the necessary attribute column.
Select the Add Box drop-down menu.
Search for and select the Set Expiration Date rule box.
Enter the necessary number of days after which the offer expires.
Note
You can enter no more than 31 days in the rule box starting today's date. If you add 32 days or more, it results in a blank column.
Select Save.
Set a valid gender for products
Google accepts the following entries for the gender column:
unisex
female
male
You can replace your entries with valid static values in your data feed with one of two rule boxes:
Set Gender
Set Gender by Regex
The Set Gender rule box lets you add a necessary value to your attribute column by selecting from the genders valid for GMC.
Go to Data View from the site's main menu.
Choose the Intermediate stage or the desired export channel from the drop-down menu in the upper ribbon.
Select Edit in the necessary attribute column.
Select the Add Box drop-down menu.
Search for and select the Set Gender rule box.
Select the relevant gender from the drop-down menu.
Select Save.
The Set Gender by Regex rule box lets you specify the values you want to replace with genders valid for GMC.
Go to Data View from the site's main menu.
Choose the Intermediate stage or the desired export channel from the drop-down menu in the upper ribbon.
Select Edit in the necessary attribute column.
Select the Add Box drop-down menu.
Search for and select the Set Gender by Regex rule box.
Define a regular expression for each possible gender entry.
Select Save.
For example, if you enter #(male)?(men)?(boys)# in Male regex, the platform replaces these values with male in the attribute's column.
Set size type and system
Google accepts the following entries for the size column:
regular
petite
plus
maternity
You can replace your entries with valid static values in your data feed with one of the two rule boxes:
Set Size Type
Set Size Type by Regex
The Set Size Type rule box lets you add a necessary value to your attribute column by selecting from the sizes valid for GMC.
Go to Data View from the site's main menu.
Choose the Intermediate stage or the desired export channel from the drop-down menu in the upper ribbon.
Select Edit in the necessary attribute column.
Select the Add Box drop-down menu.
Search for and select the Set Size Type rule box.
Select the relevant size type from the drop-down menu.
Select Save.
The Set Size Type by Regex rule box lets you specify the values you want to replace with sizes valid for GMC.
Go to Data View from the site's main menu.
Choose the Intermediate stage or the desired export channel from the drop-down menu in the upper ribbon.
Select Edit in the necessary attribute column.
Select the Add Box drop-down menu.
Search for and select the Set Size Type by Regex rule box.
Define a regular expression for each possible size type entry.
Select Save.
For example, if you enter #(reg)# in Regular, the platform replaces it with regular in the attribute's column. If you enter #(L)?(XL)# in Plus, the platform replaces them with plus in the attribute's column.
You can also set the size system relevant for a necessary country (for example, UK, US, DE) as required by Google. For that, apply the Set Size System rule box.
Go to Data View from the site's main menu.
Choose the Intermediate stage or the desired export channel from the drop-down menu in the upper ribbon.
Select Edit in the necessary attribute column.
Select the Add Box drop-down menu.
Search for and select the Set Size System rule box.
Select the relevant size system from the drop-down menu.
Select Save.
Translate Google categories
If you have Google categories in your data feed, you can translate them into another language or replace them with the category IDs, which are the same for all languages.
Go to Data View from the site's main menu.
Choose the Intermediate stage or the desired export channel from the drop-down menu in the upper ribbon.
Select Edit in the necessary attribute column.
Select the Add Box drop-down menu.
Search for and select the Translate Google Category rule box.
Select the source format for your categories in the Source Format drop-down menu.
Select the target format - either another language or the category ID in the Target Format drop-down menu.
Select Save.
Consider using the taxonomy lists feature to create the mapping from your internal product categories to Google's taxonomy. See Replace attributes with Partner Taxonomy Mapping list for more information.
Tip
You can use the Translate Google Category rule box to remove all the invalid categories from your feed. If you select the same languages in Source Format and Target Format (for example, en-US to en-US), the taxonomy remains the same, but the platform filters out all invalid categories.
Set the identifier exists attribute
You can use the identifier exists attribute to indicate that unique product identifiers (UPIs) aren't available for your product. See Identifier exists for more information.
The Set Identifier Exists rule box needs the information in the brand, gtin, mpn, and category columns of the Intermediate stage to detect whether an identifier exists.
If an identifier exists for a product, the identifier exists column stays empty, which equals true when exporting to the Google Merchant Center. If there is no identifier for a product, the column displays false.
Go to Data View from the site's main menu.
Choose the Intermediate stage or the desired export channel from the drop-down menu in the upper ribbon.
Select Edit in the necessary attribute column.
Select the Add Box drop-down menu.
Search for and select the Set Identifier Exists rule box.
Select a column that corresponds to the category from the drop-down menu.
Select Save.
Split the category into several groups
Each category shouldn't exceed 1000 items to meet Google's requirements.
The Split Group evenly rule box lets you split your category with more than 1000 items into subcategories with an even number of items in each.
Go to Data View from the site's main menu.
Choose the Intermediate stage or the desired export channel from the drop-down menu in the upper ribbon.
Select Edit in the necessary attribute column.
Select the Add Box drop-down menu.
Search for and select the Split Group evenly rule box.
Select the column containing the product ID in the drop-down menu.
Enter the name the separated categories should have.
Enter the number of subgroups you want to have.
Select Save.