Description [description]

Use the description [description] attribute to tell customers about your product. List product features, technical specifications, and visual attributes. A detailed description will help us show your product to the right customers.

When to use

Required for all products.

Format

Follow these formatting guidelines to make sure Google understands the data you're submitting.

For details on when and how to submit values in English, learn more about submitting your product data.

Type	String (Unicode characters. Recommend: ASCII only)
Limits	Up to 10,000 characters
Repeated field	No

 

File format	Example value
Text feeds	These pens feature a generous grip for comfortable writing and a retractable ballpoint.
XML feeds	<g:description>These pens feature a generous grip for comfortable writing and a retractable ballpoint.</g:description>

Guidelines

Follow these guidelines to make sure you submit high-quality data for your products.

Minimum requirements

These are the requirements you'll need to meet to show your product on Google. If you don't follow these requirements, we'll disapprove your product and let you know in the Diagnostics page of your Manufacturer Center account.

• Describe only the product itself. Don't describe other aspects like details about compatible products, accessories, other similar products available. Don't provide your business’s history or policies.
• Use professional and grammatically correct language. Correct grammar is easier to understand and gives you a more professional appearance, which can lead to more clicks. Also avoid gimmicky ways of drawing attention such as all caps, symbols, HTML tags, and promotional text. Descriptions should never start with the title or the product name. They should start (and end) with full sentences. Learn more about the editorial and professional requirements.
• Don’t use words from foreign languages, unless they’re well understood such as a product with a foreign name or title.
  • For example ,“sushi” is a word well understood outside of Japan.
  • Write foreign words using the alphabet of your target language. For example, avoid Japanese characters when targeting the United States. Letters with accents, like “Les Clés" are allowed.
  • Don’t use foreign characters for gimmicky purposes. This technique is common in spam and untrustworthy ads. For example: (ಠ_ಠ)
• Use XML entities or escaped characters instead of symbols. If you’re submitting your product data in XML, and you need to include symbols, make sure to follow the XML specification. So for XML, use XML entities such as ". If you automatically encode your description, be careful not to encode it twice.
• Don’t include comparisons or details about other products. For example, don't mention things like "even better than X." Let customers research other products on their own.
• Don’t include references to categorization systems. For example, don’t include "Toys & Games > Toys > Baby Dolls." Include this information using the product type [product_type] attribute.
• Don’t include links to your websites. Do not include any contact information for your company.
• Don’t use capital letters for emphasis. Capitalized text is common in spam and untrustworthy ads. You should still use capitalization when it’s appropriate, including for abbreviations, countries, and currency. For example, "ADHD", "UNICEF", "UK", and "USD".
• Don’t include promotional text. Don’t add information such as price, sale price, sale dates, shipping, delivery date, or other time-related information.

Best practices

These best practices can help you go beyond the basic requirements to optimize your product data for performance.

• Be specific and accurate. The more specific you are in your description, the easier it is for customers to identify the product they are searching for.
• List the most important details in the first 160 - 500 characters. You can include up to 10,000 characters, but customers will need to click to expand a longer description.
• Include your product’s most relevant features and visual attributes. Examples of types of information to include:
  • Size
  • Material
  • Intended age range
  • Special features
  • Technical specifications
  • Shape
  • Pattern
  • Texture
  • Design. For example, customers can search for very specific visual terms like “retractable ballpoint pens."
  • Variants. Include product defining details like color, size, age group, pattern, flavor, or material.

Additional guidelines

Review each section closely to determine if the requirements apply to your product. If you don't follow requirements that apply to you, we'll disapprove your product and let you know in the Diagnostics page of your Manufacturer Center account.

Customized goods

Include a description of the product’s customization details. For example, if a product can be engraved with text, add that information to the description.

Examples

Hardware and software

Product data for a Google Chromecast
Attribute	Value
Description [description]	Chromecast is a media streaming device that plugs into the HDMI port on your TV. Simply use your mobile device and the TV you already own to cast your favorite TV shows, movies, music, sports, games, and more. Chromecast works with iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows, and Chromebook.

Books

Product data for a book titled, “How Google Works”
Attribute	Value
Description [description]	“How Google works” is an entertaining, page-turning primer containing lessons that Eric and Jonathan learned as they helped build the company. The authors explain how technology has shifted the balance of power from companies to consumers, and that the only way to succeed in this ever-changing landscape is to create superior products and attract a new breed of multifaceted employees whom Eric and Jonathan dub "smart creatives."

Products with variants

Product data for pens with red ink
Attribute	Value
Description [description]	These pens feature a generous grip for comfortable writing and a push, retractable ballpoint that provides for easy ink flow. Red ink.

 

Product data for pens with black ink
Attribute	Value
Description [description]	These pens feature a generous grip for comfortable writing and a push, retractable ballpoint that provides for easy ink flow. Black ink.