Use the item group ID [item_group_id] attribute to group product variants in your product data. Variants are a group of similar products that only differ from one another by product details like size [size], color [color], material [material], pattern [pattern], age group [age_group], and gender [gender].
When you use an item group ID [item_group_id] to group your products, you can ensure that your product and its variants are shown to customers as a group, instead of separately.
In this article
When to use
Required for free listings for product variants
Required for Shopping ads for product variants targeting the following countries:
- Brazil
- France
- Germany
- Japan
- United Kingdom
- United States
Format
Follow these formatting guidelines to make sure Google understands the data you're submitting.
Learn when and how to submit your product data in English
| Type | Unicode characters (Recommended: ASCII only): alphanumeric, underscores, and dashes |
|---|---|
| Limits | 1–50 characters |
| Repeated field | No |
| Schema.org property (What’s this?) |
|
| File format | Example value |
|---|---|
| Text feeds | AB12345 |
| XML feeds | <g:item_group_id>AB12345</g:item_group_id> |
To format your data for Content API, see the Content API for Shopping resource.
Minimum requirements
These are the requirements you'll need to meet to show your product. If you don't follow these requirements, we'll disapprove your product and let you know in the Diagnostics page in your Merchant Center account.
- Submit a unique ID for each different product. Use the same value for the item group ID
[item_group_id]attribute for all variants of the same product. For example, a T-shirt comes in 9 variants: 3 sizes (small, medium, large) and 3 colors (red, blue, green). Submit each variant as a separate product (for a total of 9 separate products), and submit the same value for the item group ID attribute for each to indicate that these are variants of the same product. - Each distinct item group must have a unique value for the item group ID
[item_group_id]attribute.- Don’t rely on casing to make the item group ID unique. The values "abc123" and "ABC123" are interpreted as the same product.
- Don’t reuse or recycle the same item group ID attribute for different products.
-
Submit a variant attribute along with the item group ID attribute. When you submit an item group ID, make sure that your variants use at least one variant attribute like: color
[color], pattern[pattern], material[material], age group[age_group], gender[gender], size[size]. -
Use the same variant attributes for all products with the same item group ID. For example, if you submit a dress in 2 colors and 2 sizes, each product you submit must provide a value for the color
[color]attribute and the size[size]attribute. Don't just provide the color or size for one dress, but not the others. -
Make sure that the product details displayed on your landing page match the values you provide for each attribute like title
[title], color[color], pattern[pattern], material[material], price[price], availability[availability], and image link[image_link]. Learn more about requirements for landing pages
Best practices
These best practices can help you go beyond the basic requirements to optimize your product data for performance.
-
Use the parent SKU as the item group ID value for all variants of the same product. Don't submit a parent SKU as a separate product. If you'd like to group variants using a parent SKU, use the parent SKU as the value for the item group ID
[item_group_id]attribute for all products in the variant group. - Don’t mix up item group ID and ID attributes. Use the ID attribute to uniquely identify a single product, and use item group ID
[item_group_id]to group together several products as variants. -
Don’t submit a value for the item group ID attribute if your product is not a variant. If your product is similar to other products, but not specifically a variant, don’t t submit the item group ID attribute. Some examples of products that are not variants include a suit consisting of a jacket and pants or a set of bath accessories.
- Use a stable item group ID value for each group of product variants. Once you've assigned an item group ID to a product, don't change it. If the item group ID changes often, it could cause inconsistency in the way variants are grouped and shown to customers.
- Don’t use the item group ID attribute for unsupported variants. If your product varies by an unsupported attribute (such as car make and model), or if your product is a build-to-order custom good with a large number of variants (more than 30), then don't use the item group ID attribute to indicate your variants. Review best practices for submitting unsupported variants
- Make sure to have different landing page URL attributes (For example, link
[link], mobile link[mobile_link])for each variant, with each URL using a different path segment and/or query parameters, for example "/t-shirt/green" or "/t-shirt?color=green&size=small" - For instructions on how to best structure your website and URLs for variants, refer to the URL structure article on Search Central.
- For details on how to add Schema.org structured data for variants, refer to the Product variant article on Search Central.
Examples
General examples
 |
Submit variant details through the variant attributes. For example: |
|
||||||||||||||||
| Product data for blue Google logo T-shirt, size medium | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Google Logo T-shirt - Medium - Blue |
|
ID |
12345-M-B |
|
Color |
Blue |
|
Size |
Medium |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/shirt?color=blue&size=medium |
|
Item group ID |
12345 |
 |
Don’t submit variants without variant attributes. |
Apparel products
Apparel products typically come in variants. Use the same item group ID [item_group_id] for each variant. Here’s an example that comes in 2 colors, each in 3 sizes.
Note: The gender [gender] attribute may be mandatory depending on the target country, and is required in order for variant attributes to be displayed accurately.
For this example, you’d submit these 6 variants:
| Product data for white Google Logo T-shirt, size small | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Google Logo T-shirt - Small - White |
|
ID |
12345-S-W |
|
Color |
White |
|
Size |
Small |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/shirt?color=shite&size=small |
|
Item group ID |
12345 |
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Product data for white Google Logo T-shirt, size medium
|
| Product data for black Google Logo T-Shirt, size medium | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Google Logo T-shirt - Medium - Black |
|
ID |
12345-M-B |
|
Color |
Black |
|
Size |
Medium |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/shirt?color=black&size=medium |
|
Item group ID |
12345 |
| Product data for white Google Logo T-Shirt, size large | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Google Logo T-shirt - Large - White |
|
ID |
12345-L-W |
|
Colo |
White |
|
Size |
Large |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/shirt?color=white&size=large |
|
Item group ID |
12345 |
| Product data for black Google Logo T-Shirt, size large | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Google Logo T-shirt - Large - Black |
|
ID |
12345-L-B |
|
Color |
Black |
|
Size |
Large |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/shirt?color=white&size=large |
|
Item group ID |
12345 |
Shoes
Submit shoes in the same way as other apparel products. Group variants of the same product by adding the same item group ID [item_group_id] to each variant.
| Product data for blue, orange, and green Low Top Shoes, size 8 narrow | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Low Top Shoes - 8 Narrow |
|
ID |
12460-8b-blu |
|
Color |
Blue/orange/green |
|
Size |
8B |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/shoes?color=bog&size=8B |
|
Item group ID |
12345 |
| Product data for blue, orange, and green Low Top Shoes, size 8 | |
| Attribute | Value |
|
Title |
Low Top Shoes - 8 |
|
ID |
12460-8-blu |
|
Color |
Blue/orange/green |
|
Size |
8 |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/shoes?color=bog&size=8 |
|
Item group ID |
12345 |
| Product data for Low Top Shoes blue/orange/green, 8 wide | |
| Attribute | Value |
|
Title |
Low Top Shoes - 8 - Wide |
|
ID |
12460-8w-blu |
|
Color |
Blue/orange/green |
|
Size |
8W |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/shoes?color=bog&size=8W |
|
Item group ID |
12345 |
Electronics can be submitted as variants. For example, if a phone is available in multiple colors, you can submit each as a variant by using the same value for the item group ID [item_group_id]attribute.
|
Product data for a blue Google Nexus 6, 32 GB, unlocked
|
| Product data for a white Google Nexus 6, 32 GB | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Google Nexus 6 - 32 GB - Cloud White - With contract |
|
ID |
2345-32gb-cldwh |
|
Color |
Cloud white |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/phone?color=cw |
|
Item group ID |
2345 |
Furniture can be submitted as variants. For example, if a couch is available in multiple fabrics, you can submit each as a variant by using the same value for the item group ID [item_group_id].
| Product data for mid-century microfiber sofa, yellow and gray dot pattern | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Mid-Century Microfiber Sofa - Dot Pattern - Yellow and Gray |
|
ID |
3456-dot-yllw-gry |
|
Color |
Yellow/gray |
|
Material |
Suede |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/sofa/yellowgray?material=suede |
|
Item group ID |
3456 |
| Product data for mid-century microfiber sofa, green leather | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Mid-Century Microfiber Sofa - Leather - Green |
|
ID |
3456-lth-grn |
|
Color |
Green |
|
Material |
Leather |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/sofa/green?material=leather |
|
Item group ID |
3456 |
| Product data for a walnut-colored plywood lounge chair | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Molded Plywood Lounge Chair - Walnut |
|
ID |
1a2b3c-wal |
|
Color |
Walnut |
|
Material |
Plywood |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/chair?color=walnut&material=plywood |
|
Item group ID |
1a2b3c |
| Product data for an ash-colored plywood lounge chair | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Molded Plywood Lounge Chair - Ash |
|
ID |
1a2b3c-ash |
|
Color |
Ash |
|
Material |
Plywood |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/chair?color=ash&material=plywood |
|
Item group ID |
1a2b3c |
Makeup products can be submitted as variants. For example, if makeup comes in multiple colors, you could submit each color as a variant by using the same value for the item group ID [item_group_id] attribute.
| Product data for beige liquid makeup | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Blend Liquid Makeup - Beige |
|
ID |
0987-b |
|
color |
Beige |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/makeup/beige |
|
Item group ID |
0987 |
| Product data for liquid makeup, beige-medium | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Blend Liquid Makeup - Beige Medium |
|
ID |
0987-bmed |
|
Color |
Beige medium |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/makeup/beige-medium |
|
Item group ID |
0987 |