Use the business identity attributes in Merchant Center to tell customers about the identity of your business on the "Shopping" tab.
In the “Your business” section of Merchant Center, you can choose:
- Black-owned
- Latino-owned
- Small business*
- Veteran-owned
- Women-owned
*Only available on the "Search" and "Maps" tab.
Self-identification is optional, and is currently only available to retailers based in the United States.
On this page
How it works
If you select a business identity attribute, customers will notice a small icon signifying that your business identifies as such on your product description pages (PDP) on Google Search. Customers are also able to filter for businesses using the identity attributes.
In addition, if you opt into “Include my business in promotions for..." your selected identity attributes, your business and products may also be featured on Google pages that highlight businesses with specific identity attributes.
You need to be eligible to show free listings in order for the icon to show on your product description pages. To be eligible for free listings, follow the policies for both free listings, and ads. Eligibility also depends on your account status and the quality of the data you provide.
New attribute “Small business” becomes available now
If you opt into “Small business”, shoppers will view the annotation next to your products on Search. The annotation highlights your status as a small business, helping people who care about small businesses to find you.
This can also help shoppers discover you when they are looking to shop from a small business.
Is my business “small”?
Google considers small business to be ones that:
- Isn't a franchise
and
- Has annual revenue less than $10 million
Google might automatically opt-in businesses as a small business based on various signals including offer price, web traffic etc. However, If you believe you meet the criterias above and are also interested in this new feature, you can choose to opt-in any time.
Independent sellers on e-commerce marketplaces that meet the Small Business definition outlined above will also be able to participate in this feature. If you're an interested seller, reach out to your marketplace to participate.
If you're a marketplace interested in enabling the small business feature for your sellers, you must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Structure your Google Merchant Center account to separate individual sellers into individual seller-specific sub-accounts.
- Be willing and be able to identify eligible sellers and opt your sellers in / out at their request.
- Agree to include the seller’s name in the offer listings on Google.
To express interest in participating, marketplaces should submit a request to Google via an email from this form.
Instructions
| In your Merchant Center account, click the Your business |
|
| On the “Business details” card, click Edit business details. | |
| Scroll down to the “Business identity attributes” section. | |
| Switch the toggle button next to the appropriate identity attribute to turn it on or off. | |
| If you'd like your business and products to potentially appear on pages featuring the selected identity attributes,. check the box next to “Include my business in promotions for...” |
Remember: When you switch this business attribute on, you're publicly stating that someone of the identity you’ve selected owns your business.
If you don’t select this option, your business will still be identified with the selected identity attributes on the product description pages on the "Shopping" tab.
You can toggle your business identity attributes, and opt in and out of promotions involving a business identity attribute, at any time. Keep in mind that it can take some time for any changes you make to be reflected on your product description pages on the "Shopping" tab.
Troubleshooting and availability
Only US-based retailers who have a Merchant Center account with a business country are currently able to use this feature. You can confirm if your account has a business country set by navigating to “Business info” and checking the “country” field in the “Business details” card.
For the small business attribute, Google might review if you fit the small business criteria and might not show you as a small business if you don't.
Need to add your business country?
Only US-based retailers who have a Merchant Center account with a business country are currently able to use this feature. You can confirm if your account has a business country set by navigating to “Your Business” section in Merchant Center, and checking your business details. The feature will become available to all US-based retailers in the coming months. To add a business country in your account settings:
| Open the Merchant Center contact form. | |
| In the “Tell us what you need help with” field, write “Change business country to US”. | |
| Click Next. | |
| In the “Confirm issue” section, select “Other”. | |
| Scroll down, and click Next step. | |
| Choose your contact option, and fill out your details. | |
| Click Submit. |
Reporting abuse
Google doesn't tolerate abuse or harassment of our retailer partners. If we detect that a retailer who has selected one of the business identity attributes is receiving harassing user reviews or other mistreatment through Google’s platform as a result of their self-identification, our abuse teams will swiftly address the issue.
You can report negative or abusive reviews that you believe you’ve received as a result of identifying your business as owned by someone of the identity you’ve selected. Google will investigate each report and strive to take appropriate action.
To report a store or product review, click the 3-dot menu in the top right corner of the review, and then click "Report". Fill out the report and submit it.