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Participation criteria and policies

This article provides details about where the promotions feature is available, participation criteria, and program policies.

Use promotions to highlight the benefit of purchasing from your store when shoppers decide where to buy. Shoppers can view your online promotions across different Google properties for shopping ads and free product listings, including Google Search, the Shopping tab, Chrome, and more. Promotions can also be applied to global offers and offers with regional availability and pricing (only available in the US).

Availability

Promotions are available for Shopping ads and free listings in the following countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Spain, the UK, and the US. Promotions are automatically enabled for all eligible accounts. If the "Promotions" card (located on the "Manage programs" page) in Merchant Center hasn't been enabled, fill out the interest form to request enrollment.

Note: To complete the form, you must have a Google Merchant Center account with an active products feed. Learn how to configure your accounts

Participation criteria

To use promotions, they must meet the following criteria:

You also need to create promotion types that are usable for anyone who shops on Google.

Promotion types allowed

You can use the following promotion types:

Promotion Type Additional information

Discounts

$ off or % off Discounts must be at least $5 or 5% off
x% off, maximum discount $y n/a
$x off $50+, $y off $100, or $z off $150 Tiered discounts allowed
x% to y% off Floor discounts (like minimum amount or percent saved) must be stated
Buy one get one free or buy one get 2nd x% off n/a
$x cash back or $x cash rebates Must be reflected at cart or checkout
Free gifts Free item Must clearly describe the free gift and item can't be samples or trials
$x gift card on purchase Title must clearly state the gift card value and gift card must be from your own store
Shipping Free shipping

Must have valid redemption code

Exception: No redemption code necessary when combined with another permissible promotion (for example: free shipping + 10% off)

Promotion types not allowed

You can't use the following promotion types:

Promotion Type Additional information

Vague discounts

Up to y% off or “as much as x saved” Floor discount must be stated
x% Cash Back or Reward Points Back

Cash back in percent and reward points aren't allowed.

Exception: If combined with a permissible promotion

Overly restrictive All promotions restricted to a subset of shoppers (for example: military discounts, birthdays, PayPal users, and others) n/a
Other Discounts must not already be reflected on the product landing page n/a
Shipping discounts without a redemption code and not combined with a permissible promotion n/a
Promotions exceeding a duration of 6 months n/a
Note: There's no longer a limit on the number of open promotions. The previous limit of 500 has been removed.

Policies

Google’s policies provide important guidance for retailers participating in promotions. To make sure you understand the expectations, review the editorial requirements and policies. Google disapproves promotions that do not comply with these requirements and policies.

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