product_type: Definition

Use the product_type attribute to include your own product categorization system in your product data. Unlike the google_product_category attribute, you choose which value to include. The values you submit for product_type can be used to organize the bidding and reporting in your AdWords Shopping campaign. 

When to use

Optional for each product

Format

Follow these formatting guidelines to make sure we understand the data you're submitting. 

Type

String (Unicode characters. Recommended: ASCII only)
Limits 0 - 750 characters
Repeated field Up to 10 times, but keep in mind that only the first product_type value will be used to organize bidding and reporting in AdWords Shopping campaigns. Separate multiple product types, with a comma ( , ). Don't use a comma ( , ) within a submitted product type value, since we would interpret this as separate product types. (For example, if you submit House, Garden & Kitchen, the value House is interpreted as a separate product type from Garden & Kitchen.)
 
File format Example value
Text feeds

Home > Women > Dresses > Maxi Dresses 
XML feeds <g:product_type>Home &gt; Dresses &gt; Maxi Dresses</g:product_type>
Content API v2 (JSON) "productType": "Home > Women > Dresses > Maxi Dresses"
Content API v2 (XML) <product_type>Home &gt; Dresses &gt; Maxi Dresses</product_type>

Guidelines

Follow these guidelines to make sure you submit high-quality data for your products and get the best performance from your ads.

Minimum requirements

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

  • There are no minimum requirements for this attribute. Keep in mind that you still need to follow the formatting guidelines or the information you submit can't be used.

Best practices

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

  • Use > to separate multiple levels in a category. Also, include a space before and after the > symbol. For example: Home > Women > Dresses > Maxi Dresses.
  • Submit product_type for products used in any campaign type. When you submit a product_type, we can better understand what you're selling, and when we understand what you're selling, we can help connect users with your products. Plus, you can also use the values you submit to organize your Shopping campaign by values of your own choosing. 
  • If you use product_type to organize your bidding and reporting in AdWords, we recommend that you don't submit more than 1 value. Only the first value will be used. Learn about managing your product groups with product type.
  • If your own product categorization includes multiple levels, include all the levels. For example, if your products belong in Maxi Dresses, list the full string: Home > Women > Dresses > Maxi Dresses. 
  • Use the full “breadcrumb” information. Wherever possible, we recommend you include more granular categories as it classifies your product more precisely. For example, Books > Non-Fiction > Sports > Baseball is better than Baseball. Learn more about using product type to organize your Shopping campaigns.
  • It's OK to give us the same values for google_product_category and product_type attributes, but the google_product_category value has to be a supported Google product category.

Examples

Product type with multiple levels
Product Maxi Dress
product_type Home > Women > Dresses > Maxi Dresses 
   
Product Google Nexus 6
product_type Product > Mobile Phones > Android 
   
Product SLR Camera Lens
product_type Home > Photography > Lenses > SLR Lenses
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