Use the material [material] attribute to describe the main fabric or material that your product is made of. This information helps create accurate filters, which customers can use to narrow search results. If your product has variants that vary by material, then provide that information through this attribute.
In this article
When to use
Required for all products that vary by material
Optional for any products where material is an important, distinguishing feature
If the material is an important feature of your product, then submit this attribute. We especially recommend that you submit the material attribute if customers might search for your product by material or if they might decide to buy your product based on the material.
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), not case sensitive |
|---|---|
| Limits | 0–200 characters |
| Repeated field | No |
| Schema.org property (What’s this?) |
Product.material, Type: Text |
| File format | Example entry |
|---|---|
| Text (TSV) | Leather |
| XML (Feeds) | <g:material>Leather</g:material> |
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 your Merchant Center account.
- Include the main fabric or material that your product is made of. Don’t include values that belong in other attributes such as color
[color], size[size], or pattern[pattern]. - Submit this attribute for all products that vary by material. Use this attribute when your product is a variant that’s distinguished by its material (for example, black suede shoes and black leather shoes), and also submit each variant with the same value for the item group ID
[item_group_id]attribute. - Submit only one value. Only a single value will be accepted in the material
[material]attribute. If you want to submit a product made of multiple materials, you can specify one primary material followed by up to 2 secondary materials that are each separated by a slash (/) in one single field.
Best practices
These best practices can help you go beyond the basic requirements to optimize your product data for performance.
- Submit a material whenever it’s relevant. Material is not just for apparel categories. If customers might want to know the material of your product, include that information with this attribute. For example, you might submit material for furniture, curtains, and hardware.
- Submit a color and a material for precious metals. If your product is made of a precious metal (for example, “gold” or “silver”), submit this information with the material
[material]and color[color]attributes. - Include up to 3 materials. If your product is composed of multiple materials, you can specify one primary material followed by up to 2 secondary materials that are each separated by a slash (
/). For example: cotton/polyester/elastane. - Use a value customers will be able to understand. The value you submit can be shown to customers, so avoid abbreviations or internal terms. For example, don’t submit “calf” if you mean “calfskin”, and don’t submit “lthr” if you mean “leather”.
- Avoid using values that don’t mention the material. This attribute is optional, so if it’s not relevant for your product, don’t use it. For example, don’t submit values like “n/a”, “none”, “multi”, or “other”.
Examples