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In this help center, you can find content for both Merchant Center Next and the classic Merchant Center experience. Look for the logo at the top of each article to make sure you're using the article for the Merchant Center version that applies to you. 

Material [material]

A custom icon for Merchant Center Classic and Merchant Center Next.

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.

An illustration showing filtering furniture options by material

In this article


When to use

Required Required for all products that vary by material

Optional 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.

Note: To ensure that this product data attribute gets recognized by our system correctly, remember to submit your data feed file in a format that we support.
 

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

Variants

If your product has variants of different materials, submit the material for each variant.

Product data for a pair of women’s suede pumps, size 6.5
Attribute Value
Material [material] Suede
Size [size] 6.5
Item group ID [item_group_id] 12345

 

Product data for a pair of black women’s patent leather pumps, size 6.5
Attribute Value
Material [material] patent leather
Color [color] Black
Size [size] 6.5
Item group ID [item_group_id] 12345
Product comprised of multiple materials

If your product is made of multiple materials, you can specify one primary material followed by up to 2 secondary materials that are each separated by a slash ( / )

Product data for a mixed materials women’s skater dress
Attribute Value
Material [material] Cotton/polyester/elastane
Apparel products

Customers might use material as a deciding factor when shopping for apparel products.

Product data for a women’s rayon skater dress
Attribute Value
Material [material] 100% rayon

 

Product data for a pair of women’s leather pumps
Attribute Value
Material [material] Leather
Jewelry
Product data for a 14K white gold wedding band
Attribute Value
Material [material] White gold

 

Product data for a classic round platinum-plated engagement ring
Attribute Value
Color [color] Silver
Material [material] Platinum
Furniture
Product data for a mixed material mid-century modern sofa
Attribute Value
Material [material] Walnut/70% polyester/30% acrylic

An illustration of a couch with product staging


 

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