material: Definition

Use the material attribute to describe the main fabric or material that your product is made of. For example, a high-heeled pump might be made out of leather, denim, or suede. This information helps create accurate filters, which users can use to narrow search results. If your product has variants that vary by material, then provide that information through this attribute.

 

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 users might search for your product by material or if users might decide to buy your product based on the material.

Format

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

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	Leather
XML feeds	<g:material>Leather</g:material>

To format your data for Content API, see the Content API for Shopping.

Guidelines

Follow these guidelines to make sure you submit high-quality data for your products.

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 the Diagnostics page of 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, size, or pattern.
• Submit material for all products that vary by material. Use this attribute when your product is a variant that’s distinguished by its material (e.g., black suede shoes and black leather shoes), and also submit each variant with the same value for the item_group_id attribute. 
• Submit only one value. Only a single value will be accepted in the material field. If you want to submit a product made of multiple materials, you can specify 1 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 material whenever it’s relevant. Material is not just for apparel categories. If users 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 (e.g., gold or silver), submit this information with the material and color attribute.
• Include up to 3 materials. If you product comprises multiple materials, you can specify 1 primary material followed by up to 2 secondary materials that are each separated by a slash ( / ). For example: cotton/polyester/elastane.
• Use a value users will be able to understand. The value you submit can be shown to users, 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.
• Don’t use values that don’t mention the material. This attribute is optional, so if it’s not relevant for your product, then don’t use it. For example, don’t submit values like n/a, none, multi, or other.

Examples

Variants Product comprised of multiple materials Apparel products Jewelry Furniture