Google product category [google_product_category]

All products are automatically assigned a product category from Google’s continuously evolving product taxonomy. Providing high-quality, on-topic titles and descriptions, as well as accurate pricing, brand, and GTIN information will help ensure your products are correctly categorized.

The Google product category [google_product_category] attribute can be used to override Google’s automatic categorization in specific cases.

When to use

Optional for each product

Google will only accept a product category override in the following cases:

Calculation of US taxes. For products sold in the US, you can override Google’s automatic categorization to ensure that the correct US tax rate is applied to your product.
Enforcement of category-specific attribute requirements. Some product categories (such as Apparel & Accessories, Mobile Phones, or Software) impose additional required fields. If Google incorrectly assigns your product to one of these categories, use this attribute to override the categorization and remove the category-specific requirements.
Targeting of Google Ads campaigns. If you’ve defined any of your ad campaigns based upon Google’s product categories, you can use this attribute to reassign products within your campaign structure.
Alcohol. Alcoholic beverages must be correctly categorized. If the category of your product is incorrectly assigned, you can use the Google product category [google_product_category] attribute to override it and ensure that your product remains compliant. Learn more about our Alcoholic beverages policy.

Format

Follow these formatting guidelines to make sure Google understands the data you're submitting.

Learn how to Submit attributes and attribute values.

Supported values	Predefined Google product category: The ID or the full path of the product category. You may submit either the ID or the full path, but not both. Download a list of all Google product categories: Excel sheet (.xls) Plain text (.txt) To prevent garbled text in the .txt version: Change your browser encoding to Unicode UTF-8. To download this list in another language, you can select that language from the menu at the bottom of this page.
Limit	1 Category per product
Repeated field	No

Supported values

Predefined Google product category: The ID or the full path of the product category. You may submit either the ID or the full path, but not both.
Download a list of all Google product categories:

Excel sheet (.xls)

Plain text (.txt)

To prevent garbled text in the .txt version: Change your browser encoding to Unicode UTF-8.

To download this list in another language, you can select that language from the menu at the bottom of this page.

Limit

1 Category per product

Repeated field

File format	Example entry
Text feeds	`2271` or `Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Dresses`
XML feeds	`<g:google_product_category>2271</g:google_product_category>` or `<g:google_product_category>Apparel & Accessories > Apparel > Dresses</g:google_product_category>`

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 source 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.

Use only a predefined Google product category. You can choose to submit either the ID or the full path of the product category, but not both. If no category matches the product, or if you want to submit your own product category, use the product type [product_type] attribute instead
If the taxonomy of product codes is not available in your language, use the English values or numeric ID.

Best practices

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

Use the one category that best describes your product. Choose the category based on your product’s main function. For example, even though an MP3 player might have other functions, like a clock, its main function is as an MP3 player. So you would use the MP3 player category: Electronics > Audio > Audio Players & Recorders > MP3 Players (ID: 233)
Use the most specific category possible. For example, an MP3 player charger, use the MP3 player accessories category: Electronics > Audio > Audio Accessories > MP3 Player Accessories (ID: 232). Don’t just use: Electronics (ID: 222)
Use the latest categories. In Google Ads, bidding on Shopping campaigns is based on the latest categories. While you can submit any version of the categories published after August 2011, we'll translate these to the latest version. So if you use out-of-date categories, what you submit might not match what you see.

Additional guidelines

Review each section closely to determine if the requirements apply to your country or product. If you don't follow requirements that apply to you, we'll disapprove your product and let you know in your Merchant Center account.

Products sold on Google

In the United States, Google will use any Google product category [google_product_category] values that you supply in your feed to help determine the tax rate for products you sell directly on Google in applicable states.

Shopping ads campaigns

In Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States, you can use the Google product category (displayed as “Category”) to help organize your product groups in your Shopping ads campaigns. For all other countries, you can only use the product type [product_type] attribute to help organize your product groups for bidding in your Shopping campaign.

Alcoholic beverages

Make sure your product meets the alcoholic beverages policy.
Use the following Google product categories when submitting alcohol-related products:
- Food, Beverages & Tobacco > Beverages > Alcoholic Beverages (ID: 499676) or any of its subcategories
- Arts & Entertainment > Hobbies & Creative Arts > Homebrewing & Winemaking Supplies (ID: 3577) or any of its subcategories

Merchant-defined bundles

Use the Google product category that's most appropriate for your bundle of different products. If the bundle contains a main product, use the category of the main product. For example, for a digital camera bundled with a bag, use: Cameras & Optics > Cameras > Digital Cameras (ID: 152)

Mobile phones or tablets with a contract or installment plans

Use the following Google product categories to let us know when you're submitting a mobile phone or tablet with a contract or an installment plan:
- Electronics > Communications > Telephony > Mobile Phones (ID: 267)
- Electronics > Computers > Tablet Computers (ID: 4745)
For mobile phones sold with a contract, you may set the price [price] attribute to 0. If you submit a price of 0, you’ll need to set the Google product category [google_product_category] attribute to: Electronics > Communications > Telephony > Mobile Phones (ID: 267).

Gift cards

Use the following Google product category to let us know when you're submitting a gift card:
- Arts & Entertainment > Party & Celebration > Gift Giving > Gift Cards & Certificates (ID: 53)

Software subscriptions

Use the Software > Computer Software (ID: 313) category to let us know when you're submitting a software subscription, or use one of its subcategories. For example:
- Software > Computer Software > Antivirus & Security Software (ID: 5299)

Examples

Apparel products

An illustration of a woman wearing a black dress

Product data for a black skater dress
Attribute	Value
Title `[title]`	Skater dress - Black
Google product category `[google_product_category]`	`Clothing & Accessories > Clothing > Dresses`

Google Malibu Sunglasses

Product data for a pair of brown Google Malibu sunglasses
Attribute	Value
Title `[title]`	Google Malibu sunglasses - Brown
Google product category `[google_product_category]`	`178`

Coats and jackets

This illustration shows a Google branded men's zip-up jacket.

Product data for Google men's zip-up jacket
Attribute	Value
Title `[title]`	Google Men's Performance Full Zip Jacket Black
Google product category `[google_product_category]`	`Clothing & Accessories > Clothing > Outerwear > Coats & Jackets`

This illustration shows a Google branded performance pullover.

Product data for a Google performance pullover
Attribute	Value
Title `[title]`	Google Men's Performance 1/4 Zip Pullover Heather/Black
Google product category `[google_product_category]`	`Clothing & Accessories > Clothing > Outerwear`

This illustration shows a Google branded hoodie.

Product data for a Google hoodie
Attribute	Value
Title `[title]`	Google Tri-blend Hoodie Grey
Google product category `[google_product_category]`	`Clothing & Accessories > Clothing`

Rings and jewelry

This illustration shows a gold wedding band.

Product data for a white gold wedding band
Attribute	Value
Title `[title]`	White Gold Wedding Band - 14K - 3mm
Google product category `[google_product_category]`	`Clothing & Accessories> Jewelry > Rings`
Color `[color]`	white gold
Material `[material]`	white gold

This illustration shows a platinum-plated engagement ring.

Product data for a platinum-plated engagement ring
Attribute	Value
Title `[title]`	Round Platinum-Plated Classic Engagement Ring
Google product category `[google_product_category]`	`Clothing & Accessories > Jewelry`
Color `[color]`	silver
Material `[material]`	platinum

This illustration shows a quartz multi-finger ring.

Product data for a quartz multi-finger ring
Attribute	Value
Title `[title]`	Silver Quartz Multi-Finger Ring
Google product category `[google_product_category]`	`Clothing & Accessories`
Color `[color]`	silver
Material `[material]`	silver/quartz

Mobile phones

An illustration with 3 different colors of one mobile phone

Product data for a Google Pixel 3
Attribute	Value
Title `[title]`	Google Pixel 3 - 32 GB - Midnight Blue - With contract
Google product category `[google_product_category]`	`Electronics > Communications > Telephony > Mobile Phones`
GTIN `[gtin]`	00723755006386
Brand `[brand]`	Google

Software subscription

This illustration represents Google security software basic edition.

Product data for Google security software basic edition
Attribute	Value
Title `[title]`	Google Security Software Basic Edition (1-year subscription)
Price `[price]`	29.90 USD
Google product category `[google_product_category]`	`Software > Computer Software > Antivirus & Security Software`
Brand `[brand]`	Google
GTIN `[gtin]`	1234567890123
Shipping `[shipping]`	0.00 USD
Image link `[image_link]`	https://www.example.com/logo.jpg

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