Use the item group ID [item_group_id] attribute to group product variants in your product data. Variants are a group of similar products that only differ from one another by product details such as colour and size for clothing or memory sizes, display sizes, processors and graphics options for electronics.
When you use an item group ID [item_group_id] to group your products, you can ensure that your product and its variants are shown to customers as a group, instead of separately.
On this page
When to use
Required for cost-free listings for product variants
Required for Shopping ads for product variants targeting the following countries:
- Brazil
- France
- Germany
- Japan
- United Kingdom
- United States
Format
Follow these formatting guidelines to make sure that Google understands the data that you're submitting.
Learn when and how to submit your product data in English.
| Type | Unicode characters (recommended: ASCII only): Alphanumerical, underscores and dashes |
|---|---|
| Limits | 1–50 characters |
| Repeated field | No |
| Schema.org property (What is this?) |
|
| File format | Example value |
| Text data sources | AB12345 |
| XML data sources | <g:item_group_id>AB12345</g:item_group_id> |
| API data sources | To format your data for Merchant API, see the Merchant API resource. |
Minimum requirements
These are the requirements that 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 on the Diagnostics page in your Merchant Center account.
- Submit a unique ID for each different product. Use the same value for the item group ID
[item_group_id]attribute for all variants of the same product. For example, a T-shirt comes in nine variants: three sizes (small, medium, large) and three colours (red, blue, green). Submit each variant as a separate product (for a total of nine separate products) and submit the same value for the item group ID attribute for each to indicate that these are variants of the same product. - Align grouping with your landing-page experience: If your website allows customers to select between multiple variants on a single landing page (e.g. a T-shirt available in different sizes or colours), make sure that all those versions are submitted with the same item group ID
[item_group_id]. This ensures that the grouping of your product accurately reflects the shopping experience on your site. - Each distinct item group must have a unique value for the item group ID
[item_group_id]attribute.- Don't rely on casing to make the item group ID unique. The values 'abc123' and 'ABC123' are interpreted as the same product.
- Don't reuse or recycle the same item group ID attribute for different products.
- Specify the item group title
[item_group_title]attribute together with the item group ID[item_group_id]attribute to define a unique name for your product group. Make sure that the item group title[item_group_title]is the same for all variants with the same item group ID[item_group_id]. - Specify the variant option
[variant_option]attribute in combination with the item group title[item_group_title]and item group ID[item_group_id]attributes to define all variant-identifying properties of the variants of the same product. For example, a T-shirt with different sizes and colours, or a laptop with different memory sizes, display sizes, processors and graphics options. - Use all standard variants: Specify the standard colour
[color], pattern[pattern], material[material], age group[age_group], gender[gender]and size[size]attributes in addition to variant option[variant_option], even when these are part of the set of variant-identifying properties. -
Make sure that the product details displayed on your landing page match the variant-identifying values that you provide for the variant like title
[title], variant option[variant_option], colour[color], price[price], availability[availability]and image link[image_link]. Learn more about requirements for landing pages
Best practices
These best practices can help you to go beyond the basic requirements to optimise your product data for performance.
-
Use the parent SKU as the item group ID value for all variants of the same product. Don't submit a parent SKU as a separate product. If you'd like to group variants using a parent SKU, use the parent SKU as the value for the item group ID
[item_group_id]attribute for all products in the variant group. - Don't mix up item group ID and ID attributes. Use the ID attribute to uniquely identify a single product and use item group ID
[item_group_id]to group together several products as variants. -
Don't submit a value for the item group ID attribute if your product is not a variant. If your product is similar to other products but not specifically a variant, don't submit the item group ID attribute. Some examples of products that are not variants include a suit consisting of a jacket and trousers or a set of bath accessories.
- Use a stable item group ID value for each group of product variants. Once you've assigned an item group ID to a product, don't change it. If the item group ID changes often, it could cause inconsistency in the way that variants are grouped and shown to customers.
- Make sure that you have different landing page URLs submitted for each variant, with each URL using a different path segment and/or query parameters, for example '/t-shirt/green' or '/t-shirt?color=green&size=small' or '/t-shirt/preselect=8901491'
- For instructions on how best to structure your website and URLs for variants, refer to the URL structure article on Search Central.
- For details on how to add Schema.org structured data for variants, refer to the Product variant article on Search Central.
Examples
General examples
 |
Submit variant details through the variant attributes. For example: |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| Product data for blue Google logo T-shirt, size medium | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Google logo T-shirt – Medium – Blue |
|
ID |
12345-M-B |
|
Colour |
Blue |
|
Size |
Medium |
Variant option [variant_option] |
color:blue,size:medium |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/shirt?color=blue&size=medium |
|
Item group ID |
12345 |
Item group title [item_group_title] |
Google logo T-shirt |
 |
Don't submit variants without variant attributes. |
Clothing products
Clothing products typically come in variants. Use the same item group ID [item_group_id] for each variant. Here's an example that comes in two colours, each in three sizes.
For this example, you would submit the following six variants:
| Product data for white Google logo T-shirt, size small | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Google logo T-shirt – Small – White |
|
ID |
12345-S-W |
|
Colour |
White |
|
Size |
Small |
Variant option [variant_option] |
color:white,size:small |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/shirt?color=shite&size=small |
|
Item group ID |
12345 |
Item group title [item_group_title] |
Google logo T-shirt |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Product data for white Google logo T-shirt, size medium
|
| Product data for black Google logo T-shirt, size medium | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Google logo T-shirt – Medium – Black |
|
ID |
12345-M-B |
|
Colour |
Black |
|
Size |
Medium |
Variant option [variant_option] |
color:black,size:medium |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/shirt?color=black&size=medium |
|
Item group ID |
12345 |
Item group title [item_group_title] |
Google logo T-shirt |
| Product data for white Google logo T-shirt, size large | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Google logo T-shirt – Large – White |
|
ID |
12345-L-W |
|
Colour |
White |
|
Size |
Large |
Variant option [variant_option] |
color:white,size:large |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/shirt?color=white&size=large |
|
Item group ID |
12345 |
Item group title [item_group_title] |
Google logo T-shirt |
| Product data for black Google logo T-shirt, size large | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Google logo T-shirt – Large – Black |
|
ID |
12345-L-B |
|
Colour |
Black |
|
Size |
Large |
Variant option [variant_option] |
color:black,size:large |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/shirt?color=white&size=large |
|
Item group ID |
12345 |
Item group title [item_group_title] |
Google logo T-shirt |
Shoes
Submit shoes in the same way as other clothing products. Group variants of the same product by adding the same item group ID [item_group_id] to each variant.
| Product data for blue, orange and green low-top shoes, size 8, width narrow | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Low-top shoes – 8 narrow |
|
ID |
12460-8-b-bog |
|
Colour |
Blue/orange/green |
|
Size |
8 |
Variant option [variant_option] |
color:blue/orange/green,size:8,width:narrow |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/shoes?color=bog&size=8&width=narrow |
|
Item group ID |
12345 |
Item group title [item_group_title] |
Low-top shoes |
| Product data for blue, orange and green low-top shoes, size 8, width medium | |
| Attribute | Value |
|
Title |
Low-top shoes – 8 |
|
ID |
12460-8-m-bog |
|
Colour |
Blue/orange/green |
|
Size |
8 |
Variant option [variant_option] |
color:blue/orange/green,size:8,width:medium |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/shoes?color=bog&size=8&width=medium |
|
Item group ID |
12345 |
Item group title [item_group_title] |
Low-top shoes |
| Product data for blue, orange and green low-top shoes, size 8, width wide | |
| Attribute | Value |
|
Title |
Low-top shoes – 8 – Wide |
|
ID |
12460-8-w-bog |
|
Colour |
Blue/orange/green |
|
Size |
8 |
Variant option [variant_option] |
color:blue/orange/green,size:8,width:wide |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/shoes?color=bog&size=8&width=wide |
|
Item group ID |
12345 |
Item group title [item_group_title] |
Low-top shoes |
Electronics can be submitted as variants. For example, if a phone is available in multiple colours and memory sizes, you can submit each as a variant by using the same value for the item group ID [item_group_id] attribute.
|
Product data for a blue Google Nexus 6, 32 GB, unlocked
|
| Product data for a white Google Nexus 6, 64 GB | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Google Nexus 6 – 64 GB – Cloud White – With contract |
|
ID |
2345-64gb-cldwh |
|
Colour |
Cloud White |
Variant option [variant_option] |
color:cloud white,memory:64GB |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/phone?color=cw&flash=64 |
|
Item group ID |
2345 |
Item group title [item_group_title] |
Google Nexus 6 |
Furniture can be submitted as variants. For example, if a sofa is available in multiple fabrics, you can submit each as a variant by using the same value for the item group ID [item_group_id].
| Product data for mid-century microfibre sofa, yellow and grey, suede | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Mid-century microfibre sofa – Suede – Yellow and grey |
|
ID |
3456-dot-sue-yllw-gry |
|
Colour |
Yellow/grey |
|
Material |
Suede |
Variant option [variant_option] |
color:yellow/grey,material:suede |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/sofa/yellowgray?material=suede |
|
Item group ID |
3456 |
Item group title [item_group_title] |
Mid-century microfibre sofa |
| Product data for mid-century microfibre sofa, green, leather | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Mid-century microfibre sofa – Leather – Green |
|
ID |
3456-lth-grn |
|
Colour |
Green |
|
Material |
Leather |
Variant option [variant_option] |
color:green,material:leather |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/sofa/green?material=leather |
|
Item group ID |
3456 |
Item group title [item_group_title] |
Mid-century microfibre sofa |
| Product data for a lounge chair with a natural finish | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Moulded lounge chair – Natural |
|
ID |
1a2b3c-nat |
Variant option [variant_option] |
finish:natural |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/chair?finish-natural |
|
Item group ID |
1a2b3c |
Item group title [item_group_title] |
Moulded lounge chair |
| Product data for a lounge chair with a varnished finish | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Moulded lounge chair – Varnished |
|
ID |
1a2b3c-var |
Variant option [variant_option] |
finish:varnished |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/chair?color=ash&finished=varnished |
|
Item group ID |
1a2b3c |
Item group title [item_group_title] |
Moulded lounge chair |
Makeup products can be submitted as variants. For example, if makeup comes in multiple colours, you could submit each colour as a variant by using the same value for the item group ID [item_group_id] attribute.
| Product data for beige liquid makeup | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Blend liquid makeup – Beige |
|
ID |
0987-b |
|
Colour |
Beige |
Variant option [variant_option] |
color:beige |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/makeup/beige |
|
Item group ID |
0987 |
Item group title [item_group_title] |
Blend liquid makeup |
| Product data for liquid makeup, beige-medium | |
|
Attribute |
Value |
|
Title |
Blend liquid makeup – Beige medium |
|
ID |
0987-bmed |
|
Colour |
Beige medium |
Variant option [variant_option] |
color:beige medium |
Link [link] |
https://example.com/makeup/beige-medium |
|
Item group ID |
0987 |
Item group title [item_group_title] |
Blend liquid makeup |