promotion_id: Definition

 

For retailers using promotions, the promotion_id attribute can be used in both your product data and promotions data to match products to promotions. Learn about promotions.

When to use

• Optional for each product

Not available for free listings

If you're using a promotion with product_applicability set to specific_products, you can use the promotion_id attribute in both your product and promotion data to match a product to a promotion. Review the promotions feed specification.

Using promotion_id helps Google to understand which products have promotions so that we can display the promotions appropriately.

Format

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

Type	Unicode characters (Recommended: ASCII only): alphanumeric, underscores, and dashes
Limits	1–50 characters
Repeated field	Up to 10 times

 

File format	Example value
Text feeds	tbby123_us
XML feeds	<g:promotion_id>tbby123_us</g:promotion_id>

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 in your Merchant Center account.

• Submit the promotion_id for the specific products in a promotion if the promotion uses product_applicability set to specific_products. If the promotion is set to product_applicability set to all_products, the promotion_id isn't needed, since the promotion applies to all of your products.
• Use a unique ID for each different promotion. The ID allows you and Google to distinguish each promotion.
• Use a stable ID for each promotion. Once you've assigned an ID to a promotion, don't change it. The ID you choose identifies the promotion and is used to track the product's performance history in Merchant Center and Google Ads. If you change the ID, you'll overwrite your promotion and its history.
• Don’t reuse or recycle the same ID for different promotions. For example:
  • Don’t reuse an ID for different promotions in the same target country or language.
  • Don’t recycle an ID for new promotions. Even if you’re not running a promotion anymore, don't use that promotion's ID for any other promotion. Assign a unique ID for a new promotion.
• Avoid white space. Consecutive white spaces and white spaces before and after the ID will be automatically removed.
• Use casing to make IDs unique if needed. For example, we interpret the ID abc123 and ABC123 as different promotions.
• Don't submit symbols.For example% or !
• Don't submit invalid unicode characters. These characters are generally added during your file's encoding process. To avoid them, use UTF-8 encoding. To help prevent encoding issues, submit files in a compressed format. Examples of invalid unicode characters include:
  • Control characters (e.g., U+200D)
  • Function characters
  • Private area characters
  • Surrogate pairs
  • Unassigned code points

Best practices

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

• Match a product to more than one promotion by submitting promotion_id up to 10 times per product.

Examples

Promotion applies to specific products

Use the same value for promotion_id in your product data and promotions data when a promotion applies to a product.

Feed type	Promotions data
Promotion	Free shipping event
product_applicability	specific_products
promotion_id	01ABC
Feed type	Product data
Product	Android Squishable - Small
promotion_id	01ABC
Feed type	Product data
Product	Android Squishable - Large
promotion_id	01ABC
Feed type	Product data
Product	Android Squishable - Extra large
promotion_id	None, since the promotion doesn't apply to this product

Promotion applies to all products

Don't use promotion_id since your promotion applies to all products.

Feed type	Promotions data
Promotion	Free shipping event
product_applicability	all_products
promotion_id	None, since the promotion applies to all products
Feed type	Product data
Product	Android Squishable - Small
promotion_id	None, since the promotion applies to all products
Feed type	Product data
Product	Android Squishable - Large
promotion_id	None, since the promotion applies to all products