promotion_id [promotion_id]: Definition

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

When to use

Optional for each product

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

Using promotion_id [promotion_id] helps Google to understand which products have promotions so that we can display the promotions in your ads appropriately.

Format

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

Type	Unicode characters (recommended: ASCII only): alphanumerical, 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>

For format API information, please see Content API for Shopping.

Guidelines

Follow these guidelines to make sure that you submit high-quality data for your products and get the best performance from your ads.

Minimum requirements

These are the requirements that you'll need to meet to show ads for your product. If you don't follow these requirements, we'll disapprove your product and let you know on the Diagnostics page of your Merchant Center account. 

• Submit the promotion_id [promotion_id] for the specific products in a promotion if the promotion uses product_applicability [product_applicability] set to specific_products [specific_products]. If the promotion is set to  product_applicability [product_applicability] set to all_products [all_products], the promotion_id [promotion_id] isn't needed as 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 that you choose identifies the promotion and is used to track the product's advertising 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. In particular:
  • 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 no longer running a promotion, don't use that promotion's ID for any other promotion. Assign a unique ID for any 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, such as % 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 are best practices that can help you go beyond the basic requirements to optimise your product data for performance. 

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

Examples