subscription_cost: Definition

Use the subscription cost [subscription_cost] attribute to include the details of a monthly or annual payment plan that bundles a communications service contract with your wireless product (mobile phone or tablet).

When to use

Optional for each product

This attribute is only available in certain countries:

Africa: South Africa
Asia-Pacific: Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand
Europe: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom
Middle East: Israel, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates
North America: Canada

This attribute is only supported for mobile products with the following Google product category code (GPC):

Watches (201)
Mobile Phone (267)
Tablet Computers. (4745)
Mobile Phone Prepaid Cards & SIM Cards (6030)
GPS Tracking Devices (6544)

Australia: This attribute should not be used for wireless devices such as mobile phones or tablets advertised in Australia. Use the price [price] attribute to specify the minimum total cost ("Minimum Quantifiable Price") of the device, including the down payment, installment payments, and wireless subscription plan. Use the title [title] attribute to indicate that the device is payable in installments and if it comes with a wireless plan.

The subscription_cost [subscription_cost] attribute uses 3 sub-attributes:

period [period](required): The duration of a single subscription period. Either month [month] or year [year].
period length [period_length] (required): Integer, the number of subscription periods (months or years) that the buyer must pay.
amount [amount] (required): ISO 4217, the amount the buyer must pay per month. When displaying this amount, we may round up to the nearest whole unit of local currency to save space. The provided value must still exactly match the amount as shown on your site.

Format

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

Type	Unicode characters (Recommended: ASCII only)
Repeated field	No

File format Example entry

Text feeds

File format	Example entry
Text feeds	Format the value by submitting period `[period],` period length `[period_length]` and amount `[amount]` separated with colons ( : ). Don’t use quotation marks. For example, for 12 monthly payments of 50 EUR each, submit: `month:12:50 EUR`
XML feeds	`<g:subscription_cost>` `<g:period>month</g:period>` `<g:period_length>12</g:period_length>` `<g:amount>50 EUR</g:amount>` `</g:subscription_cost>`

Format the value by submitting period [period], period length [period_length] and amount [amount] separated with colons ( : ). Don’t use quotation marks. For example, for 12 monthly payments of 50 EUR each, submit:

month:12:50 EUR

XML feeds

<g:subscription_cost>

<g:period>month</g:period>

<g:period_length>12</g:period_length>

<g:amount>50 EUR</g:amount>

</g:subscription_cost>

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

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 price [price] attribute with the total amount due at checkout (including down payment and activation fee) for the product.
Match the communications payment plan that you display on your landing page. You can also display other communication options on your landing page, but the plan that you submit must be straightforward to find on the landing page.
Don’t require that users have a loyalty card to choose the service plan that you submit.
Don't use the subscription cost [subscription_cost] attribute for software subscriptions. Software subscriptions must be prepaid, and submitted using the yearly prepaid cost as the price [price] attribute. Learn more about advertising software subscriptions
Use in approved countries only. Use of the subscription cost [subscription_cost]attribute in unapproved countries will result in disapprovals.
Use for approved product categories only. Use of the subscription cost [subscription_cost]attribute for other categories of products will result in disapprovals.

Best practices

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

Submit exact values for your subscription costs accordingly to ISO 4217. For example, submit 1.01 EUR instead of 1.0012 EUR, otherwise we will round the submitted value. Use the same currency for subscription cost [subscription_cost], installment [installment], and price [price].
If the product is also paid for in monthly installments, use the same number of months for the subscription cost [subscription_cost] as for the installments.
If your product has installment payments, submit the same number of months for the subscription cost [subscription_cost] attribute as for the installment [installment] attribute. If the number of months is different and we need to combine your installment and subscription cost due to space constraints, then we use the highest of the two values. For example, if your installment plan is 12 months, but your subscription service contract is 24, then we will use 24 months.
If the subscription cost for your product increases after a certain period of time then you must use the highest payment in the amount [amount] sub-attribute. For example, if the subscription payment increases from 25 EUR to 35 EUR after 12 months then specify 35 EUR.

Examples

Example of a mobile phone, sold with a subscription plan

Submit a total value for the down payment in the price [price] attribute (as low as 0) and include any activation fees and/or one-time charges. Specify in your title that your wireless product requires a contract of a certain duration. Leave the installment [installment] attribute empty.

Product data for Google Pixel 5” 32GB Very Silver with a 12-month service contract, of 35 EUR per month, and a down payment of 649 EUR
Attribute	Product data
id `[id]`	_pixel_phone_silver_32gb_12month_contract
title `[title]`	Google Pixel 5” 32GB Very Silver (with contract)
link `[link]`	https://store.google.com/product/pixel_phone?sku=_pixel_phone_silver_32gb_12month_contract_newsim&contract=yes
image link `[image_link]`	https://store.google.com/product/pixel_phone/silver.png
availability `[availability]`	In Stock
price `[price]`	649.00 EUR
installment `[installment]`	(must be empty because there are no installment payments)
subscription cost `[subscription_cost]`	month:12:35.00 EUR
google product category `[google_product_category]`	Electronics > Communications > Telephony > Mobile Phones
brand `[brand]`	Google
gtin`[gtin]`	00821793049157
mpn`[mpn]`	G-2PW4100-021-B
condition `[condition]`	New
color `[color]`	Very Silver
shipping `[shipping]`	0.00 EUR

Example of a mobile phone sold in installments and bundled with a subscription plan

Submit a total value for the down payment (as low as 0) in the price [price] attribute and include any activation fees and/or one-time charges. Submit zero in the price [price] attribute if there are no up-front costs. Specify in your title that your wireless product requires a contract of a certain duration and an installment plan.

Product data for Google Pixel 5” 32GB Very Silver with 12-month contract and paid in 12 monthly installments
Attribute	Product data
id `[id]`	_pixel_phone_silver_32gb_contract_and_installments
title `[title]`	Google Pixel 5” 32GB Very Silver (with contract and 12 installment payments)
link `[link]`	https://store.google.com/product/pixel_phone?sku=_pixel_phone_silver_32gb_12month_contract_newsim&contract=yes
image link `[image_link]`	https://store.google.com/product/pixel_phone/silver.png
availability `[availability]`	In Stock
price `[price]`	0.00 EUR
installment `[installment]`	12:60.00 EUR
subscription cost `[subscription_cost]`	month:12:30.00 EUR
google product category `[google_product_category]`	Electronics > Communications > Telephony > Mobile Phones
brand `[brand]`	Google
gtin`[gtin]`	00821793049157
mpn`[mpn]`	G-2PW4100-021-B
condition `[condition]`	New
color `[color]`	Very Silver
shipping `[shipping]`	0.00 EUR

For more examples, please see the best practices for advertising wireless products and services