Feed attribute
google_product_category
Google product category
The google_product_category attribute places an item in Google's own fixed product taxonomy, a tree of several thousand predefined categories. Google infers a category when the attribute is omitted, but the inference is often wrong for specialist catalogues, and certain categories such as alcohol and subscription hardware require it explicitly.
Specification
- Attribute
- google_product_category
- Data type
- Enumerated value
- Limit
- A taxonomy ID, or a full category path
- Format
- Either the numeric category ID or the complete path from the Google product taxonomy, with levels separated by " > ". Invented categories are rejected: the value must be an exact match for a node in Google's published taxonomy. Only one category per item is permitted, and it should be the most specific one that genuinely fits.
- Examples
-
212Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Shirts & Tops
Support by channel
How each channel treats google_product_category.
| Channel | Requirement | Field name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Shopping | Recommended | google_product_category | Required for some categories including alcohol and subscription hardware. |
| Microsoft Advertising | Recommended | google_product_category | Microsoft accepts the Google taxonomy values unchanged. |
| Meta | Not supported | google_product_category | Meta maintains its own category taxonomy instead. |
| OpenAI | Optional | product_category | Called product_category, and it is your own path from broad to specific separated by >, not Google's numeric taxonomy. The Google values do not carry over. |
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to set google_product_category?
Not for most products, because Google infers a category from your other attributes. It is required for specific categories including alcoholic beverages and mobile devices or software sold on a contract, and it is worth setting explicitly wherever the inference gets specialist products wrong.
Can I use my Shopify product type as the category?
Not directly. The value has to match Google's published taxonomy exactly, and Shopify product types are free text. The usual approach is a lookup table mapping each product type or collection to the correct taxonomy value.
Should I use the numeric ID or the full path?
Both are accepted. Numeric IDs are shorter and immune to wording changes in the taxonomy; full paths are far easier to read when someone is auditing a mapping. Consistency within a feed matters more than the choice.
Related attributes
- title The title attribute is the product name a channel shows in a listing and matches against search queries, which makes it the single highest-leverage field in a product feed. On Shopify it usually needs building from the product title plus the variant's options, because the raw product title alone does not describe an individual variant.
- brand The brand attribute is the name of the brand a product belongs to, and it is what makes a manufacturer part number meaningful and a listing eligible for brand-based matching. On Shopify it maps most often from the vendor field, which is unreliable because merchants commonly use vendor to record a supplier or distributor rather than the consumer-facing brand.
Related concepts
Primary sources
Channel specifications change. These are the official documents this page is based on.