On September the 30th 2014, Google will be enforcing the recently announced changes to the Google Shopping Specifications.
We have put together the headline changes below:
- Custom Bundles – A new ‘is bundle’ attribute, so you can identify products you wish to present as a bundle or kit. For example: a camera with a lens and a bag.
- Availability Changes – “Available to order” is now being merged with “In stock”. In addition, there is a new “Availability date” attribute that you can use to let shoppers know when pre-ordered products will be available for delivery.
- Mobile Landing Page – A new ‘mobile link’ attribute so you can provide a separate mobile landing page if required. Of course if you have one of our responsive websites, you shouldn’t need a separate page.
- Additional Apparel Values – New options have been added for clothing products and new values like “Age group” and two new size attributes “Size system” and “Size type” which allow for standardising the product sizes across many feeds. You can find a more detailed breakdown here.
Along with these changes, Google are also implementing changes to how Shopping Ads are displayed in mobile devices making them more prominent in mobile search results.
You might also be interested in reading about the changes Google will be making to Adwords policies relating to restricted items here.
We should be aware Google are already starting to actually check the product stock status of the feed against the stock status displayed on the web page, any mismatches will be noted as errors by Google and shopping campaigns suspended if necessary to protect the customer experience on Google.