Update Google Base Feed for Actinic
If you are not already listing your products on Google Base then you are missing out on sales, however please note the rules for submissions to Google Base have recently been updated.
Google base allows you to freely list your products in Google’s shopping search results.
The Google base feed creator in Actinic V10 and V11 is currently missing some vital, required fields which will result in your submissions being rejected,
teclan have developed and tested a solution to both Actinic V10 and V11 for this problem and we are making this exclusively available only to teclan’s Actinic customers.
Note: if you are not on V10 or V11 and wish to upgrade then please contact the team to help you upgrade.
Please read on for more information on the main missing fields (availability & google product category) and how teclan can help.
Availability
The availability attribute only has four accepted values:
– ‘in stock’: Include this value if you are certain that it will ship (or be in-transit to the customer) in 3 business days or less. For example, if you have the item available in your warehouse.
– ‘available for order’: Include this value if it will take 4 or more business days to ship it to the customer. For example, if you don’t have it in your warehouse at the moment, but are sure that it will arrive in the next few days. For unreleased products, use the value ‘preorder’
– ‘out of stock’: You’re currently not accepting orders for this product.
– ‘preorder’: You are taking orders for this product, but it’s not yet been released.
When to include: Required for all items in feeds targeting the US, Japan, UK, Germany, France. Recommended for all other countries. However, you need to use this attribute with one of the following if you want to submit items that are out of stock in your data feed. If you don’t use this attribute, all the items in your data feed must be in stock on your site.
| Type | Four predefined values accepted:
|
| Text/Tab delimited | in stock |
| XML | <g:availability>in stock</g:availability> |
Important:
– You need to clearly indicate the availability of an item on the item’s landing page by either explicitly noting the status (such that it’s clear which of the above values describe the availability of the item), or mention how many days it takes until the item ships. (Note: It is acceptable to include ‘available for order’ in your feed and note “out of stock” on your website.)
– Items that are no longer sold have to be removed from the feed entirely.
Google product category
This attribute indicates the category of the product being submitted. It is only applicable to a small subset of categories, unlike the Product Type Attribute which is applicable to all categories. For this reason, the ‘Google product category’ attribute should not replace the ‘product type’ attribute. Note: This attribute accepts only one value. If your items fall into multiple categories, include only one category which is the most relevant. You can include multiple categories in the ‘product type’ attribute .
Any category from Google’s taxonomy must include the full path. For example, ‘Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Jeans’ is an acceptable value, but ‘Jeans’ is not. This attribute only accepts values that are predefined by Google’s taxonomy.
When to include: Required for all items that belong to the ‘Apparel and Accessories’, ‘Media’, and ‘Software’ categories, and are in feeds which target the US, UK, Germany, France, or Japan.
If your products do not fall into one of the categories listed below, or if your feed doesn’t target one of the required countries, this attribute is recommended but not required. If you choose not to provide a Google Product Category value for other product categories, leave the attribute blank.
| Type | Predefined values from Google’s product taxonomy |
| Text/Tab delimited | Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Dresses |
| XML | <g:google_product_category>Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Dresses</g:google_product_category> |
Apparel & Accessories
– ‘Apparel & Accessories > Clothing’
– ‘Apparel & Accessories > Shoes’
– ‘Apparel & Accessories’
Important: Products that fall into clothing or shoes categories must use the categories listed above (‘Apparel & Accessories > Clothing’ or ‘Apparel & Accessories > Shoes’) or the more specific categories provided in the full Google product taxonomy. It is not sufficient to provide the general category ‘Apparel & Accessories’ for these items. Items that do not belong in the clothing or shoes categories should include the ‘Apparel & Accessories’ value or the more specific categories provided in the Google product taxonomy.
Media
– ‘Media > Books’
– ‘Media > DVDs & Movies’
– ‘Media > Music’
Important: Provide the most appropriate categorization for bundled products of differing product types. For example, a book bundled with a DVD could be labeled with either ‘Media > Books’ or ‘Media > DVDs & Movies’.
Software
– Software > Video Game Software
Important: The category ‘Software > Video Game Software’ includes computer games.
How can I add the missing fields?
To ensure you have all the required fields teclan have created fixes for versions 10 and 11. *
To Import the fix follow the below instructions.
IMPORTANT – Make sure you back up your site before proceeding by selecting File / Snapshot / Export Snapshot.
Download the version of the fix that’s required.
Within Actinic: Open your site then /Select File / Snapshot / Import Design / Follow wizard / Browse for applicable file / Complete wizard.
The missing fields will now appear in the product details within Actinic.
For more information on which fields are applicable to you and what information you require to put in them please visit the below.
* If you have an older version of Actinic upgrade today by visiting Actinic V11 or contacting the teclan team.
Excellent pro-active tip! Nice one.