Use the VIN [VIN] attribute (the vehicle identification number) as a unique identifier for each vehicle.
In this article
When to use
Required for each vehicle ad listed in Merchant Center. Exceptions below:
Optional for vehicle ads listed in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Format
Follow these formatting guidelines to make sure that Google understands the data that you submit.
Learn when and how to submit your product data in English.
| Type |
Unicode characters (recommended: ASCII only) |
|---|---|
| Repeated field | No |
| File format | Example value |
| Type | String |
| Character limit | 17 digits |
| Text/tab-delimited | 4Y1SL65848Z411439 |
| XML (feeds) | <g:vin>4Y1SL65848Z411439</g:vin> |
To format your data for Content API, go to the vehicle ads Content API guidelines.
Guidelines
Follow these guidelines to make sure that you submit high-quality data for your products.
Minimum requirements
This is the requirement that you must meet to show your product in Merchant Center. If you don't follow this requirement, we'll disapprove your product and let you know in your Merchant Center account.
- The VIN
[VIN]should be unique for each vehicle.
Best practices
This best practice can help you to go beyond the basic requirements to optimise your product data for performance.
- The VIN
[VIN]attribute should not be duplicated in a given feed.- Note that a separate feed that targets another language can use the same VIN value.
