In order to upload your product data in Manufacturer Center, you'll first need to create a feed to which you can submit your data. This step is required for any new feed, and once a feed is created, you can update the existing feed without having to create it again.
How it works
Primary feeds
A primary feed is the required data source that Manufacturer Center uses to display your products on Google.
For example:
ID [id] |
Title [title] |
GTIN [gtin] |
Brand [brand] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | shirt | 343234567890126 | Brand A |
2 | shoes | 468013579357 | Brand B |
3 | hiking boots | 680246913579 | Brand C |
4 | pants | 9504000059437 | Brand A |
You can overwrite your entire product data feed by creating and resubmitting another data file as a primary feed under the same feed name.
Use primary feeds to add or remove product data, and set language and country targeting for your product data. Primary feeds are the only feed type that can add or remove products.
Create a primary feed
To get started, click Products in the navigation menu, then click Feeds. Click the plus icon under “Primary feeds.” Provide the following pieces of information about your data:
- Target countries: The countries where your products from this feed should use the provided data. The product data uploaded to a selected countries must meet the requirements for the countries for which you submit, including the feed specifications and policies. After creating your feed you can add additional target countries under the Feed settings tab.
- Language: The language in which your product data is written. If you select a country with multiple supported languages (such as Belgium, Canada, or Switzerland), you will be presented with a list of the supported languages of that country.
- Primary feed name: Enter a descriptive name that helps you identify the primary feed. The feed name doesn’t need to match the name of the file you’re submitting.
- Feed label: The label that you would like to attach to the feed to differentiate it from other feeds, even if the other feeds target the same countries.
- Input method: Select the one that fits your needs best:
- Scheduled fetch: Google can fetch your feed directly from your server.
- Upload: Upload files directly to Manufacturer Center manually or via SFTP or Google Cloud Storage.
- Manufacturer Center API: Use the API to programmatically submit a feed to Manufacturer Center.
- File name: Depending on what input method you select, you may be prompted to enter the name of the file you'll be submitting. This name should exactly match the name of the file you created and include a valid extension.
After you've entered the information and clicked Continue, you can view and manage your newly created primary feed on the "Feeds" page of your Manufacturer Center account.
To manually fetch or upload a feed, go to the "Processing" tab of your feed. Click Fetch now or click the 3-dot icon and select Upload input file.
Supplemental feeds
Supplemental feeds provide additional, or supplemental, data that can be connected to existing product data in the primary feed. Supplemental feeds cannot add or remove products, or be used as a standalone feed; instead, they're used to update existing product data. Supplemental feeds can also provide additional information to multiple primary feeds.
To use a supplemental feed, connect it to existing primary feed through the ID [id]
attribute used for products in the primary feed. Supplemental feeds will only update your product data when the supplemental feed contains IDs that already exist in a primary feed.
Example
Primary feed
ID [id] |
Title [title] |
MSRP | Brand [brand] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | shirt | 34 | Brand A |
2 | shoes | 55 | Brand B |
3 | hiking boots | 100 | Brand C |
4 | pants | 75 | Brand A |
Supplemental feed
ID [id] |
Color [color] |
---|---|
1 | RED |
4 | BLACK |
Resulting feed
ID [id] |
Title [title] |
MSRP | Brand [brand] |
Color [color] |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | shirt | 34 | Brand A | RED |
2 | shoes | 55 | Brand B | - |
3 | hiking boots | 100 | Brand C | - |
4 | pants | 75 | Brand A | BLACK |
Create a supplemental feed
Common use cases for supplemental feeds include, but are not limited to:
- Override titles
- Add missing GTINs
- Add rich product content
Each supplemental feed must have an ID [id]
attribute column, along with at least one additional column with the data you would like to connect to a primary feed. You do not need to include the attributes you are not going to overwrite.
To create a supplemental feed, click Products in the left-hand navigation menu, and then click Feeds. At the top of the supplemental feeds table, click Add supplemental feed. Provide the following pieces of information about your data:
- Supplemental feed name: Enter a descriptive name that helps you identify the supplemental feed. The supplemental feed name doesn’t need to match the name of the file you’re submitting.
- Input method: Select the one that fits your needs best:
- Scheduled fetch: Google can fetch your feed directly from your server.
- Upload: Upload files directly to Manufacturer Center manually, or via SFTP or Google Cloud Storage.
- File name: Depending on what input method you select, you may be prompted to enter the name of the file you'll be submitting. This name should exactly match the name of the file you created and include a valid extension.
- Linking to primary feed: Select any primary feed and country / language combination to which the supplemental feed belongs
- Fetch schedule: If you selected “Scheduled fetch” as an input method you can configure a fetch time and frequency for your product data. This way Manufacturer Center can regularly get fresh feeds from your server so you don't need to manually re-upload data.
To manually upload or fetch a feed, go to the Processing tab of your feed. Click Fetch now or click on the 3-dot icon and click Upload input file.
Once your supplemental feed is created and linked to a primary feed, Manufacturer Center will automatically create a rule, which you can find in the "Feed Rules" section of Manufacturer Center. The rule will connect the product data from the two feeds based on the ID [id]
value provided and will connect attribute data from the supplemental feed.