Google Product Feed

Introduction

A Google Product Feed (GPF) is a structured data file that contains detailed product, category, and regional information for advertising on Google Shopping and other Google services. It forms the backbone of listings in Google Merchant Center. Algonomy Omnichannel Personalization platform now supports processing GPFs.

Advantages of Using Google Product Feed for Personalization Platforms

Leveraging your existing Google Product Feed to sync with personalization platforms comes with several impactful benefits:

  • Single Source of Truth: Utilizing the same feed you send to Google eliminates the need to create and manage multiple feed files for various platforms.

  • Streamlined Workflow: Your team can concentrate on maintaining one high-quality feed, reducing workload and minimizing inconsistencies across channels.

  • Established Standard: The Google Product Feed format is widely recognized and supported by numerous personalization platforms, simplifying the integration process.

  • Rich Product Data: Google's feed requirements ensure that you provide comprehensive product information—like pricing, inventory, descriptions, categories, and variants—that personalization engines need for effective recommendations.

  • Regular Updates: Since Google mandates frequent feed refreshes, your personalization platform automatically enjoys the same update frequency.

  • Cost Efficiency: Repurposing your existing feed eliminates the development costs tied to creating custom feeds for each platform.

As long as your Google Product Feed includes sufficiently detailed product information, this approach efficiently enhances personalization while simplifying your technical infrastructure.

Feed File Format Details

Clients can upload their GPF files similarly to regular Catalog Feeds. GPF is integrated with Streaming APIs, allowing seamless ingestion of feed data without requiring additional client actions.

File Naming Conventions

Clients must follow these naming conventions:

  • Full Product/Category Feed File: gpf_full_<site_name>_<date_in_YY-MM-DD>.zip

Refer to Google Merchant Center Help

Single File per Zip

  • Each zip file must contain only one file.

  • Multiple files in a zip are not supported.

  • Upload the full feed file before sending region-specific files.

Note: XML format is not supported. Only CSV files with configurable column delimiters are allowed.

Snapshot Management

  • Snapshots are created and managed automatically by the GPF system.

  • Snapshots begin with the prefix gpf and can be in either an active or complete state.

  • If no active or complete gpf snapshot exists, a new one is created and activated.

Dynamic Property Definition

When a new snapshot is created:

During file processing:

  • The header is parsed, and Property Definitions are updated if new fields are detected.

Category Configuration

Clients can define categories in two ways:

Scoped Action-Based Ingestion

  • Ingestion is managed via a Property Match Scoped Action.

  • A custom-scoped action property named gpf is automatically created for every product. Clients do not need to include this property manually.

  • The scoped action is closed automatically after ingestion.

Status Tracking

Feed Herder UI

  • Progress is tracked via the Feed Herder UI.

  • A summary log is provided at the end of each feed run.

Example Summary

Copy 
*************************** INGESTION STATS ***************************
Total Products Ingested: 523,275
Total Categories Ingested: 54,870
Total Regions Ingested: 0
Total Tracking IDs: 41,862
********************** STREAMING ENGINE STATS ************************
PRODUCTS - Total Processed: 523,275 (Replaced: 523,275, Updated: 0, Failed: 0)
CATEGORIES - Total Processed: 54,870 (Replaced: 54,870, Updated: 0, Failed: 0)
REGIONS - Total Processed: 0 (Replaced: 0, Updated: 0, Failed: 0)
************************ PROCESSING TIME *****************************
Ingestion Time: 386 s
Engine Processing Time: 5 s
******************** FAILED/WARNING TRACKING IDs *********************
[]
2025-01-10T00:01:39,891 INFO harvest.gpf.GPFFullCatalogHarvester:147 Response Tracking ID: 1ee4e248-cf29-11ef-bae1-47aee8873221

Common Status Integration

  • Each ingestion API run generates a unique Tracking ID.

  • Summaries include the top 10 failed tracking IDs for troubleshoot.

Datadog Integration

  • A Datadog event is logged after each feed run, containing the same summary.

  • Monitors can be configured in Datadog to push notifications (e.g., to Slack) when feed processing completes.