Entering Google Product Categories in Shopify

[landc1]

I have downloaded the list of Google Product Categories and identified the correct categories, do I then enter the code into the box below? What if there are two categories it fits?

[Tira · Accepted solution]

Hi, @landc1!

My name is Tira and I work at Shopify.

Google only allows for one category to be used to identify your product. You can enter either the ID of the product category or its name in the "Google product category" field. I understand that it might be a challenge to pick just one category, however Google recommends to choose the a category that is more in line with the main function of your product. What is the product you're wanting to publish?

For more details on how product categories work, check out these resources:

Google Product Categories - Google help documentation

Add a Google Product Category - Shopify help doc

Let me know if that helps!

[Tira · Accepted solution]

Hi, @landc1!

My name is Tira and I work at Shopify.

Google only allows for one category to be used to identify your product. You can enter either the ID of the product category or its name in the "Google product category" field. I understand that it might be a challenge to pick just one category, however Google recommends to choose the a category that is more in line with the main function of your product. What is the product you're wanting to publish?

For more details on how product categories work, check out these resources:

Google Product Categories - Google help documentation

Add a Google Product Category - Shopify help doc

Let me know if that helps!

[landc1]

Fantastic. I will enter the code. Re sizes are you only able to enter one variant too?

[Tira]

Hey, again! 

In our old Google Shopping app, you could only sync the first variant for the product, but our current app allows all variants for a product to be synced. It can take Google about a week to sync all of your variants. While waiting, the products will show as "Pending" on the Google Shopping app. Read more about setting up the Google Shopping app here.

Let me know if you have any other questions! 

[VTBVTV]

Hello

I have entered the google product category but I am still getting a message telling me that Needs a Google Product Category when I try to select Facebook as a sales channel to post my product to.  

[Tira]

Hi, @VTBVTV.

Thanks for reaching out in the Shopify Community. I’m happy to help. 

Are you looking to use Facebook for Checkout on Instagram? If you are, I recommend reviewing the steps from our help doc here: Syncing Facebook for Checkout on Instagram to make sure your product is synced correctly to be reviewed and approved by Facebook. 

You will need to make sure a Google Product Category is added to your product to move forward with Facebook for Checkout on Instagram. Google requires a product category that exists. I recommend checking the spelling of the category to make sure it’s accurate, and making sure that the category is one that exists. The reason for this is because Shopify sends this information to Google for approval. Check out our help doc on Google Product Category for more information and for a link to Google’s help documentation on adding product categories to your product.

What Google Product Category were you trying to add?

[VTBVTV]

Yes, I would like to Facebook for checkout on Instagram. I have already set
up my catalog and have it connected to Shopify. All of the products that I
uploaded to Shopify from my Etsy shop are showing in my Catalog and in my
Instagram Shop however, when I add new products they will not let me choose
Facebook and I get the message I mentioned. I did go back and complete the
Google product info for a couple of the new listings but they still will m
not let me select the Facebook option.

The product category is jewelry.

[Tira]

Thanks for confirming this, VTBVTV. Can I see a screenshot of what you’re seeing when you try to select the Facebook option?

To add a photo of your screenshot, you can click on the “Camera” button to upload a photo from your computer or, paste a URL into the rich text editor here in your reply. 

Here are some other things to try:

• What happens if you enter “Jewelry” as a Google product category (with a capital “J”) - does that change anything?
• What happens if you leave the category blank? Is a product category automatically assigned, and do you get any errors?

Let me know how that works.

[usernamesrule · Accepted solution]

Hi Tira, we are experiencing the same thing as @VTBVTV

It is painfully frustrating. We've been working on this issue and trying to figure it out for 3-4 months. We currently have 432 products than are not publishing to google. Here's a quick example... in the screenshot below, you can see the product is not published to google because it says it's missing the age group, color, and gender. When I click the drop down menu under more actions you can see that all of those 'missing values' are in fact there. Why does it keep saying they're missing?!

We have tried all of the tricks to get this to work. We've tried using more general categories, and more specific categories. We've tried filled out all of the optional fields. We've deleted all the info, saved the product, and then added the info back in, and saved the product. This last method sometimes works and makes the error message go away, but its only temporary. Without fail, after 20 min - 48hrs, the product reverts and the google dot goes back to orange rather than green, as you can see in the screenshot below.

Here is another example, I believe the screenshot below shows what @VTBVTVis seeing as well...

You'll see on the right side of the screenshot that the product wont publish to Facebook because it needs a google category (even though the product has a google category) and then it says its not publishing to google because the product needs a gtin - which it doesn't because it is a custom product with the google category info completed. 

And then here's one more example - which is a little more rare than the others... this product made it through and is published to google, however its not publishing to facebook, saying it needs a google category, even though it has a google category!! 

Thank you in advance! 

[usernamesrule]

@Tira (meant to tag you in my post above)

[Tira]

Hey, @usernamesrule. 

Thanks for joining the thread and I really appreciate the time and effort you took to troubleshoot this and the details you’ve provided. It sounds like you’ve been working on this for a while and I’m here to help. 

I dug into this with our technical team and after updates are made to a product, it can take up to 24 hours for changes to take effect. It sounds like changes are being made, but these errors are still showing for you after. I recommend trying to remove the products from the Google Channel for a few hours, and then re-adding the products again. 

To do this, you can follow these steps:

• From your Shopify admin, go to Products > All products.
• Click the product's name to open its details. The product is available to the sales channels listed in the Product status section.
• Click Manage.
• Select the Google Channel to remove the product from that channel
• Click Done.
• Click Save.

Once a few hours have passed, you can go back to the product and make it available on the Google Sales channel with the steps from this help doc: making products available on sales channels. As you have a lot of products, I recommend using the bulk editor to perform bulk actions for several products at once.

I also looked into the error with your custom product showing that a MPN/GITN number is missing. If the product is a custom product, then this is likely a display error. Our developers are aware of this and are working with Google to resolve this issue. 

I would love to know if this helps.

[Arboleda]

Hi @Tira , any progress with this?

[Tira]

Hey, @Arboleda.

Tira here.

What can I support you with today? Please let me know what steps you've tried and what you're looking to do and I can help.

Talk soon,

[Arboleda]

Do you have any status regarding this comment:
"I also looked into the error with your custom product showing that a MPN/GITN number is missing. If the product is a custom product, then this is likely a display error. Our developers are aware of this and are working with Google to resolve this issue." 

We have problems with the Google indexing and configuration fields for Google Shopping for a store in Mexico. Do you know if the technical team has made any progress in finding a solution?

[Tira]

Thanks for clarifying, @Arboleda.

This is dependent on what the issue is with your google product categories. I am happy to take a look at this with our team and technical team if needed, but we'll need to do some troubleshooting.

Let's troubleshoot this together.

Here are some questions and action steps we can take:

- Do you have a screenshot of the error? You can also type out the error here and I can take a look. 

- Have you tried the troubleshooting steps I listed earlier? If you have, what happened when you tried them? Did an error appear? 

- Have all of your products been approved except for one? If so, what was different about the product?

I would love to know details are as it will help me find out specifically which category needs to be modified. 

Talk soon,

[Grace_01]

@Tira I have set custom product "true" in shopify google channel but still getting error in merchant center of "missing GTIN, MPN". Please suggest

[Tira]

Hey, @Grace_01. 

Thanks for reaching out. I'm here to help.

Another user (@Arboleda) mentioned they were experiencing a similar error. If your product is a custom product, then this is likely a display error and there is nothing you would need to do to move forward. The Google product categories should be working fine. 

I also added some questions to troubleshoot in my reply on this thread earlier here. Can I get you to answer those questions? I would be happy to take a look after you've provided me with more details on what you've tried and to these questions.

I look forward to hearing from you,

[Grace_01]

@Tira Thanks.. Already got the response from Shopify support team that they are aware about this error and technical team are in touch with google to find solution. And as per them this error won't affect the shopping ads but only affect on free listing.

[Tira]

Thanks for the update, @Grace_01. I'm glad to hear that. 

Cheers,

[JillJones]

What if you are selling skin care products? I don't see where to find the information for the Google categories for this?

[Grace_01]

@JillJones May be it's too late to reply for this post but just wanted to share so that others can benefited.. You can download the Google category list from here

Go to "Download a list of all Google product categories:" and choose the nearest possible category according your product

[NSheppard]

Try this page for all the categories: https://www.google.com/basepages/producttype/taxonomy-with-ids.en-US.txt

[shopbloc]

What if you dont even have google installed and its still saying this to update to facebook? 

[taylorjohnston]

I'm having an issue figuring out where to add the categories in Shopify. If I'm not currently using google shopping can I still add them?

[Grace_01]

@taylorjohnston If you are not using google shopping then why do you want to update category? it's only required for google shopping ads

[taylorjohnston]

I'm using instagram checkout and some of my products are not showing up.
The Facebook sales channel says that I have to add a google category for
the product to go live on instagram