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After syncing products from the Shopify store to Google Merchant Center - we noticed a huge volume of traffic labelled Google/product_sync. The traffic comes from locations outside of our market (Quincy, North Bergen, Clifton, New York). Once we disconnected the feed the traffic went away. We see this traffic using Google Analytics.
Google Merchant Center says the /product_sync parameter is not native to Analytics - they said its something that the Shopify Product feed is creating. From what we can tell there is something going on between the Shopify product feed that syncs with Google Merchant Center.
Has anyone encountered this problem? Any tips? Feedback.
This is indeed caused by the Shopify Google Shopping integration. When Shopify uploads your product feed to Google Merchant Center, it appends the following UTM tags to the product url:
&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic
I now understand what this is. Do not remove this appended query string. It is used to track organic clicks in the shopping tab.
If you remove it, you will not get any organic data in Google Analytics.
Google currently has no way of showing you data from organic shopping clicks. Hence why appending this query will allow you to see this.
I have written an article about it here: https://feedarmy.com/kb/how-to-track-google-shopping-free-listings-in-google-analytics/
Thanks @EmmanuelFlossie -- That's a good find.
After also digging into it some more, I've come to these additional conclusions:
If you use tracking parameters in your link attributes, it is recommend that you use the canonical_link attribute to provide a canonical URL. Use the canonical_link attribute to ensure that products are associated with the correct URL in the Google Search index.
https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/188492?hl=en
Hi Czarto,
I'm now a little confused as to what to do?
Do I follow the steps in your first comment and remove parameter utm_medium etc etc
or is Emmanuel telling us not to do that?
Kind Regards
Dan
Hi Dan,
I think the right answer is "it depends".
Your choices are:
So I think #2 is the best option, as it provides all the benefits of #1 (what Emmanuel recommends) but with UTM tags that make more sense.
Alex
When you push the feed using the Shopify app, they create a UTM parameter that is causing the traffic. If you want to push your product with customized UTM parameters, you can use an app that will help you manage your feed better.
You can check the Easy Google Shopping Feed app by AdNAbu, which manages your merchant center feed and other advanced features such as Multilanguage, Multicurrency, and Metafields.
You can also get in touch with our experts and request a demo.
Hope this helps.
Sampy Mishra | Customer Success Manager @ AdNabu
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