@emofo
First, I am NOT an expert. I am a struggling one-person shop learning the ropes as I go. I don't know if this will help you but it helped me. It took a long time to finally get Google to recognize my items. Please take the time to follow up on Google or elsewhere before you take these steps.
A little bit about my shop... I have a shop where all items are Vintage. and considered "Custom" by Google Shopping. I use the API Content feed. My items do not have barcodes.
For Google Shopping to recognize my items as Custom I had to create a Feed Rule to apply to ALL of my items... (I don't know if you can apply a Feed Rule to just SOME items... but that didn't apply to me. You may have to read up on Feed Rules more to see if you can apply to just SOME items).
In your Google Merchant Center under Products/Feeds create a Feed Rule...
1. Click on your feed name
2. Click on Feed Rules (a tab at the top of the page)
3. Click on the blue circle with the plus + sign
4. Click on Processed Attributes
5. Select Identifier Exists
6. The Identifier Exists must be set to "No" (What this does is tell Google Shopping that your item is Custom and does not have a unique GTIN, UPC, Manufacturer Number)
Note: If you already have already filled in the GTIN, UPC, Manufacture fields you MAY have to remove this information for Google Shopping to recognize Custom. I don;t know. Please read up on this more.
Another task that must be done to please Google Shopping is... to Edit Google Fields so that all of your items have as much information as possible.
In your Shopify Admin...
1. Click on Sales Channel Google
2. Click on either Pending or Approved
3. Click on Edit Google Fields
4. Make sure the "This is a Custom Product" checkbox is checked (after you create your Feed Rule this box should be check automatically)
5. Enter the "Google Product Category" (download the google_product_category list https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324436?hl=en to choose the most relevant category - you can enter just the number - this isn't always an easy task. You have to plug in keywords and choose the most relevant category or Google Shopping will Not Approve.)
6. Complete as many of the fields as possible (the "Manufacturer Part Number" and "Custom Label Fields" are not required)
7. Click Save
8. Repeat for each item
Google Shopping also requires that all your settings are valid...
In Google Merchant Center...
1. Click on the Wrench Icon (Settings)
2. Complete Shipping and Returns, Sales Tax, Business Info, Surfaces Across Google and any other business info required. (I ran into issues uploading my logo. No matter what size and format Google would not approve. I did eventually find a workaround.) Google doesn't necessarily tell you what is missing. You just have to keep trying until you get it right. You'll know because it will finally work.
I found the Google Shopping process exhausting but I did finally get it to work. The problem is... you don't know what you don't know. There are so many moving parts. I just kept researching and trying stuff until one day it magically worked. And I learned a lot along the way.
I hope this will help you or someone else that visits the community.
