Removing "brands" from instagram shopping

[Dustbunnymom]

The new problem? Every single product we tag on instagram shows our vendor's in the details about the item. We are a small clothing boutique and we don't want our vendors or brands showing to an audience this big. How do we remove this other than going through all 250 items and delete them vendors out.

[ShopLG]

Agreed, this is a big problem and we have unchecked 'show vendor' on shopify so why are the vendors showing on Instagram?

[Nvdstyles]

Any updates on this? I'm about to close my shopify over this. Making us look bad for business when we mark the products up for resale. 

[Dustbunnymom · Accepted solution]

We went through all our products and removed the brand and put in
“undisclosed” or let it default to our store name.
We now put the vendor in the “tags” for our needs.
It was too much for us to do all the products, so we’re only doing the new
products with “vendors in the tags”.
We’re still a 1-pack store so keeping up with brands and how well they sell
isn’t too much of a headache. But, I would recommend being more vigilant
for larger stores.

[admin_rach]

we do the same renove vendors tag but no way ! we still have name brand problems in instagram's shops, if someone here at shopify can make a tutorial on how the update to facebook and instagram resolve this bad commercial idea to put vendors names on instagram shops, can be greatz !! 

[Nvdstyles]

Yeah Ive been struggling for months. SHOPIFY WONT HELP. WORST SERVICE EVER. I'm looking at changing providers because shopify isn't it.

[Dustbunnymom]

For your vendor names to not show, you will have to remove all brands-vendors from your products.

There is no work around.

For our own reporting, we put vendors in the the "tags" section so we can do our brand customized reports.

To date, Shopify has not come back with an alternative.

[KilaueaFJ]

Any answer found to this problem? I have spent hours trying to figure out how to hide our private vendors from the instagram shop.

[Kodamo]

Any news here? 

[Rforbes]

Yeah, this is ridiculous. I have 1,000's of products and the only way to solve this problem is to go into each and everyone, and then remove the vendor name!? Not only is that is a massive amount of work to do. I don't see how this would even work for me because I do consignment and wholesale, so it is imperative that I have correct reporting. If I remove the vendor name, how will I go about getting sales reports that show who sold what? There isn't even an option to add a Tags column in the reporting, so putting the vendor name there doesn't work either. I have been trying to figure this out for months now and I am getting absolutely nowhere. Ugh.

Why would Shopify think we want our vendor names out there? Do they not realize how easy it is for my competitors to figure out where I buy my products from? I have two competitors close by that keep copying me and they're starting to sell what I sell. This is a HUGE issue!!! I have to start looking at other platforms because this is insane.

[Nvdstyles]

Please let me know where you switch to. Because I'm done with them. The issue hasn't been resolved and I've emailed them for 4 months without any resolution. 

[Rforbes]

OMG guys, after sooooo many emails back and forth, I finally got the brand removed from my shop!!! Shopify ended up being of no help at all, but Meta/Facebook Marketplace Team is how I got this issue fixed. I started a live support chat and after getting the person to understand the massive issue I was having and sending screenshots, I was able to get the person to go to their internal team (see follow up email below.)
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Hello Rachel,

Good Day! Thank you for contacting Commerce Meta Pro Support. My name is Harsh and I am here to help you. The reference ID for your enquiry is ##########. As promised, I would like to let you know that we have forwarded the case to our internal team for further review.

In the meantime, we would also like to ask for your patience and understanding as we work on this case and like to ask your help in monitoring it from your end to check if you notice any difference in your account, kindly do let us know so that we know that the investigation process we're doing is improving.

Rest assured that we will be following up on your issue closely and will be updating you via this email thread once we receive an update.

Thank you for choosing Facebook as your selling Platform and for contacting Commerce Meta Pro Support.

Take care and stay safe. Have a wonderful day!

All the best,

Harsh
Meta Pro Team | A contracted service for Meta

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Then after finding someone who understood, I got someone who didn't, and she wanted to close my case out (see email below.)

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Hi Rachel,

Thank you for your patience while investigating your case. Based on our investigation, "Brand" is a requirement in data feed fields and specifications for catalogs in Commerce Manager, and if any required fields are missing or formatted incorrectly, products may not upload to your catalog.

You may refer to this link below for additional information.
https://www.facebook.com/business/help/120325381656392?id=725943027795860 <https://www.facebook.com/business/help/120325381656392?id=725943027795860>

In the event that you would need further assistance, please make sure to provide a screencast showing the issue.

You can relay these steps to the client on How to Screencast using windows or Mac.

For Windows:
1. Open the app/window that you want to record
2. Press the Windows key and the letter G at the same time to open the Game Bar dialog
3. Check the "Yes, this is a game" checkbox to load the Game Bar
4. Click on the Start Recording button (or Win + Alt + R) to begin capturing
5. Stop the recording by clicking on the red recording bar that will be on the top right of the program window
6. Once the recording is stopped, a popup will take you to the recorded video. If you miss the popup, the location by default is "C:\Users\%UserProfile%\Videos\Captures"

For Mac:
1. Press Command + Space Bar, type in Quicktime
2. Open QuickTime player
3. Tap "File" at the top left of the display
4. Choose "New Screen Recording"
5. Click 'record button'
6. Select the area of the screen that is to be recorded
7. Hit 'start recording'
8. Stop the recording by clicking on the Stop icon at the top right of the display (target icon)"

Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Please do not hesitate to reach us back for additional concern.

Regards,

Cynthia
Meta Pro Team | A contracted service for Meta

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So I did read everything in those links but it did not contain the answer/solution. So, I emailed her back (see email below) and provided the same screenshots that I provided to the very first person in the support chat.

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I get that it is a required data field for the catalog, which is fine, Meta can have that information, but why does everybody in the world get to have it too? How do I hide it, so my competitors stop stealing my vendors?

-Rachel-
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Then I received this response...

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Hi Rachel,

Thanks for reaching us again and sharing the Screenshot. We have investigate your Matter again based on the shared information.

Upon checking, We saw that the product details shown in the screenshot you have provided is showing the Brand of the product which is the Iron XXXX XXX. It is only natural that the Brand of the product will show in product details as it is a required field in the Feed.

So Could you please clarify that what vendor are you referring to? What do you want and do not want to see on your details page? Because your screenshot is showing the brand and not the vendor.

I hope you will understand the Matter and update us as soon as possible. if there is anything else, feel free to reply on this email.

Thank you again for contacting Meta pro Support.

Kind Regards,
Jaspreet

Meta Pro Team | A contracted service for Meta
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Obviously, I am getting frustrated at this point (if I could get anymore frustrated than I already was.) See my response below.
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The brand is my vendor, it’s using my vendor field in Shopify and Meta is calling it the brand. I do not want the vendor to show. It is causing a massive problem and my competitors are using it to steal my vendors.

-Rachel-

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This was their reponse.
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Hi Rachel,

Thanks for reaching us again. So as i can understand from your message that you are using the vendor name under Brand field of your Catalog products, is that correct Rachel?

if this is the case, you can replace Brand Name either with unique manufacturer part number (MPN) or Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) of the item. However, you must need to enter some value under Brand Name as this is the required field.

I hope this will answer your query. if you have any further questions, feel free to reach us back.

thank you again for your Patience and understandings with our services!

Kind Regards,
Jaspreet
Meta Pro Team | A contracted service for Meta

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My response to them. 
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My catalog comes from Shopify and it automatically puts my vendor’s name in the brand field. I have almost 4,000 products, so manually fixing this isn’t really possible. Also, almost all my products are one of a kind and made by local artists, so there is no MPN or GTIN.

Is there a way to hide the brand/vendor name?

-Rachel-
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And this was their response (finally they're getting it)...

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Hi Rachel,

We have now received an update from our internal team.

Rachel, as you want to hide the brand section for your products, this action can be requested and subject for approval from our technical engineers.

However, *Please take note that this request will result in disabling of the brand functionality which includes the brand filter functionality in catalog and also remove the brand title/section from the items’ Product Detail Page.*

If you agree to this, Kindly share your explicit permissions with your name and signature. Please provide this consent in a PDF format or a clear image.

So in your permissions you have to mention that you are agree with the above statement and providing us permissions to hide the Brand Section.

Hope to hear from you Soon!

best Regards,
Jaspreet
Meta Pro Team | A contracted service for Meta

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I sent them that signed permission letter so fast. I made sure to put it on my offical letterhead as well, and this is what I said.

I give Meta/Facebook my permission to go into my shop catalog and hide my brand so the public will not be able to see it. I know that this will disable the brand functionality which includes the brand filter functionality in my catalog and also remove the brand title/section from the items' Product Detail Page.

I agree with the statement above and again, I give you permission to hide the brand section.

Rachel

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I sent that letter to them on the 27th of Nov. and followed up with them on the 7th of Dec. because I had not heard back. They told me their team is busy handling other issues but they hadn't forgotten about me and then today (12th of Dec.)  I received an email from them stating the issue was fixed. I can confirm that it is indeed fixed, nowhere does the brand show in my shop anymore (see screenshot.) It was a lot of back and forth, but I got them to understand and so I suggest you all hit up Meta with the same problem since they now know it can be a big problem for some. Feel free to send them this thread, it may save you some of the headache I went through.

 

[Dustbunnymom]

Or you could just put “undisclosed” in your vendor field by way of bulk
edit tool and your products will show in Meta catalog anyway.

We have enough problems with meta flagging our products as sexually
explicit because a woman is standing in clothes.

Not a solution for us but, maybe someone with patience on their hands can
will find this helpful.

Thanks for your input.

[Rforbes]

I wish I could just put undisclosed, that would be easy, but I couldn't because I have wholesale and a ton of artists on consignment. My reporting has to be 100% accurate so I know who to cut checks to. 

I agree with meta flagging things that do not make sense. I have about 150 items currently flagged. Things like photography of birds in nature because they say it's promoting the buying and selling of animals. Really?

Well, hopefully my solution helps someone out there.

[DavidR2D2]

I did the bulk edit, but even that was a royal pain. Editing hundreds of product vendor names in the bulk edit tool took a long time, maybe ~30 mins or so. In the long run maybe that's not a long time but it was painful nonetheless. The bulk edit tool doesn't have any search and replace tools or anything, you literally just scroll endlessly changing the Vendor column product by product. It worked and I'm happy, but I wish it was easier. Thanks. 

[ClodyCates]

Hello Rachel, thanks so much for the this. I have been trying for hours to find where I can send my letter to solve the same issue I have without any success. Meta is just pointing to an infinite loop of no help, no place to submit a ticket and there is no email to be found anywhere on the web. Could you please share the Meta support email? I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you and have a wonderful day!
Clody

[JT1984]

Thank you! This is very helpful. I emailed Meta and have yet to hear back. Would you happen to have sometimes direct email? 

[AmmoniteLiving]

Thank you so much for this!!! What was the email address you emailed please?

[Sweetlea_Gifts]

Having the same issue but I think I have found a workaround for this. 

Go to Meta Business suite > commerce manager > Data sources > settings > Product data rules > add rule > Field: brand > existing value (your suppliers name that you do not want displayed) > new value (generic name or business name).  This should now replace the suppliers name with chosen name without affecting your data in shopify. 

[Allie_Murphy]

It seems like you can only do about 20 brands. have you found anyway to add more? 

when you go to add another "rule" it says "this field cannot be selected because it has a similar rule"

[Robbie3]

Here's what I did...

I used these wildcard codes to select every character in the string...

.*[a-zA-Z0-9]*.

For me, that just caused the brand to disappear all together.

[Robbie3]

I forgot to add that you have to change something in your products to cause Meta to resynch.  So, I exported all my products, added a couple of dashes in the description and reuploaded.  Then did the same thing, but took the dashes out.  

You could probably just add an HTML comment, but I wasn't thinking at the time.

[Rileyed]

Hi Robbie! This is not working for me. Any advice? I tried your wildcard code and a few other versions and no luck. I also updated the product descriptions to allow meta to re-synch. We have 100+ vendors so the find and replace tool using the actual brand names will not work for us as Shopify only allows you to add 20 brands. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! TIA

[GUNDIE]

I found a way around this...

In Shopify go to products, select all products, bulk edit, under Vendor change to your store name.

[Dustbunnymom]

I already mentioned this a year ago. But thanks...