Feature Request: Google & YouTube App Should Support Custom Metafields for Product Titles

Shopify Apps
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Hi Shopify Community,

If you’re trying to optimise your Google Shopping product titles using Shopify’s native tools, read this before you invest weeks of development time.

We followed Shopify’s documentation. We verified capabilities against official sources. We built exactly what the platform recommends. And we hit a wall that neither Shopify nor Google warns you about.

The good news: We found a workaround that works (GMC supplemental feeds - details below). But this post documents why the native integration should support this feature, with evidence from official sources.

I’m not alone in this, this thread documents the same issue: https://community.shopify.com/t/google-youtube-app-issues-on-shopify/403087

The Scenario

I’ve spent considerable time building a future-proofed feed infrastructure using native Shopify tools, exactly as Shopify’s documentation suggests and exactly as Google now recommends (to avoid third-party apps facing API deprecation in August 2026). The system:

  1. Uses custom metafields to store optimised product titles at the variant level

  2. Uses Shopify Flow to automatically generate these titles based on a proven formula

  3. Follows Shopify’s best practices for custom data management

The goal was simple: have optimised, keyword-rich product titles appear in Google Shopping instead of basic product names.

Before: [Model Name]
After: [Brand] [Model] [Category] - [Performance Keywords] - Size [X]

Example structure: Taking a basic product name and enriching it with brand, category, USP messaging, and variant details, all stored in metafields and generated automatically via Flow.

The Problem

After building this entire system, I discovered that the Google & YouTube app does not support custom metafields for product titles.

From Google’s own documentation:

“In your Google & YouTube app, select Settings. In the ‘Product title preference’ section, select SEO product title to use the search engine optimized product tag for your products on Google Shopping.”
Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/13693394

The app only offers two options:

  • SEO product title

  • Default product title

There is no option to select a custom metafield.

The Broader Context: Why This Matters Now

This issue has become critical because Google is pushing merchants toward the native integration while simultaneously the native integration lacks essential features.

Google’s Position on Third-Party Apps:

“We strongly recommend migrating your Google measurement to the Google & YouTube app for the best results. This app is specifically designed to work seamlessly within the new Shopify environment.”
Source: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/16031492

“Note that running Google tags inside Shopify’s custom pixel feature is not a supported feature. Due to limitations of the Shopify platform, Google cannot guarantee the behavior of Google tags that are implemented using a custom pixel.”
Source: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/16031492

Google’s API Deprecation Timeline:

“Content API is deprecated and will be shut down on August 2026. Migrate to Merchant API.”
Source: https://developers.google.com/shopping-content/guides/rel-notes

This means:

  • Third-party feed apps may face disruption as APIs change

  • Google recommends the native app they built with Shopify

  • But the native app lacks the features merchants need

The Documentation Contradiction

Shopify’s metafields documentation states:

“Category metafields help you add the right information to your products to make them more discoverable by visitors on your site, on marketplaces, and on search engines.”
Source: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/custom-data/metafields

Shopify promotes:

  • Native tools over third-party apps

  • Metafields for storing custom product data

  • Flow for automating data population

  • The “Shopify ecosystem” working together seamlessly

The reality:

  • Shopify’s own Google integration ignores the metafield system they promote

  • Google recommends the native app but it lacks essential features

  • Merchants are caught in the middle

Documented Issues With Current State

This isn’t just my experience. From the Shopify Community:

“Product metafield edits are not getting synced with the Google & YouTube app in Shopify. This is having a negative impact on the performance of Google Shopping Ads campaigns. Shopify thinks this is a Google problem; Google thinks it’s a Shopify problem.”
Source: https://community.shopify.com/t/google-youtube-app-issues-on-shopify/403087

A professional responder in that thread noted:

“Yes that is a common issue with Google And Youtube app. As I work on accounts as a professional business, I don’t use the Google and Youtube app, as it is too restrictive.”

The Questions

  1. Why doesn’t the Google & YouTube app support custom metafields for titles? This seems like a fundamental feature for any serious e-commerce operation.

  2. Is Shopify aware of the contradiction between their metafields documentation and their Google integration? The docs literally say metafields improve “marketplace discoverability” while their marketplace integration ignores metafields.

  3. Given Google’s recommendation to use the native app AND deprecation of third-party APIs, is metafield support being prioritised? Merchants need a path forward that doesn’t involve paying $50-200/month for third-party apps facing uncertain API futures.

  4. Is there a joint Shopify-Google roadmap for this integration? Both platforms share responsibility for this gap.

The Impact

  • Development time invested: Hours building a native solution that can’t connect to its intended destination

  • Forced into workarounds: Supplemental feeds in GMC, or third-party app subscriptions ($49-199/month) with uncertain futures

  • Trust erosion: When documentation promotes capabilities that don’t exist in practice, it makes merchants question platform guidance

  • Conflicting recommendations: Google says use native app; native app lacks features; third-party apps face API changes

The Workaround We Built (It Works)

We successfully implemented a solution using Google Merchant Center supplemental feeds:

  1. Shopify Flow generates optimised titles → stored in variant metafields

  2. Shopify GraphiQL app extracts variant IDs + custom titles via GraphQL query

  3. Supplemental feed uploaded to GMC overrides primary feed titles

  4. Result: Full control over Google Shopping titles, $0 additional cost

This works. Our optimised titles now appear in Google Shopping exactly as intended.

But this shouldn’t be necessary. The native integration should support this natively, especially when Shopify’s documentation promotes metafields for “marketplace discoverability” and Google recommends using the native app.

A Suggestion for Improvement

This isn’t just about our store. Many merchants building with native tools are likely hitting this same wall.

Adding the ability to map custom metafields to Google Shopping feed attributes would benefit the broader Shopify merchant community:

  • Product title → Custom metafield option

  • Product description → Custom metafield option

  • Custom labels → Custom metafield mapping

This would:

  • Align the app with Shopify’s own metafields documentation

  • Make Google’s recommendation to use the native app practical for more merchants

  • Reduce dependency on third-party apps facing API uncertainty

We’ve found a workaround (GMC supplemental feeds), but not every merchant has the technical resources to implement it. Native support would level the playing field.

Context

  • Industry: Apparel & Accessories retail

  • Catalogue size: 20,000+ variants across three brand stores

  • Current workaround: GMC supplemental feed (works, but shouldn’t be necessary)

For Other Merchants

If you’ve encountered this same issue, I’d encourage you to:

  1. Reply to this thread to demonstrate demand

  2. Use the thumbs-down feedback in the Google & YouTube app

  3. Contact Shopify support to log the feature request

  4. Contact Google support via: https://support.google.com/merchants/contact/shopify_3p_support_app

The more merchants who voice this concern, the more likely it gets prioritised.

Thanks for reading. I genuinely appreciate both Shopify’s and Google’s platforms, which is precisely why this gap is so frustrating. The pieces are all there; they just don’t connect where it matters most.

2

Currently there is no disruption when using 3rd party data feeds. For example I use multifeeds, with TSV files as the data file. As this is faster to process then content api or the new merchant api.

I think you can setup custom attributes in the google and youtube app. they all start with something like mm.google …etc

But I have never done it as I prefer not to user the google and youtube app.

While I like to see the app improved, Google constantly fails to improve the app correctly. For example with the new migration from content api to merchant api, all product id’s change, meaning all performance will drop, and historical data is gone.

For example the app frequently just doesn’t update any products.

It has been like this for many years, so waiting 5+ years just to fix products not getting submitted is pretty bad.

Not only that the new merchant api, if you don’t pay attention will submit a feed for all your markets.

These are just the basic reasons why I don’t want to use the app. It’s ok if you just have a dozen products, but for any serious advertiser, this is not an app I would use.

3

Thanks for jumping in. You’re right that the mm-google-shopping namespace works for certain attributes: custom labels, age_group, and category-specific fields like product_height.

Title is handled differently though. The Google & YouTube app settings only offer two options: Default title or SEO title. No custom metafield mapping.

Screenshot 2026-01-19 at 4.24.40 pm
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Third-party feed apps like Matrixify and Multifeeds can read mm-google-shopping.title because they generate their own feed files. The native app uses Content API with a fixed field mapping.

Our specific issue is variant-level custom titles: different titles per size/colour variant, pulled from a custom metafield. SEO title is product-level only, so it doesn’t solve that.

On the API migration point: Google’s documentation says historical data can be preserved if the offerId stays consistent between Content API and Merchant API (https://developers.google.com/merchant/api/guides/compatibility/products). So it’s implementation-dependent rather than automatic data loss. Worth watching how Shopify handles that transition.

We ended up building a workaround: Shopify Flow generates variant-level titles into custom metafields, GraphiQL extracts them, and we upload to GMC as a supplemental feed. Works, but shouldn’t be necessary when native tools exist on both sides.

4

Technically the google and youtube app is not a native tool. It is developed by Google.

And it is designed for basic usage, nothing for serious advertisers. But I am glad you found a way to get your end result, that is what I would do as well. End result matters.

5

As a merchant and Shopify Partner, I took the documentation at face value, both platforms position it as the official integration. Frustrating when you follow the recommended path and still hit walls. Appreciate your perspective on it, truly. Thanks for your valued input.

6

My pleasure, and thank you for sharing how you resolved it.