Google Merchant error "Missing sub-attribute [country (sub-attribute of [shipping])]"

[annnnn]

I'm getting this error on about 98% of my listings in Google Merchant.

"Missing sub-attribute [country (sub-attribute of [shipping])]"

I've googled endlessly and still can't figure out how to resolve it. I can't even tell if this is something I need to fix on shopify's side or in google merchant with a rule.

I also can't figure out how to see which listings the error is NOT on...thinking that might give me some clue as well. 

Any help would be appreciated because I'm completely lost on this one.

[balticaudio]

Thanks for your quick answer.

I've followed that instruction and have successfully completed all steps, 15min ago. Nothing happens yet. Do I still have to wait or doesn't it work?

[EmmanuelFlossie]

Diagnostics take at least 30minutes to update. If nothing works, something went wrong with what you tried.

[balticaudio]

Well, as there is still no change, I will try to disconnect to Google Merchant, delete the products and the feed. After that I will try to reconnect with shipping set to manually. 

The problems is, that all products still have the shipping attributes "shipping price", "shipping weight" and "purchasable without shipping*"...

I don't have any idea anymore... 😞

[audiodisciple]

@Kevins... Dude... I spent hours I can't get back trying to drill down on this issue... reading through verbose nonsense in both the Merchant Center and Shopify etc. etc.

This was the issue. THANK YOU.

All of the entries listed in Diagnostics for this error were missing the checkbox for "actual item." Once updated with weights etc., all cleared.

[FurnaceX]

I recommend you use Merchant Center's "Feed Rules" to configure your feed from Shopify.  Shopify support will be of no help. The Merchant Center Feed Rules are super flexible and powerful. They are a bit buried and take a little time to learn. But once you do, you will be fixing your Merchant Center errors quickly.

I was able to fix this particular issue ("Missing sub-attribute [country (sub-attribute of [shipping])]") in about 30 seconds with the simple rule shown below. No need to modify anything in shopify.

Further, I use feed rules to set things like color, sizes, gender, mpn, etc. etc. without bothering to update all the google fields within shopify. Feed rules are much faster and will apply automatically to future products.

Learn more about feed rules here: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/7450276?hl=en

p.s. @balticaudio, You are on the right track... Your Feed Rule isn't configured correctly.

[ZiZoouStore]

I use your guide and solve this issue.

Thank you so much.

[VladS1]

Hello,

Thank you for the solution. This worked for me.

Kind Regards

[hdelara]

How long does it take to changes effect? I implemented the rule. In the "Final Attribute" it's already showing the country. Yet, the problem remains.

[hdelara]

How long did it take for the changes to take effect?

[EmmanuelFlossie]

It takes half an hour.

If that is not the case, either you did something wrong, or the data is not re-processed.

You can reprocess data if you are using the free shopping app using the method here: https://feedarmy.com/kb/how-to-reprocess-content-api-in-google-merchant-center/

[hdelara]

Thank you very much! This indeed worked. 

What I was doing wrong: Country name must be in ISO 3166 2 -code (https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#search)

[Magicien]

Hello, did you manage to solve this?

All of my products are now declined because they are digital. 😕 I am clueless what to do.

[hdelara]

Yes, I solved! My products are all digital as well. Follow these steps:

1) Go to Google Merchant (https://merchants.google.com/)

2) On the left panel click Products > Feeds 

Sorry about image quality. I did this in a rush. Hope this can help.

[ZiZoouStore]

@Magicien Thanks for your help.

[RedDrumSEO]

Hey all,

I recently ran into this issue and decided to put a blog post together that walks you through the solution by creating a feed rule in your Google Merchant Center account. If you'd like, you can find out how to fix the sub-attribute [country (sub-attribute of [shipping])] issue here:

https://reddrumseo.com/missing-sub-attribute-country-sub-attribute-shipping-google-merchant-center/

[David_J_Tyler]

Thanks, FurnaceX
Exactly what I was looking for and resolved my issues. I and the other posters below owe you a beer!

[siroh_and_ivy]

Hey there, I know I'm coming in way late on this but I may have found an easy solution. I had 38 products not approved because of the missing country sub attribute. Implementing the following fix immediately made them approved. Just go to the YouTube video link below and this guys walks you through the simple fix. He shows you how to easily add a rule that sets the country as US if it is not submitted by your Shopify content API.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uNrJIrOQFA

He offers two methods. Skip to 2:33 for the method that worked for me.