Barcodes for selling on Google!

To sell your products on Google Shopping feeds, you will need to add a valid product identifier. This ensures the right product gets into the hands of the consumer as well as improving your conversion rates. Another important reason is that any files of data submitted to Google Shopping that contain invalid product identifiers will not be processed.

If your products are sold in Saudi Arabia, and a selection of other countries, you will need to add a product identifier for most categories. In other words, a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN).

 Download Google’s GTIN Validation Guide

Unique and accurate product information helps brands, manufacturers and retailers, explains new Google blog post 

In a just released blog post, Randy Rockinson, Product Manager for Product Data at Google Shopping, writes that “organising product information for shoppers and retailers is an essential part” of Google’s mission—and that “to best help users find your content and products in Search, we recommend that websites clearly identify products...”

Uniqueness, verifiability and global reach help manufacturers, retailers and publishers access unlimited consumers.

Accurate and trusted product data are essential for identifying products whether online or offline. To ensure this, Rockinson points to three factors that need to be in place: unique identifiers for each product, the ability to verify the identity of a product and other product information to ensure data accuracy—and the use of a product identification system that has global reach.

The blog post goes on to highlight the GS1 Global Trade Item Number (GTINTM), “which provides internationally recognized standard identifiers for products both in physical stores and on e-commerce platforms.” It adds that Google adopted the use of GTINs as the standard in 2015.

Once brands and manufacturers have registered their GTINs through GS1, they “can submit their product data through the Google Manufacturer Centre for free, and as part of this process, share the product information to uniquely identify the products to Google,” Rockinson writes.

Google also advises brands and manufacturers not to reuse GTINs and provides other pro tips for retailers, 3rd party sellers and online publishers.

Google Manufacturer Center

Brand owners can submit product data to Google for free via the Google Manufacturer Center. In return you will receive reports on the number of clicks your products are receiving on Google Shopping Ads for each of your GTINs; doing this provides a more consistent experience across Google for your brand and your products.