Google Product Category Keys: Visibility for your products

Standing out from the competition is essential for success. A fundamental tool in this regard is Google Product Category. This attribute, part of Google's Product Taxonomy, plays a crucial role in the visibility and relevance of your ads on platforms such as Google Shopping. In this article, we will explore what Google Product Category is, its importance, and how you can make the most of it to improve the performance of your online ads.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. What is Google Product Category?
2. Common ways to categorize your products and when to use them
3. Importance of Google Product Category
4. Tips for assigning Google Product Categories in the Google Shopping feed
5. How does Google Product Category affect your ads?
6. Google Product Category FAQs

What is Google Product Category?

Google Product Category is a key attribute for organizing products on platforms such as Google Shopping. It is a fundamental part of Google Product Taxonomy, a structured classification system that automatically assigns categories and subcategories to products in a shopping feed and online stores.

This attribute, known as "google_product_category", allows sellers to categorize their products in a precise way, which facilitates the search for users and improves the visibility of products on Google Shopping. Google's taxonomy consists of more than 6,000 categories, underscoring the importance of proper categorization to ensure better relevance and visibility.

The proper assignment of categories in Google Product Category helps users easily find the products they are looking for and enhances the online shopping experience. In addition, Google's product taxonomy is regularly updated to reflect changes in the marketplace and keep up with e-commerce trends and developments.

Common ways to categorize your products and when to use them

When it comes to categorizing the products in your stores, there are three ways you can take advantage of:

Manual categorization

This methodology involves manually assigning Google Product Category categories to each product in your catalog. While it offers full control over category assignment, it can be tedious, especially for brands with extensive inventory.

Category assignment

A more automated solution involves using tools based on artificial intelligence, such as the one offered by Adsmurai Marketing Platform "Google Category Mapping". This tool, available for any vertical, is specially designed for e-commerce selling on marketplaces. In addition, Google Category Mapping allows easier categorization on other platforms such as Facebook or Criteo, which saves time on a task that is tedious and time-consuming. This tool automatically predicts and populates the "google_product_category" field based on product information, which saves time and effort for marketers. It also ensures that products are automatically updated if Google changes their categories.

Mixed categorization (mix of category mapping and manual)

This option combines automated category assignment with manual intervention when necessary. For example, you can use automatic categorization for most products and then make manual adjustments for those that require more specific categorization.

Regardless of the method chosen, it is essential to ensure that products are categorized correctly. This can be achieved by providing high-quality titles and descriptions, as well as accurate price, brand, and GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) information, which will help products rank appropriately in Google's constantly evolving product taxonomy.

In addition, some best practices should be followed, such as using the category that best describes the product, opting for the most specific category possible, and using the most recent categories to ensure optimal product data performance. In case the product code taxonomy is not available in the corresponding language, the English values or the numeric ID can be used as an alternative. These practices will help optimize product data performance and improve the online shopping experience for users.

Importance of Google Product Category

The importance of Google Product Category lies in several crucial aspects to improve the performance of marketing campaigns and user experience:

• Improved campaign performance: Segmenting products by category allows for more targeted campaigns, which increases the relevance of ads to users.

• Relevance and visibility: Google uses this categorization to ensure that users see only products relevant to their searches, which improves click-through rates and search rankings.

• Used by multiple platforms: In addition to Google, other channels such as Criteo or Facebook Ads also use this categorization as a reference, making it an essential practice for success across multiple sales channels.

• Mandatory for certain categories: For products such as "Software", "Apparel & Accessories" and "Media", including product categories is mandatory when creating the product data feed.

• Improves relevance and ad performance: Accurate categorization helps Google decide on search terms to display products, increasing relevance and CTR (click-through rate), which translates into better ad performance and lower ad costs.

• Correct tax application: Choosing the right category ensures correct tax rate application, especially important for U.S. sales.

Proper product categorization in Google Product Category is essential to optimize the performance of marketing campaigns, improve ad relevance, and ensure a satisfactory shopping experience for users across multiple retail platforms.

Tips for assigning Google product categories in the Google Shopping feed

When assigning product categories in the Google Shopping feed, it is important to follow some best practices to ensure the accuracy and relevance of the classification:

• Keep your feed up to date: Google periodically updates its categories, so it is crucial to make sure your data feed is up to date with the latest changes.

• Be specific in categorization: Provide as much information as possible in your Google Shopping feed. Choosing the most specific category will increase the visibility of your products in the relevant search results, significantly improving CTR (click-through rate) and reducing advertising costs.

• Select the most accurate category: If your product fits into more than one category, choose the most accurate and relevant one. Google Shopping does not allow you to select two categories for the same product, so the right choice is crucial.

• Use the product_type attribute when necessary: If the item does not fit into any of the predefined categories in Google's taxonomy, you can use the product_type attribute as an alternative.

• Adapt the categories to the country of sale: Keep in mind that each country has its taxonomy, so configure the feed and categories according to the country where you plan to sell your products. This is essential to ensure that the correct tax rates are applied and to avoid your products being rejected by Google.

• Choose a single predefined category: Use only a single, predefined product category, either by selecting the category ID or the full category path.

• Describe your product properly: Choose the category that best represents the main features of your product. It is important to be specific and detailed in the description to ensure accurate classification.

• Prioritize accuracy over generality: Whenever possible, select a specific category that accurately describes the main function of your product rather than a more general category.

• Stay current with categories: Avoid using outdated terms and check the latest Google product taxonomy page to identify accurate categories and subcategories introduced after 2011.

By following these best practices, you can optimize the categorization of your products on Google Shopping, improve the relevance of your ads, and ensure a satisfactory shopping experience for users.

How does Google's product category affect your ads?

Google's product category plays a crucial role in determining which ads are shown to the audience on Google Shopping. While Google considers several factors and attributes when selecting what to show, the product category is one of the main ones.

It is critical to use the right category not only to ensure product approval but also to comply with category-specific editorial requirements and advertising policies. For example, while the brand attribute is mandatory for most products, there are exceptions, such as movies, books, and music recordings, where it may be more relevant to include the publisher as the brand rather than the manufacturer.

Therefore, it is essential to specify the correct Google product category before completing other attributes, such as the brand name. This not only ensures product approval but also ensures compliance with Google's advertising policies and editorial requirements for each product category.

Google Product Category FAQ

What exactly is Google Product Category and how does it differ from Google's product taxonomy?

Google Product Category is an attribute that classifies products in Google Shopping. It is part of the Google Product Taxonomy, which is a predefined classification structure used to organize and categorize products in shopping feeds and online stores. While Google Product Category is the specific attribute used to categorize products in Google Shopping, Google Product Taxonomy is the complete set of categories and subcategories predefined by Google to organize products.

How can I find the right product category using Google Product Category Finder?

Google Product Category Finder is a tool provided by Google to help you find the right product category. You can access it through the Google Merchant Center. Simply enter details about your product, such as type, brand, and GTIN, and the tool will suggest relevant categories based on this information.

Why is it important to assign product categories in the Google Shopping feed?

Proper category assignment in the Google Shopping feed is crucial to ensure that your products are visible to users searching for similar products. Accurate categorization improves the relevance of your ads, increases the visibility of your products in search results, and can improve the performance of your ad campaigns.

What is the relationship between the Google product category and the performance of my ads on Google Shopping?

The Google product category plays an important role in determining the relevance and visibility of your ads on Google Shopping. Accurate categorization increases the likelihood that your ads will be shown to users interested in your products, which can improve click-through rates (CTR) and reduce advertising costs.

What are some best practices for selecting the most appropriate product category?

Some best practices include being specific in categorization, using tools such as Google Product Category Finder to find the right category, and making sure the data feed is updated with the latest changes in Google categories. In addition, it is important to adapt categories for international markets and comply with category-specific editorial requirements and advertising policies.