Why is it important to use correct unique product identifiers (UPIs)? If you use the wrong UPIs, you could receive a disapproval from Google Merchant Center and jeopardize your Shopping Ads.
Therefore, it’s crucial that you label your product with the correct UPI so that Google recognizes your products. Common UPIs include Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs), Manufacturer Part Numbers (MPNs), and brand names.
Starting September 30th, the following changes to Unique Product Identifier (UPI) enforcement will go into effect:
- Items missing required UPIs will no longer be disapproved. These items will now be eligible to serve in Shopping ads. However, similar items with correct UPIs will receive higher priority to items that do not have correct UPIs. All items will continue to serve, but the performance of items without correct UPIs may be limited. To maximize the performance of your items, make sure that you provide the correct UPIs.
- Items for which the idenfitier_exists attribute is incorrectly set to “false” and for which there is evidence that a UPI exists will be disapproved.
- If the same GTIN is used across multiple different products, then those items will be considered ambiguous and will be disapproved.
The changes listed above will go into effect for the following countries:
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Czechia
India
Denmark
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
Mexico
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Russia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
Bottom line: Make sure to submit correct GTINs, MPNs, and corresponding brands for all new in-stock products so that your Merchant Center account is ready for this change. This will improve the relevancy of the Google Ads that are shown to potential customers.
Brian Roizen is the Cofounder and Chief Architect of Feedonomics, a full-service feed optimization platform that optimizes product data for hundreds of channels. He has been featured on numerous podcasts and eCommerce webinars, and regularly contributes to Search Engine Land and other industry-leading blogs. Brian graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.
