Summary:
*Note: Go to http://www.google.com/merchants to create a Google Merchants account. This is where you will setup the Google feed. The products are then displayed on google.com/products.
You will want to log in to your Google Base account and verify that you have set up the information on the Settings tabs if you have not already done so.
* Note that Google requires that all products include a product image. Prior to creating the data feed file, make sure that your products include a product image.
UPDATE - WINTER 2011:
Google has made some changes to the requirements of the product feed in late 2011. A new feed file is now available and it's called GoogleProductsFeed.asp. The new feed file will resolve the "unique product identifier" issue by populating the MPN with the item number in your database. If you have not already done so, you can generate a new feed file by running the following url: http://MyDomainName/CartGenie/GoogleProductsFeed.asp. Once complete, download the GoogleProductsFeed.txt file and resubmit your data feed to Google.
While it's not necessary to submit a UPC, the new feed file does include the UPC field. To submit the UPC simply populate the UPC field in the Item Manager within CartGenie.
Google Product Category:
Google now "requests" that merchants include a column called "Google Product Category" in their feed. The new feed file mentioned above includes this column. If you choose to use the Google Product Category you must use one of the categories defined in Google's product taxonomy<http://www.google.com/support/merchants/bin/answer.py?answer=160081>, the list of acceptable values for the Google Product Category column. Examples include: Furniture, Hardware, and many more.
Important - The Google Product Category is required in your feed file if the item falls into one of the following seven categories listed below. If the item does not fit into one the categories below then the Google Product Category column can be left empty. More details can be found at http://www.google.com/support/merchants/bin/answer.py?answer=160081.
* Apparel & Accessories > Clothing
* Apparel & Accessories > Shoes
* Apparel & Accessories (Note that submitting this value for clothing and shoes is not acceptable.)
* Media > Books
* Media > DVDs & Videos
* Media > Music
* Software > Video Game Software
In order to enter the Google Product Category within CartGenie so that it populates your feed file you must use the Feature Manager. Enter the text below in the Feature Manager and replace the "Apparel & Accessories > Clothing" text with the appropriate text for your item. Make sure that you do not replace any other text. Note - this data will NOT be displayed on your Web site but will be included in your feed file.
/<span id="google_product_category" style="display:none">category=Apparel & Accessories > Clothing</span>
Submitting Apparel:
When submitting apparel in your feed Google now requires that the item in the feed also include four attributes: gender, age group, color, size. The new feed file includes columns for these attributes. The list of acceptable values for each attribute are listed below:
Gender: Male, Female, Unisex
Age Group: Adult, Kids
Color: The name of a color such black, white, red, ...
Size: The size of the garment such as S,M,L or Small, Medium, Large
In order to enter the apparel attributes within CartGenie so that it populates your feed file you must use the Feature Manager. Enter the text below in the Feature Manager and replace the value for each of the four attributes with the appropriate text for your item. For example, if your item was for a woman you would change gender to equal female. All four attributes must be included.. Note - this data will NOT be displayed on your Web site but will be included in your feed file.
/<span id="google_product_apparel" style="display:none">gender=male,age=adult,color=black,size=L</span>
Note - While the two text strings shown above that must be entered in the Feature Manager look similar they are different so make sure you are copying the strings correctly.
Create a data feed file by completing the following steps:
1. Go to http://YourDomainName.com/cartgenie/GoogleProductsFeed.asp in your Web browser.
2. A file called GoogleProductsFeed.txt will be created in the wwwroot/CartGenie directory of your Web site.
3. Set your Google Base account Data Feeds settings to automatically upload the GoogleProductsFeed.txt file weekly (or more often depending on how many changes you make to your products each week/month).
HELM CONTROL PANEL USERS:
Log in to your control panel - If your site is hosted in HELM, http://cp.jstreettech.com, go to Domains >> YourDomain.com >> Web Scheduler
Click on the "Add New" button.
Add the following settings:
- Task Name
- Task Domain: Select your domain from the drop down menu
- Task URL: cartgenie/GoogleProductsfeed.asp
- Week Day: 5
- Minute: 0
- Hour: 5
- Keep "Scheduled Task" setting "Enabled"
These Web Scheduler settings will generate a new GoogleProductsFeed.txt file on your server every Saturday at 5 AM allowing Google Base to upload the file from your Web site's server at 5:30 AM every Saturday.
*Note: We recommend 5:00 AM so the nightly backup of your site is not interrupted.
Click Save.
DNP CONTROL PANEL USERS:
At this time, DNP Control Panel users cannot schedule this type of task.
Manually create a data feed file by completing the following steps:
Go to http://www.google.com/base and log in to your Google Base account. Select 'Data Feed'. Select 'New Data Feed' and follow the instructions to manually upload the GoogleProductsFeed.txt page located in your CartGenie folder.