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Merchant API
- the official successor to the Content API for Shopping.
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Summary
Merchant Center accounts store the product information for Shopping campaigns.
You upload product information to your merchant account through product feeds.
You can create product feeds that upload multiple products at a time in
the Merchant Center or through the Content API for Shopping. The Content API
for Shopping also lets you upload and update individual products.
With both feed and API uploads, newly uploaded products are subject to data
quality checks that may take up to 72 hours to resolve. These products will have
the pending status in the meantime. See the Product status definitions page
to learn more.
If you already have product information in an eCommerce platform, you may be
able to connect that eCommerce platform to the Merchant Center and have the
information shared automatically. Check with your eCommerce platform provider to
see if any connectors exist for sharing product information with the Merchant
Center.
All products must adhere to the Product data specification. Read
through the specification to understand what product attributes must be provided
for a product to be valid. Some types of products require different attributes
than others.
Manual steps
If this if your first time creating a feed, it may take a few tries to
resolve all the errors. See the Google Advertiser Community for help.
Product errors are signaled with a non-2xx HTTP status message, and
the body of the response contains more information.
Even successfully uploaded products may return warnings that you
should examine to improve your proudct data. See the common errors guide
for more information.
You can use the productstatuses service to see the status of products on
you account.
Individual products uploaded through the Content API for Shopping
expire either after 30 days or on their manually set expiration date,
whichever comes first.
In order to keep products from expiring, they must be updated or
re-inserted. It's important to schedule a regularly occurring refresh to the
Content API for Shopping's products endpoint.
[null,null,["Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eMerchant Center accounts store product information for Shopping campaigns, which is uploaded via product feeds or the Content API.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle strongly recommends using the Content API for Shopping for its flexibility and scalability over manual feed uploads.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eProducts uploaded through any method undergo data quality checks and may take up to 72 hours to resolve before becoming active.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAll products must adhere to the Product data specification, which outlines the required attributes for different product types.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe Content API for Shopping offers methods for bulk uploads via feeds and individual product updates, requiring regular refreshes to prevent product expiration.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Create a feed\n\nSummary\n-------\n\nMerchant Center accounts store the product information for Shopping campaigns.\nYou upload product information to your merchant account through product feeds.\nYou can create product feeds that upload multiple products at a time in\nthe [Merchant Center](https://merchants.google.com) or through the [Content API for Shopping](/shopping-content/guides/products/products-api). The Content API\nfor Shopping also lets you upload and update individual products.\n| **Objective:** We strongly recommend you use the Content API for Shopping. The Content API is much more flexible and scalable than the manual steps.\n\nWith both feed and API uploads, newly uploaded products are subject to data\nquality checks that may take up to 72 hours to resolve. These products will have\nthe `pending` status in the meantime. See the [Product status definitions](//support.google.com/merchants/answer/160491) page\nto learn more.\n\nIf you already have product information in an eCommerce platform, you may be\nable to connect that eCommerce platform to the Merchant Center and have the\ninformation shared automatically. Check with your eCommerce platform provider to\nsee if any connectors exist for sharing product information with the Merchant\nCenter.\n\nAll products must adhere to the [Product data specification](//support.google.com/merchants/answer/188494). Read\nthrough the specification to understand what product attributes must be provided\nfor a product to be valid. Some types of products require different attributes\nthan others.\n\nManual steps\n------------\n\nIf this if your first time creating a feed, it may take a few tries to\nresolve all the errors. See the [Google Advertiser Community](//www.en.advertisercommunity.com/t5/Google-Shopping-and-Merchant/bd-p/google-shopping) for help.\n\n1. See [About feeds](//support.google.com/merchants/answer/188478) and [File formats for product data](//support.google.com/merchants/answer/160567) to plan the structure of your feed.\n2. Follow the steps in [Upload a feed](//support.google.com/merchants/answer/188477).\n\nAutomatic steps\n---------------\n\nYou can use the Content API for Shopping to bulk upload product information\nthrough feeds and to send individual product information.\n\nYou can only automate scheduled feeds.\n\n- Use the [`datafeeds`](/shopping-content/reference/rest/v2.1/datafeeds) service to create, update, and delete registered feeds.\n- Use the [`products`](/shopping-content/reference/rest/v2.1/products) resource to upload and update individual products.\n\n See the [Product data specification](//support.google.com/merchants/answer/188494) to learn which fields are required\n for your specific product.\n\n Use [`products.insert`](/shopping-content/reference/rest/v2.1/products/insert) to upload product information. If you're sending\n multiple products at once, see [Sending batch requests](/shopping-content/guides/how-tos/batch).\n\n Product errors are signaled with a non-2xx HTTP status message, and\n the body of the response contains more information.\n\n Even successfully uploaded products may return warnings that you\n should examine to improve your proudct data. See the [common errors](/shopping-content/guides/how-tos/common-errors) guide\n for more information.\n\n You can use the [`productstatuses`](/shopping-content/reference/rest/v2.1/productstatuses) service to see the status of products on\n you account.\n\n Individual products uploaded through the Content API for Shopping\n expire either after 30 days or on their manually set expiration date,\n whichever comes first.\n\n In order to keep products from expiring, they must be updated or\n re-inserted. It's important to schedule a regularly occurring refresh to the\n Content API for Shopping's [`products`](/shopping-content/reference/rest/v2.1/products) endpoint."]]
