New Enhanced Google Feeds FAQ

New datafeed format for Retail advertisers

In an effort to standardise and improve the quality of Awin datafeeds, advertisers within the Retail sector can now use the Google Shopping format. The Google feed format is a widely-used format and considered the best in the industry.

What are the benefits of the Google Shopping format? The Google Shopping format feed has a clean and easy-to-use format. Using the Google Shopping format increases the quality and consistency of an advertiser’s product data. As a publisher, it streamlines your experience of promoting product information.

What changes for me as a publisher?

Advertisers adding a new datafeed for the ‘Retail’ vertical will now submit their data according to the Google Shopping format.

Advertisers with an existing datafeed have the option to upgrade it by adding a new datafeed in the Google Shopping format. Advertisers are advised to communicate any changes to their publishers to allow for time to make necessary adjustments before removing the existing datafeed.

In addition to downloading datafeeds via the UI, publishers can now also get product data programmatically via the Publisher Feed API for those advertisers that have upgraded.

How can I identify which advertisers have upgraded their feeds to the Google Shopping format?

The advertiser selector in the Create-a-Feed UI (Toolbox > Links & Tools > Create-a-Feed) has been updated to differentiate between advertisers using the legacy format for the verticals ‘Generic’, ‘Fashion’ and ‘Shopping’ and those who have enhanced their feed to the Google Shopping format for the ‘Retail’ vertical.

Please note that datafeeds in the enhanced format are not available for selection via the ‘Categories’ or ‘Brand’ selectors.

The ‘Product Feed List Download’  has also been updated in line with this, allowing publishers to easily identify whether a feed uses the legacy or enhanced format.

Publishers using the Publisher Feed API can make a call to see an overview of all feeds in the enhanced format they have access to.

What about non-Retail advertisers?

Advertisers with feeds in other verticals continue to be available via the UI for download. Over time, enhancements to standardise and improve the data format of those verticals will also be made.