Starting on September 15, Google Shopping will require feeds targeting Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom or the United States to submit valid GTIN and brand information for all products when the “brand” is a designated brand and the condition is “new”.

Beginning at that time, Google will not approve offers that don’t meet these requirements. The company explains in a blog post:

With Google Shopping, finding the right customers starts with creating a good product data feed: the better your feed, the more easily we can connect you with online shoppers, searching for what you sell. Key to creating a complete feed is clearly and accurately specifying which products you have for sale.

For most products, the manufacturer will provide a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) to uniquely and completely identify a product in the global marketplace. We’ve found that providing GTINs in your product data feed increases the likelihood that your offers are matched to the Google Shopping product catalog. This helps us surface relevant, accurate results on Google Shopping; in fact, early experiments indicate that offers matched to the catalog receive up to 40% more user clicks than those that do not.

If you don’t have the right GTINs or complete ones in your data feed, you can find them individually or in bulk. Individually, you should look for the 12 or 13 digit number printed below the barcode on the product’s packaging. They can be exported in bullk from warehouse management systems. Google says to check with your IT colleagues to see if they can help you with that.

The company says merchants can sometimes mistakenly provide incorrect brand info. An iPhone case might incorrectly be labeled as Apple for example. Just make sure you get that right or it won’t be approved.

Google talks more about all of this here.

Image via Google