Shopify and Google Merchant Center: setting up the Google & YouTube app
If your store is on Shopify, you don’t upload a product feed to Merchant Center yourself. The Google & YouTube app on Shopify links your store to Merchant Center and keeps your products in sync. Here’s how it works, from Google’s Merchant Center help.
Before you link
- The app can only link to a stand-alone Merchant Center account. Multi-Client Accounts (MCA) can’t be linked. If you manage accounts through an MCA, your email must be added directly as an admin on the stand-alone account.
- You can create a new Merchant Center account during onboarding if you don’t have one.
How product sync works
- When you first set up the app, all products available on your online store sync to Merchant Center automatically, and keep syncing when they change.
- Products need the required product data before they can sync — add it in the app (Sales channels → Google & YouTube → Products). Products without a GTIN need an MPN and brand.
- You choose the countries to sync to under the app’s Settings, and can sync future markets automatically.
- Automatic sync is recommended; manual sync is available if you want to choose what goes to Google.
- Eligible synced products can appear in free listings on Google — see is Google Merchant Center free?.
To exclude a product, change its publishing so it isn’t available to the Google & YouTube channel.
Where to see product status
Check product status and account settings in the Google & YouTube app on Shopify. Make product changes in Shopify, not in Merchant Center — the app sends Shopify’s data to Google. For what each status means, see Google Merchant Center product status.
Domain and claim issues
The app verifies and claims your website during onboarding. If your store has several domains, redirects or vanity URLs, the domain it claims may not match the domain in your product URLs — which causes issues. Make sure your primary domain is set correctly in Shopify → Settings → Domains, then re-claim in the app if prompted. More on claims in Google Merchant Center website verification.
Multiple markets
If you split products into separate country data sources, your total offer count goes up and you may need to request a quota increase. Existing attribute rules don’t transfer to new data sources automatically — copy them over.