Fluxx Tech
When someone searches for a product, Google shows a shopping area with images, prices and shop names. Some of those placements are paid. Some are free.
Google Merchant Center is how your products get into either. For an Indian ecommerce business, free listings are among the few remaining ways to get product visibility without paying per click.
Google changes Merchant Center features, policies and availability by country. Check Google’s current Merchant Center documentation for India before relying on any specific feature described here.
What you need
1. A Merchant Center account
2. A verified and claimed website
3. A product feed
4. Policy-compliant website content: contact details, return policy, refund policy, shipping policy, secure checkout
5. Accurate prices and availability that match your site exactly
That last point causes most problems. If your feed says ₹2,499 and your site says ₹2,699, the product is disapproved.
Website requirements
Before worrying about the feed, make sure the site passes:
• HTTPS on every page, especially checkout
• Clear contact information: address, phone, email
• Return and refund policy, easy to find
• Shipping policy with charges and timelines
• Prices and taxes shown clearly
• A working checkout process
• No misleading claims
Google reviews these. A thin site with no policies will not get approved, however good the feed is.
The product feed
A feed is a structured file listing every product with its attributes. You can supply it as a file, a scheduled fetch from a URL, an API, or through your ecommerce platform’s integration.
Core attributes:
Attribute | Notes |
id | Unique, stable; never reuse |
title | The single most important field; see below |
description | Detailed, accurate, no promotional text like “FREE SHIPPING!!” |
link | Direct product page URL |
image_link | High resolution, white or clean background, product fills the frame |
availability | in stock / out of stock / preorder, kept current |
price | Including currency; must match the landing page |
brand | Required for most categories |
gtin / mpn | Barcode or manufacturer part number where one exists |
condition | new / refurbished / used |
google_product_category | Google’s taxonomy |
product_type | Your own category path |
shipping | Rates by region |
identifier_exists | Set to false only for genuinely unbranded or custom items |
Useful additions: sale_price, color, size, material, gender, age_group, item_group_id for variants, additional_image_link.
Write titles properly
Shopping titles work like search queries, not like brand copy. Put the words people type at the front.
Weak | Better |
Elegant Blue Beauty | Handloom Cotton Saree — Blue with Gold Zari Border, 6.3m |
Premium Mixer | Prestige Mixer Grinder 750W, 3 Jars, White |
Our Best Seller | Stainless Steel Water Bottle 1L, Insulated, Blue |
Pattern that works for most categories: Brand + Product type + Key attributes (colour, size, model) + Pack size.
Keep the important words within the first 70 characters, because that is roughly what displays.
Images
• One clear product image on a plain background for the main image
• No watermarks, logos, promotional text or borders on the main image
• Fill most of the frame
• High resolution
• Lifestyle shots as additional images, not the main one
Image quality drives click-through more than anything else in Shopping. It is worth reshooting your top 50 products properly. See our product photography guide.
Common disapprovals and fixes
Problem | Fix |
Price mismatch | Sync the feed more often; check tax and currency handling |
Availability mismatch | Automated stock sync, not manual updates |
Missing GTIN | Add barcodes, or set identifier_exists correctly for unbranded items |
Image too small or has promotional text | Replace with a clean, high-resolution image |
Policy violation | Check the restricted and prohibited products list for your category |
Missing shipping or returns information | Add the policies to the site and the account settings |
Landing page mismatch | The link must go to the exact product, not a category |
Insufficient contact information | Add a full contact page |
Check the Diagnostics tab weekly. Disapprovals accumulate quietly and your products simply stop appearing.
Keep the feed fresh
• Automate the feed from your product database; a manual spreadsheet goes stale within days
• Update prices and stock at least daily, more often during sales
• Remove discontinued products rather than leaving them “out of stock” forever
• Use scheduled fetches rather than manual uploads
Free listings and paid Shopping ads
Free listings cost nothing per click but give less control and less prominence. Shopping ads cost per click and appear more prominently.
A sensible sequence:
1. Set up Merchant Center and get all products approved
2. Run free listings; measure what traffic they bring
3. Identify which products convert
4. Run Shopping ads only on those products, where the margin supports it
Both use the same feed, so feed quality improves both at once.
Measure
Metric | Where |
Approved vs disapproved products | Merchant Center Diagnostics |
Clicks and impressions from free listings | Merchant Center Performance |
Traffic and revenue from Shopping | Analytics, with proper tracking |
Best and worst performing products | Performance reports |
Feed errors over time | Diagnostics |
See our conversion tracking guide for attributing the revenue properly.
Frequently asked questions
Are free product listings really free? There is no cost per click for free listings. You pay only for Shopping ads if you choose to run them.
Do I need an ecommerce platform? No, but it is far easier. A platform integration generates and updates the feed automatically.
How long does approval take? Account review can take several days. Individual product review is usually faster. Fix disapprovals promptly; they do not resolve themselves.
