You’ve uploaded your feed and Merchant Center is flagging products. Or you’re building the feed from scratch and want to know what you can safely leave out. Either way, the question is the same: which Google Merchant Center required attributes do you actually have to submit?
Seven attributes are required for every product, namely id, title, description, link, image_link, availability and price[1]. Beyond those, Google labels attributes “It depends” (needed for certain products or countries, such as GTIN, apparel fields and shipping) or “Optional” (not needed, but can improve performance)[1][3].
How Google labels attributes
Google’s product data specification uses three labels[1]. Learn them and the whole spec becomes easier to read.
- Required: submit it, or the product can’t serve in ads and free listings.
- It depends: you may need it, depending on the product type or the country you sell in.
- Optional: not needed, but it can boost performance.
Note what’s missing. There is no “Recommended” label in the spec[1]. Google’s own page sticks to the three labels above. When this article says an attribute is strongly recommended, that is wording from the attribute’s own description, not a fourth label.
The Google Merchant Center required attributes for every product
These seven apply to everything you upload[1]:
- id: a unique identifier, up to 50 characters.
- title: up to 150 characters.
- description: up to 5,000 characters.
- link: the product page URL.
- image_link: the main product image URL.
- availability: accepted values are in_stock, out_of_stock, preorder and backorder.
- price: the product’s price.
Two details need care. First, if availability is preorder, you also need availability_date, and it can be up to one year ahead[1]. Second, price must follow Google’s tax rule. In the US and Canada, don’t include sales tax. In other countries, include VAT or GST in the price[1]. Check the price your feed actually sends against that rule.
Tip
Use one id per product and keep it unchanged between uploads.
Images: required, with a minimum size
image_link is required, and Google says not to submit a placeholder or generic image[1]. Images also have a minimum size: at least 500 x 500 pixels, with that minimum enforced from 31 January 2027[2][4]. Google recommends about 1500 x 1500 pixels[2][4]. For image issues on your own products, check what Merchant Center reports for them.
If you’re replacing supplier photos, see our image requirements guide at https://oxfordimpulse.com/google-merchant-center-image-requirements/.
Conditional attributes
Condition
The condition attribute is required if the product is used or refurbished[1].
Identifiers: brand, GTIN and MPN
Identifiers need care, because three attributes follow three different rules[1]:
- brand: required for all new products except movies, books and music.
- gtin: “It depends”, but strongly recommended if you have one. A GTIN is the barcode number (UPC, EAN or ISBN) printed on the packaging.
- mpn: the manufacturer part number. Required only when the product has no manufacturer GTIN.
Then there’s identifier_exists, which defaults to yes[1]. Only set it to no if the product genuinely has no GTIN or MPN. And don’t submit “N/A”, “Generic”, “No brand” or “Does not exist” as identifier values[1].
If you’re not sure where to find your GTINs, see our GTIN guide at https://oxfordimpulse.com/what-is-gtin-google-merchant-center/.
Apparel attributes
Apparel has its own rules. For apparel targeted to Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US, Google requires[1]:
- age_group
- gender
- color
- size for the Clothing and Shoes categories
- item_group_id for variants, so that a shirt in five sizes is grouped as one product
These requirements apply to apparel, so they don’t apply to something like a candle or a kettle. Check your target countries first, then check your product categories. If you sell a T-shirt in three colours and four sizes, that’s twelve rows in your feed, each with its own id and all sharing one item_group_id.
Shipping
shipping is also “It depends”. It’s required for Shopping ads and free listings in a long list of countries, including the UK and the US[3]. The cost can come from the shipping attribute in your feed or from account-level shipping settings in Merchant Center[3]. Keep to one source of truth where you can, so you always know which one to edit.
For setup details, including returns, read https://oxfordimpulse.com/google-merchant-center-shipping-settings-returns/ and then compare it against your country list in the spec[3].
Optional attributes worth knowing about
Optional doesn’t mean useless. Google says optional attributes can boost performance[1]. Three were added in the 2026 specification update: video_link, handling_cutoff_time and minimum_order_value[4]. All three are optional, so don’t hold up a launch to add them. Add them once your required data is clean.
You won’t find sale_price in the required list[1]. Only add it when a product really is on sale.
A note on language
Attribute names and values must be in English[5]. That includes fixed values such as in_stock, which you should write exactly as Google lists them, not translated into German or French. For other fields, such as title and description, check the guidance on Google’s page about submitting attributes[5].
How to check what you’re missing
Merchant Center reports problems with your products as issues in your account. Where an issue says a required value is missing, fix the data at source (your Shopify or WooCommerce product fields or your feed rules) rather than patching it in Merchant Center. Re-check after the next feed fetch.
For the wider picture of how your account and feed fit together, see https://oxfordimpulse.com/google-merchant-center/. If you want help checking your feed, Oxford Impulse can review it with you.
FAQs
What are the required attributes in Google Merchant Center?
What does “It depends” mean in the product data specification?
Is GTIN required in Merchant Center?
Is brand required in Merchant Center?
Which attributes are required for clothing?
Is shipping a required attribute?
What is the minimum image size for Merchant Center?
Is there a Recommended label in the spec?
No. Google uses Required, It depends and Optional[1]. If a guide tells you an attribute is “recommended”, check it against the specification itself.
Do attribute values have to be in English?
Should you include tax in the price?
It depends on the country. In the US and Canada, don’t include sales tax. Elsewhere, include VAT or GST in the price[1].
Sources
- Google Merchant Center Help: Product data specification support.google.com
- Google Merchant Center Help: Image link [image_link] support.google.com
- Google Merchant Center Help: Shipping [shipping] support.google.com
- Google Merchant Center Help: Merchant Center product data specification update 2026 support.google.com
- Google Merchant Center Help: Submit attributes and attribute values support.google.com
