You’ve got customers in one country and you want the same products in front of shoppers in another. This guide is for e-commerce owners and exporters who already have a working Google Merchant Center account. After reading it you’ll be able to add target countries, choose between data sources and feed labels, and check currency, tax and shipping for each market. You’ll need a Merchant Center account with products already listed.
Add each country as a target country in your Merchant Center account, either from Business info or from a data source’s menu, then make sure every product has a valid currency, price and shipping service for that country[1][3]. The rest of this guide covers the choices around that and the mistakes that cause disapprovals.
Step 1: add your target countries
A target country is a place where you want your products to show in Shopping ads and free listings. There are two routes, and Google documents both.
- Open Business info, go to the Countries tab and choose Add countries[1][3].
- Or open the menu of an existing data source (the feed or file that carries your products), choose Edit countries, then Add more countries[1][3].
Pick whichever fits how you work. The data source route is handy when you’re already looking at the feed that will serve the new market.
One data source or several?
One data source can serve every country that shares its language[1][2]. If you want translated listings, you need a separate data source for each language[1][2]. Don’t paste French titles into your English feed and hope for the best.
Setting countries per item instead
You can also control this at product level. Use the shipping attribute on each item. If your account already has shipping services set up, a two-letter country code is enough[1][2][3]. To keep a single product out of a country, use the shopping_ads_excluded_country attribute[1][2][3].
Watch out
Google’s help pages describe some of these screens slightly differently. Follow the option names (Add countries, Edit countries) rather than relying on the tab label you see on one page.
Policies and Google Ads must line up
Country-specific policies are enforced separately. A product can be fine in one country and disapproved in another. Also, your Google Ads location targeting must match the countries you’ve added in Merchant Center[2], so keep the two lists the same.
Step 2: decide whether you need feed labels
A feed label is a tag you attach to a data source. Data sources that share the same label can serve one campaign, which gives you a clean way to split products by market[4]. It’s the tool to reach for in international Google Shopping when you run separate feeds for separate countries and want each campaign to pull the right one.
The rules to know before you create one:
- It can be up to 20 characters, using A to Z, 0 to 9, hyphens and underscores[4].
- It’s fixed when you create the data source. You can’t edit it later, so choose something clear such as a country code[4].
- It needs Advanced data source management to be turned on[4].
Tip
If you only sell one language in several countries, you may not need feed labels at all. Start with one data source and the countries it shares. Add labels when your campaigns need to be split by market.
Step 3: check currency, tax and language
Currency
Use a currency that Google supports for the target country[1][5]. Check the supported languages and currencies page before you build the feed. Your shipping prices should be in the same currency as the offer price[1].
Your landing pages matter here too. They must not change language or currency dynamically based on the visitor’s location[1]. Give each country its own stable page or URL.
Tax
Tax display differs by country, so check each one[1][6]:
- In the US and Canada, prices exclude tax.
- In many other countries, including the UK, Germany and France, prices must include VAT and match what’s on your landing page.
Duties and excise aren’t tax in Merchant Center’s terms, so they don’t go into this setting[6]. Read the tax help page for each country you add.
Step 4: set up shipping for each country
Open Shipping and returns, then Shipping policies. This is where you create the services that tell Google what delivery costs and how long it takes. You can have up to 20 policies per country[7]. Our walkthrough at https://oxfordimpulse.com/google-merchant-center-shipping-settings-returns/ covers the screens in more detail.
If a country has no matching service, you may see products disapproved with a message that there’s no matching shipping service for that country and currency[7]. That tells you where to look: the service must exist for that exact country, and its currency must match the offer.
Common mistakes
- Adding a country but not shipping to it. Create a shipping service for every target country.
- Translating titles inside a single-language feed. Use a separate data source per language.
- Showing ex-VAT prices in VAT countries. The feed price should match the landing page.
- Targeting countries in Google Ads that aren’t in Merchant Center. Keep both lists identical.
- Picking a feed label in a hurry. You can’t change it later.
FAQs
How do I add another country in Merchant Center?
Do I need a separate feed for each country?
What is a feed label in Merchant Center?
It’s a tag on a data source. Sources that share a label can serve one campaign, which helps you separate markets[4].
Can I change a feed label later?
No. It’s fixed when you create the data source, so choose carefully[4].
How long can a feed label be?
Up to 20 characters. You can use A to Z, 0 to 9, hyphens and underscores[4].
Can I stop one product showing in a country?
Should prices include VAT?
Why are my products disapproved for shipping in a new country?
Usually there’s no shipping service matching that country and currency. Add one under Shipping and returns, then Shipping policies[7].
Where to go from here
Add one new country first, fix every currency, tax and shipping warning it throws up, then repeat for the next market. For the wider picture of how accounts, feeds and campaigns fit together, start with our Google Merchant Center page at https://oxfordimpulse.com/google-merchant-center/ .
Sources
- Google Merchant Center Help: Set up Shopping ads and free listings in multiple countries support.google.com
- Google Merchant Center Help: Show products in multiple target countries support.google.com
- Google Merchant Center Help: Add additional target countries to a product data source support.google.com
- Google Merchant Center Help: Use feed labels to advertise products from specific product data sources support.google.com
- Google Merchant Center Help: Supported languages and currencies support.google.com
- Google Merchant Center Help: About tax information for your products support.google.com
- Google Merchant Center Help: Set up shipping settings for an entire account support.google.com
