Google product feed

Use a Google product feed to send your product catalog data to Bazaarvoice. This method allows you to reuse your existing Google Merchant Center feed to power your Bazaarvoice Product Catalog, reducing feed maintenance.

Mandatory requirements and limitations

Google product feeds offer a fast, efficient setup for existing Google Merchant Center users. However, before onboarding, review the following requirements and limitations to confirm this method fits your catalog structure:

• Package: This method works best for Collect & Display clients. Other packages may need extra GTIN stacking and Portal-based management, which we do not recommend.
  
• Format: You must have an existing Google product feed or be capable of generating one from your PIM/e-commerce tool in TSV format. 
• Single-locale support only: Google product feeds support single-locale data only. Multi-locale clients are not suitable for this ingestion method. If your catalog requires multi-locale attributes, use a standard XML feed file instead.
  
• Full feed updates only: This method is designed for a full feed approach. Incremental, partial, and multi-source updates are not supported.
  
• Product ID matching: Product IDs given in the Google product feed must match those used in the Bazaarvoice display and catalog exactly. Any mismatch will require significant effort to migrate existing content.
• One GTIN per item: Each item must include a single GTIN value. If multiple GTINs are listed, only the first value is read; any additional values are ignored. If your product requires multi GTINs, use a standard XML feed file instead.
• Syndication compliance required — Item groups used for content sharing must comply with Bazaarvoice syndication guidelines.

Get started with Google product feeds

Follow these steps to set up your Google product feed ingestion with Bazaarvoice.

Step 1: Setup SFTP host

Google product feeds require a dedicated SFTP host rather than standard XML or text feed servers.

To request your SFTP host:

1. Contact Bazaarvoice Support to open a Google product feed setup request.
2. Bazaarvoice will email over your Production Host, Staging Host, Username, and SSH credentials.
3. Use these credentials, along with SSH key authentication, to establish a secure SFTP connection.

Step 2: Format your file

Ensure your feed complies with Google's product feed guidelines before uploading.

• File format: TSV (Tab-Separated Values) only
• Content: Must contain all required product attributes outlined in Google Merchant Center documentation. 

Step 3: Upload your file

Once your SFTP credentials and SSH keys are set up:

1. Connect to the provided SFTP host using your SSH key.
2. Upload your TSV file to the specified directory.
3. Monitor ingestion status by going to Portal > Catalog > Feeds in the Bazaarvoice Portal. Make sure your user account has Catalog Administrator permission.

How Bazaarvoice maps data

Bazaarvoice maps your Google feed attributes to our internal catalog attributes automatically as follows:

Google feed attribute	Bazaarvoice catalog attribute	Description
id	ExternalId	Product ID /External ID  consist of alphanumeric characters, hyphens (-), and underscores (_) that most uniquely identify the product.  The product ID is defined within the div tag where the data-bv-show attribute appears on your product page. If your current implementation uses the scout file (bvapi.js), you can set the product ID in the $BV.ui configure call on your product page. In the product feed, you must specify the value of the product ID in ExternalId.  Within Bazaarvoice, ExternalId is especially important. Without it, product matching across features cannot occur. Product ID is also used in submission form links (productId) and in the integration code on product display pages (PDPs), and it is used by sku in BV Pixel transactions.
title	Name	Consist of attributes and descriptors that most uniquely identify the product. Examples of useful product name attributes include brand names, model numbers, sizes, and colors. A specific and accurate title will help us show your product to the right customers.
description	Description	Provides a description of the product.
link	ProductPageUrl	The link to the product page on your website, which is specified by ProductPageUrl, enables manual matchers to access the full context of your product. This method represents the least preferred way to match products manually because it is so time consuming. The primary reason for including a PDP URL is that it routes SSURLs to the correct product pages.
image_link	ImageUrl	Acts as a very important differentiator in the manual matching process. Provide an image that is accurate and meaningful for identifying the product. The primary reason for including these images is that they will appear on your submission form.
category	Category Object, ExternalId, and Name	Defines a category that is represented by products in your feed using the following child elements. You can also use this element to define a category hierarchy.
brand	Brand Object, ExternalId, and Name	Represents the most important data item to provide for each product in the feed. Brands are used for more than product matching; in Bazaarvoice reporting systems, they also help you get the most benefit from your syndication and Connections programs.
item_group_id	Group Object ID and Name (Groups used for sharing content should align with Bazaarvoice syndication guidelines.)	Use the item group ID [item_group_id] attribute to group product variants in your product data. Variants are a group of similar products that only differ from one another by product details such as color and size for apparel or memory sizes, display sizes, processors, and graphics options for electronics. When you use an item group ID [item_group_id] to group your products, you can ensure that your product and its variants are shown to customers as a group, instead of separately.
color	Color	Represents the color of the product
size	Size	Represents the size of the product
material	Material	Represents the material type of the product
price	Price	Represents the price of the product
gtin	Primary UPC/EAN/ISBN (first value)	UPC, EAN, and ISBN are globally unique identifiers (GTINs). The product category you manufacture or sell and your region determine which identifiers are relevant. If more than one value applies to a product item, we recommend providing all relevant values. For example, electronics or consumer packaged goods (CPG) products might be assigned a UPC and an EAN. Without globally unique identifiers, Bazaarvoice cannot match products to vendors or catalogs as quickly, making the likelihood of mismatches higher. Because of poorer product data quality, the confidence level of the matches declines. This lack of confidence forces more manual reviews of the matches, slowing down the process. Due to delays caused by the lack of automated matching tools, newly introduced products will not syndicate immediately.
mpn	MPN	The second most useful product identifier for syndication is the manufacturer part number (MPN). Use the MPN in conjunction with the manufacturer’s name to match products accurately and automatically. In your feed, provide MPNs using ManufacturerPartNumber, and make sure each product's Brand uses the name of the manufacturer responsible for the MPN. Your feed can have multiple MPN values for a single product, so provide all MPNs applicable to a product. Note: The distinction between “brand” and “manufacturer” is not always clear. When providing MPN values, include the name of the brand or manufacturer that assigned the product’s specific MPN value.
custom_label_0-4	Custom Attributes	Custom labels, custom label 0 [custom_label_0] through custom label 4 [custom_label_4], allow you to create specific filters to use in your Performance Max, Shopping, or Demand Gen campaigns. Use these filters for reporting and bidding on groups of products. The information you include in this attribute won’t be shown to customers.

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