Updating to the new Google channel

The Google Shopping (unsupported version) app won't be supported or maintained after March 1, 2020, and your product feed will expire 30 days after your last sync. To prevent interruptions to your Google Shopping product feed, update to the new version of the app. The new version improves the reliability of product sync between Shopify and Google Shopping.

If you are using the unsupported version to sync your products to Google, and you connect your Google Merchant Center account to the new app, then your store is already approved by Google. You won't have any approval delays caused by updating to the new app. Your synced and approved products are automatically migrated to the new Google channel. If you already use Google Merchant Center to manage a product feed or create Google Ads, then you might want to review some considerations before syncing an existing Google Merchant Center account.

You can use the Google channel to sync your products to your Google Merchant Center account. After you set up your product sync, you can create Performance Max campaigns from Shopify, or create and manage campaigns from Google.

The Google channel is available in the following countries and currencies.

Step 1: Uninstall the old app

Before you install the new Google channel, you need to uninstall the old Google channel.

Steps:

1. In your Shopify admin, click Apps.
2. From the Apps page, click the trash can icon beside Google Shopping (unsupported) to uninstall the old app.

Step 2: Install the new app

Now that you've uninstalled the old Google channel, install the new app.

Steps:

1. In the Shopify App Store, go to Google Shopping.
2. Click Add app, and then click Install app.

Step 3: Connect a Google account

After installing the new Google channel, you need to connect a Google account. If possible, then connect the account that you used with the old version of the app. If you decide to open a new Google account, then Google's approval process can take longer.

Steps:

1. In the Google channel, click Connect a Google Account.

2. Select the suggested email address, and then click Allow. The suggested email address is associated with the Google account you had connected with the old Google channel.

Step 4: Review the requirements

Your store needs to meet a few requirements for the new Google channel to work. From the Google channel page in Shopify, you can click links in the requirements checklist to complete any of the requirements that your store doesn't already meet.

The links in the checklist take you to the part of Shopify where you complete an action to meet a requirement. After you complete the related action, you need to return to Apps > Google Shopping to continue setting up the Google channel.

Step 4: Connect a Merchant Center account

Google Merchant Center is a tool that helps you upload your store and product data to Google and make them available for Google Performance Max campaigns and other Google services. Learn more about Google Merchant Center.

You can't connect the new Google channel to a multi-client Google Merchant Center account. You can connect a sub-account that uses a different email address and has admin access to the multi-client account. Learn more about multi-client accounts from Google Merchant Center Help.

Steps:

1. Go to Apps > Google Shopping.
2. Click Settings.
3. Select or create a Merchant Center account:
   • Select an existing Merchant Center account, and then click Connect. The Merchant Center IDs listed are the ones associated with your Google account. To avoid approval delays, select the suggested account, which is based on the account that was connected to the old Google channel.
   • If you don't have a Merchant Center account, then click Create new to create a new account for your Shopify store.

Transfer your domain claim

A Google Merchant Center account needs to be associated with a verified domain that isn't associated with another account. When you connect a Google Merchant Center account to the Google channel, your Shopify store's domain is claimed automatically, unless it's associated with a different Google Merchant Center account.

If your domain is associated with a different account, then you can transfer the domain claim to the Google Merchant Center account that you connected to Shopify. Transferring your domain claim from Shopify is permanent.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, click Settings > Apps and sales channels.

2. From the Apps and sales channels page, click Google.

3. Click Open sales channel.

4. Click Settings.

5. Click Transfer.

Step 5: Set up the Google channel to sync your products

After connecting your Google Merchant Center account to the app, you can set up the app to sync your products with Google. Before your products will sync, you need to select your target market and shipping settings. You can also change your product title and description preferences. Learn more about optimizing your product titles and descriptions for Google Shopping.

Products that are available to the Google channel sync to Google Merchant Center for approval by Google. Learn more about Google product sync requirements.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, click Settings > Apps and sales channels.

2. From the Apps and sales channels page, click Google.

3. Click Open sales channel.

4. Click Settings.

5. Click Select beside Target market to set up where you want to sell your products, and then select a target market and the language. Your store's currency settings determine the countries and regions available for you to target. The languages available are based on those supported by Google, and depend on your target market.

6. Click Select beside Shipping settings, and then click the dropdown to select automatic or manual configuration of shipping rates:

   • Select Automatically import shipping settings to sync your shipping rates from Shopify, and then click Save. Learn more about syncing your shipping rates with Google Merchant Center.
   • Select Manually set up shipping settings in Google Merchant Center to set up your shipping rates on Google Merchant Center, and then click Save.

7. Set your product title and description preferences for products synced with Google. If you change your Product settings, then click Save changes.

8. Optional: Add a Google Product Category to your products to improve their performance on Google.

When you set up the Google channel for the first time, all of the products that are available to your online store are automatically synced with Google Merchant Center. You need to wait for products to be approved by Google before you can create a Performance Max campaign that includes them.

You can change which products are available to sync with Google and view the approval status of your synced products from the Google Shopping Overview page in Shopify. Learn more about making products available to channels and apps.

What to do if your products aren't approved

You can get an overview of your product feed from the Google Shopping Overview page in Shopify.

Products that are marked Not approved haven't been synced because they have errors. For example, a product might not be approved because it's missing an image, and Google requires a product to have an image. To see the specific reasons why a product is not approved, click the link beside the Not approved label. The link link opens the Google Shopping > Products page, where a list of products, the status of the products, and the errors are displayed.

The issues that prevent the product from syncing are listed under the product title.

You can resolve product sync errors from a product's details page. When the errors are resolved, Google Shopping automatically tries to sync the product again. After you resolve errors for the product, you need to return to the Product feed on the Google Shopping Overview page to review errors for another product.

Note

If a product error displays that a product is missing a GTIN, then you can either add the missing information in the Barcode field of the product's details or mark it as a custom product that doesn't need a GTIN. Learn more about Google's requirements, and adding GTIN or other unique product identifiers to products synced to Google.

When you resolve a product sync error, the Not approved label is replaced with a pending label to show that the product is syncing with Google Shopping again. It can take several minutes for the Not approved label to change to pending. You do not need to do anything to re-sync the product, because it happens automatically.

Previously approved products with variants marked as pending after migration

If you migrate to the new Google channel, then products that were approved on the old Google channel might be marked as pending in the new Google channel. The old Google channel only synced the first variant for a product, but the new Google channel syncs all of the variants for a product. Until all of the variants are reviewed by Google, the product is marked pending in the new Google channel. The product that was approved in the app is still approved by Google. Syncing the new variants can take up to a week.

Optional: Connect your Google Ads account to the Google channel

If you want to create Google Performance Max campaigns in Shopify, then you can connect your Google Ads account to the Google channel while you're waiting for your products to sync. Learn more about Google Performance Max campaigns from Google Ads help.

If you already have a Google Ads account associated with the email address that you used to set up the Google channel, then add that account.

If you don't have a Google Ads account or you want to use a different account, then you can create a new account while setting up the Google channel. When you create a Google Ads account by using the Google channel in Shopify, you might qualify for a Google Ads credit. To learn more about the Google Ads credit, refer to Google Ads help.

Steps:

1. From the Settings page in the Google channel, select or create a Google Ads account:
   • If you already have a Google Ads account, then select it in the drop-down menu, and then click Connect.
   • If you don't have a Google Ads account that you want to connect, then click Create new. Review the terms of service, and then click Accept Terms. You will receive an email from Google within 24 hours, and then you can accept the Google Ads access request.
2. In the Google Ads account section, click View details next to Add billing information in your Google Ads Account settings.
3. Make sure that you've added billing information to your Google Ads account, then click I've added billing info.

Accept the Google Ads access request

If the email address that you used to set up the Google channel is associated with an existing Google Ads account, then you'll receive an access request confirmation email.

When you create your Google Ads account by using the Google channel, you receive an email to accept your Google Ads account. You need to accept the invitation in the email to confirm your email address.

After you've accepted the invitation, it might take a few minutes for the access request to be processed.

Add your billing information to your Google Ads account

Make sure that your billing information is in your Google Ads account. For details on how to add your billing information, see Manage your payment methods in the Google Ads Help.

After you've added your billing information, confirm you have completed the task by clicking I've added billing details.

Note

You can create a Google Shopping campaign without adding your billing information, but the campaign won't run until you add the information.

Conversion tracking for Google Ads with the Google channel

The Google channel automatically adds conversion tracking events to your Google Ads account when you set it up. If your store already has Google conversion tracking set up through edits to the theme code or through a third-party app, then the conversion tracking events might be duplicated and your report data will be inaccurate. You can disable duplicated conversion tracking events from your Google Ads account. Learn more about conversion settings from Google Ads Help.

Next step: Create a Google Performance Max campaign

After you set up your Google Shopping product sync and your Google Ads account, you can create Performance Max campaigns from Shopify, or create and manage campaigns from Google.

You can monitor your Performance Max campaigns from the Marketing > Automations page in Shopify. However, to edit your Google Shopping settings or sync new products, you need to return to the Google channel page through the Apps section of your Shopify admin.

Getting help with Google products

Contact Google to get help with the following topics:

• Your Google Merchant Center account
• Google Ads
• Buy on Google
• Google Local Inventory
• Google Analytics
• Other Google topics not supported by Shopify

Note

You can check the approval status of an ad or fix a disapproved ad from Google Ads. Learn more about the Google ad approval process.

You can contact Shopify Support to get help downloading the Google & YouTube channel or setting up products.