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Google Merchant Center news and updates

Follow Merchant Center product-data, eligibility and reporting updates, with credited sources and practical retailer context.

Google Merchant Center

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

Google relaxes product landing page out-of-stock requirements

Google has updated product landing page requirements for Google Shopping, walking back the strict "grey out the add-to-cart button" rule for out-of-stock products. Emmanuel Flossie has flagged the change in its practical scope: the requirement is no longer strict; advertisers are not categorically required to use the greyed-out option; and other compliant treatments of the out-of-stock state are now acceptable.

SourceFeedArmy guide
First ContributorEmmanuel Flossie

Google Merchant Center

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

Google Customer Reviews is now natively installable in Shopify

Emmanuel Flossie has flagged that Google Customer Reviews can now be installed natively and free of charge inside Shopify, removing the third-party connector requirement that has historically been the friction point for Shopify merchants. Google Customer Reviews provides seller ratings that appear on Shopping ads and free listings: a meaningful trust signal that Shopify merchants often leave unconfigured because the installation path is cumbersome.

SourceFeedArmy guide
First ContributorEmmanuel Flossie

Google Ads

Paid searchNewsletter archive1 min

Pickup cost and minimum order values become required in UK, Switzerland and the EEA from 30 September

Google Merchant Centre has detailed new requirements for local inventory ads and free local listings. A new pickup_cost attribute lets merchants specify pickup costs for in-store products, enabling accurate total costs to be shown on local inventory ads and free local listings.

SourceGoogle Merchant Center
First ContributorEmmanuel Flossie

Google Ads

Paid searchNewsletter archive1 min

AI Max expands to Shopping campaigns to capture conversational queries

Google has launched AI Max for Shopping, extending the AI Max model from Search into the Shopping campaign type. The system uses Merchant Centre feeds to transform product data into dynamic Shopping ads that answer conversational queries: capturing the long-tail searches that standard Shopping campaigns historically miss because they fall outside literal product keyword matches.

SourceGoogle Ads & Commerce Blog
First ContributorAndrew Lolk

Google Ads

Paid searchNewsletter archive1 min

Business logo and unit pricing now surfacing in Google Shopping

Thomas Eccel has spotted two Merchant Centre feed attributes gaining visible placement in Google Shopping listings. Business logos now appear next to the merchant name in sponsored product listings: a trust signal before the click.

SourceLinkedIn
First ContributorThomas Eccel

Google Merchant Center

Paid searchNewsletter archive1 min

Google Merchant Centre product data specification updated for 2026

Google has published its annual product data specification update effective April 14, 2026. New delivery attributes at the product level include: handling_cutoff_time (the daily deadline for processing online orders); minimum_order_value (the minimum spend required for delivery); and two new loyalty sub-attributes: loyalty_program_label and loyalty_tier_label: for tier-specific delivery benefits per product.

SourceGoogle Merchant Centre Help
First ContributorEmmanuel Flossie

Google Merchant Center

Paid socialNewsletter archive1 min

UCP Merchant Centre onboarding guide published

Google has published the official onboarding guide for the Universal Commerce Protocol in Merchant Centre. UCP enables a native checkout button on eligible product listings in AI Mode and on Gemini.

SourceGoogle Merchant Centre Help
First ContributorAleyda Solís

Google Merchant Center

Paid searchNewsletter archive1 min

Merchant API coming to Google Ads Scripts on April 22

The Merchant API will be available as an Advanced API in the Google Ads Scripts editor from April 22, 2026. The API is modular: sub-APIs cover Product Studio, Reviews, Notifications, and expanded data-source management, including supplemental, local, regional, and promotional data.

SourceMerchant Centre API
Official SourceGoogle

Meta Ads

Paid socialNewsletter archive1 min

Ginny Marvin: Ads Decoded on feed optimisation for agentic commerce

Ginny Marvin has published a new edition of the Ads Decoded newsletter, focused on Google Merchant Centre data quality as the foundation for modern retail campaigns. It covers feed enrichment for AI Mode and conversational shopping, shoppable ad enablement in Demand Gen and PMax, advanced measurement, and practical agentic commerce-readiness steps.

SourceLinkedIn
First ContributorGinny Marvin

Meta Ads

Paid socialNewsletter archive1 min

Google quietly opens up AdSpace Agent, connecting the full Google ad stack

Benjamin W. has flagged that the Google Marketing Solutions team has published AdSpace Agent as an open-source agentic marketing assistant on GitHub. The agent connects to Google Ads (via GAQL), DV360, Campaign Manager 360, YouTube, Merchant Centre, BigQuery, and Search Ads 360, with proper OAuth flows and a modular toolset architecture.

SourceLinkedIn
First ContributorBenjamin W.

Google Merchant Center

Paid searchNewsletter archive1 min

Microsoft Advertising Merchant Centre allows store name and domain updates

Navah Hopkins has flagged a new self-serve capability in Microsoft Advertising Merchant Centre: advertisers can now update their store name and domain directly from the platform, without requiring support intervention. Store name changes require editorial review before going live, with ads continuing to serve under the existing name during review.

SourceLinkedIn
First ContributorNavah Hopkins

Google Merchant Center

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

New Gmail overlay ad format spotted on mobile

Thomas Eccel has spotted a new ad format in Gmail on mobile, displaying overlay ads as a sticky banner with a grey background at the bottom of email threads. The placement differs from existing Gmail ads, which typically appear at the top of the inbox.

SourceLinkedIn
Spotted byThomas Eccel

Google Merchant Center

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

How to fix Shopify products not updating in Google Merchant Centre

Emmanuel Flossie of FeedArmy has published a practical guide for one of the most common Merchant Centre frustrations among Shopify merchants: product data that stops updating in the feed despite changes being made in Shopify. The issue typically stems from configuration in the Google channel app rather than from Merchant Centre itself: feed refresh settings, mismatched attribute mappings, or suppressed sync jobs are the most frequent causes.

SourceFeedArmy
First ContributorEmmanuel Flossie

Google Merchant Center

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

Out-of-stock products must now have disabled buy buttons

Google has updated its Merchant Centre landing page requirements to mandate that the buy button on out-of-stock product pages be visually disabled: greyed out and non-clickable: rather than simply hidden or removed. Emmanuel Flossie of FeedArmy, who identified and detailed the change, notes the distinction is specific: hiding the button or styling it as invisible is no longer compliant.

SourceFeedArmy
First ContributorEmmanuel Flossie

Google Merchant Center

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

Vehicle ads data quality checks coming to Merchant Centre in mid-April

Starting in mid-April 2026, Google Merchant Centre will begin surfacing data quality issues specific to Vehicle Ads within the account issues interface. The system will evaluate submitted vehicle data against corresponding landing page content and flag discrepancies across six dimensions: availability, visibility, condition, price, mileage, vehicle identification details (VIN, brand, model), and landing page URL validity.

SourceGoogle Merchant Centre Help
Official SourceGoogle Ads

Google Ads

Paid searchNewsletter archive1 min

Vehicle inventory now surfaced inside Search text ads

Google Ads has launched vehicle feeds on Search ads, allowing automotive advertisers to enrich their existing Search text ads with live inventory data from their Google Merchant Centre vehicle feed. The integration surfaces car make, model, price, and imagery alongside standard ad components: without requiring separate campaigns or targeting setups.

SourceGoogle Ads Help
Official SourceGoogle Ads

Google Merchant Center

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

Merchant Centre for Agencies launches in the US and Canada

Google has made Merchant Centre for Agencies generally available in the US and Canada. The interface provides a centralised command centre for managing multiple client accounts, with features for onboarding, portfolio-wide alerts, issue detection, and growth opportunities.

SourceGoogle Merchant Centre Help
First Contributor@samantha f.

Google Merchant Center

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

Build-to-Order availability attribute added for vehicle listings

Google Merchant Centre has introduced a new "build to order" value for the availability attribute, specifically for vehicle listings. This applies to vehicles that aren't in dealership inventory but can be customised and ordered directly by customers.

SourceFeedArmy
First ContributorEmmanuel Flossie

Google Ads

Paid searchNewsletter archive1 min

Certified US pharmacies can now promote prescription drug subscriptions

Google updated its billing policy to let certified US Online Pharmacies promote prescription subscriptions, drug-plus-service bundles, and recurring consultation models. Requirements include maintaining certification, using subscription_cost in Merchant Centre, and disclosing all fees.

SourceGoogle Merchant Centre Help
Official SourceGoogle Ads

Google Merchant Center

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

The video assets section is now actively populating in the Merchant Center

The Video Assets section in Google Merchant Centre, first announced at Google Marketing Live 2025, is now actively populating with content from external sources, such as YouTube. Previously appearing empty in many accounts since its September launch, videos are now being automatically pulled in.

SourcePPC News Feed
First ContributorHana Kobzová

Google Merchant Center

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

[From Prev. Editions] Creator Partnerships is now populated with a searchable creator database

Google's Creator Partnerships section in Google Ads is now populated with searchable creator profiles, making it a free influencer marketing platform. The feature includes search filters by keyword and views, a centralised dashboard for creator communications, and built-in access to email addresses.

SourceLinkedIn
First ContributorAdam Treboutat

Google Merchant Center

Paid searchNewsletter archive1 min

Google Merchant Centre renames "Destinations" to "Marketing methods"

Google Merchant Centre has updated its terminology, renaming "Destinations" to "Marketing methods." The change aims to better reflect the options merchants have to control product visibility and distribution across Google's surfaces.

SourcePPC News Feed
Spotted byHana Kobzová

Google Merchant Center

StrategyNewsletter archive1 min

Google Merchant Centre surfaces product description improvement recommendations

Google Merchant Centre is now surfacing recommendations to improve product descriptions, highlighting specific attributes customers search for that are missing from your feed. The suggestions include attributes not yet available as standard feed fields, such as recommended age, playtime, genre, and maximum players for games.

SourceLinkedIn
First ContributorPetter Norlén

Google Merchant Center

Paid searchNewsletter archive1 min

Google Merchant Centre is beginning to roll out Business Agent.

As previously mentioned, Google has added a Conversational AI Customer Journey feature called Business Agent in Merchant Centre, enabling an AI Business Agent to represent your brand in Google's AI-led shopping conversations. The agent recommends products based on customer intent, answers shopper questions, and guides users from query to purchase.

SourceLinkedIn
First ContributorArpan Banerjee
Google Merchant Center news and updates | Paid Media Collective