Clothing and shoes carry more required product data in Google Merchant Center than most categories. Leave out a size or an age group and the product may not be eligible to show. This guide lists what Google's product data specification asks for on apparel, and how to fill each attribute correctly.
The attributes Google requires for apparel
According to Google's Merchant Center Help, the attributes below are required for free listings, and for Shopping ads when you target Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom or the United States. Some small accessory sub-categories are exempt.
| Attribute | Required for |
|---|---|
| color | All Apparel & Accessories products |
| gender | All Apparel & Accessories products |
| age_group | All Apparel & Accessories products |
| size | Products in Clothing and in Shoes |
| item_group_id | Products that are variants of each other |
Color
Use the color name a shopper would recognise, and keep it consistent with what your product page shows. Google's guidance is specific about the format.
- ✅ Up to three colors, primary first, separated by a slash: "Navy/White"
- ✅ One real color name per variant
- ❌ Commas between colors. Google says only one color is then applied
- ❌ Numbers, single letters, or codes with symbols such as "#"
- ❌ Values that are not colors, such as "N/A", "variety" or "see image"
Gender and age group
Both attributes use fixed values, and Google's help page says gender values must be submitted in English. Free text such as "ladies" or "boys" is not a supported value.
- gender: male, female or unisex
- age_group: newborn, infant, toddler, kids or adult
Size
Submit one size value per variant, written the way it appears on your product page. Google's help page gives "one size", "OS" and "OSFA" as sample values for one-size products.
- ✅ One value per product: "M", "32/34", "8.5"
- ✅ A real one-size value for items that come in one size
- ❌ Placeholders such as "n/a", "none" or "multisize"
- ❌ Several sizes in one product. Google applies only the first
Item group ID
Each color and size combination is submitted as its own product, and item_group_id is what tells Google they belong together. Every variant of a style shares the same value.
- Same value: All variants of one style carry one identical item_group_id
- Parent SKU: Google suggests using the parent SKU as the value, and says not to submit the parent as its own product
- Not variants: Do not group items that are different products, such as the jacket and trousers of a suit
- Distinguishing detail: material and pattern are required when they are what tells variants apart
Google also requires brand for all new products apart from a few media categories. See GTIN warnings in Google Merchant Center if your products have no barcode, and Google Shopping product titles for putting color and size in the title. If products are already disapproved, start with how to fix disapproved products.
Doing this at scale
FeedFix checks every product against Google Merchant Center and Meta Catalog rules and scores each one 0 to 100 per channel. It drafts compliant title and description rewrites that you review as before/after diffs, then apply in bulk, with every change audit-logged. See FeedFix.