Google product categories are a vital element of Google Merchant Center and Google Shopping. They play a crucial role in how your products are organized, how users find your items, and how your products are displayed within Google Shopping. If you're new to the Google Merchant Center or Google Shopping, you might be wondering, "What is a Google product category?" This article aims to answer that question and provide a comprehensive understanding of Google product categories.

What is a Google Product Category?

A Google product category is a string of identifiers used by Google to classify and organize products in Google Shopping. These categories follow Google's own product taxonomy and can be as broad as "Apparel & Accessories" or as specific as "Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Dresses." Assigning the correct Google product category to your products helps Google to place your items in the right place within Google Shopping, making it easier for potential customers to find your products.

Why are Google Product Categories Important?

Assigning the right category to your products is critical for a few reasons:
• Relevance: Google uses product categories to ensure that products displayed in Google Shopping are relevant to a user's search query.
• Visibility: Proper categorization can increase the visibility of your products, leading to potentially more clicks and conversions.
• Competition: Some categories are more competitive than others. Understanding where your products fall can help you strategize and optimize your bids in Google Ads.
• Required for Some Products: For certain types of products, Google requires that you provide a product category. Failure to do so could result in your products not showing up in Google Shopping.

How to Assign Google Product Categories:

There are couple ways to add google product categories to your feed and feed items. To apply a a category to your entire feed, you can visit your feeds overview page and click "edit" on the feed you which to edit. From there, scroll down to "Google Product Category" and assign a value. You can also adjust your feed items in bulk in the feed item table view or individually on each feed item's page.

Assigning accurate Google product categories to your products is an essential part of optimizing your Google Shopping feed. By understanding and effectively using Google product categories, you can improve your product visibility, relevance, and ultimately, your return on ad spend (ROAS).