Free tool · Google Merchant Center → Microsoft Merchant Center (Bing Shopping)
Google Shopping feed validator with a Google to Bing attribute map
Upload your Google Merchant Center feed, or paste a Google Sheet link, and every row is validated against the Google product data specification and the Bing product feed specification published by Microsoft. Of the 51 attributes mapped, Microsoft drops 8 on import, 8 more carry across with values Microsoft rejects, 17 have different rules, 2 are stricter on Google, and 9 are identical. You get the list, the fix, and a Microsoft ready file. Nothing is uploaded. Every check runs inside your own browser.
18 Aug 2026
Content API for Shopping sunset. Progressive errors began 1 Sep 2026.
30 Sep 2026
pickup_cost and minimum_order_value mandatory for in-store pickup in UK, Switzerland, EEA.
31 Jan 2027
Google image minimum rises to 500×500 in all categories. Microsoft stays at 220×220.
Rolling
Microsoft catalogs expire after 30 days. Google has no equivalent.
Upload the feed file
CSV, TSV, TXT or XLSX. Every row is read in your browser and checked against both published specifications. You get what is missing, what breaks, and the fix.
No feed to hand?
Paste the Google Sheet link
If the feed lives in a Google Sheet, paste the link and the first tab is read straight from it. The sheet has to be viewable by anyone with the link.
To open access: in the sheet, Share, General access, Anyone with the link, Viewer. A private sheet cannot be read by any browser tool.
What this Google Shopping feed validator checks
A product feed audit in two passes. The file is checked first, because a feed that cannot be uploaded never reaches row validation. Then every row is checked against both specifications, and each issue comes with the fix.
File level checks
- File type and delimiter: .csv and .xlsx are read, then flagged, because neither Google nor Microsoft accepts them as an upload
- Encoding and byte order mark, UTF-8 and UTF-16
- File name spaces and the 50 character Microsoft limit
- Trailing tabs, ragged rows, duplicate, blank and mixed case headers
- Required attributes missing: id, title, description, link, image_link, price and availability
- Recommended attributes missing: brand, gtin, mpn, condition, google_product_category, product_type, item_group_id, sale_price, shipping, custom_label_0 and identifier_exists
- More than one currency or link domain in the same file
Row level checks
- Character limits per attribute on each platform: title 150, description 5,000, brand 70, product_type 750 and the rest
- GTIN length and check digit, MPN and identifier_exists logic
- Price and sale_price format, currency code, zero prices, the 10,000,000 cap and a sale price with no effective date
- Availability values: in_stock versus in stock, and backorder, which Microsoft does not accept
- yes and no versus TRUE and FALSE for adult and identifier_exists
- Structured shipping, multipack, unit pricing, expiration_date within 30 days, destinations and HTML inside values
- Empty required cells on any row
What you get back
- An import readiness score and a plain sentence on whether the file will upload
- Every issue graded critical, high, medium or low, with the row count and the exact fix
- The column map: which of your headers Google reads, which Microsoft reads, and which are ghost names
- A Microsoft ready tab delimited .txt with the value changes already applied
- The issue list as CSV for your feed manager or developer
- A developer brief you can paste into a ticket
Google Shopping feed attributes mapped to the Bing product feed specification
All 51 shopping feed attributes, the Google rule and the Microsoft rule side by side, with the exact point where they differ. Click any row for the limits and the fix. Microsoft has no public converter for this, so the map is built from the two specifications directly.
| Google attribute | Microsoft attribute | Microsoft | Verdict | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| id | Required | id | Required | Identical |
Google rule 50 characters. Microsoft rule 50 Unicode characters. Underscores, dashes and ASCII specials allowed. What to do No action. IDs are case sensitive on the Microsoft side, which matters for supplemental feed matching. | ||||
| title | Required | title | Required | Different rules |
Google rule 1 to 150 characters. Microsoft rule 150 characters. No all caps. What to do Same ceiling, different behaviour. Microsoft does not rewrite weak titles the way Google often does, so the feed has to carry the full keyword load itself. | ||||
| description | Required | description | Required | Google is tighter |
Google rule 1 to 5,000 characters. Microsoft rule 10,000 characters. What to do Build to 5,000. A 6,000 character description passes Microsoft and is rejected by Google, so the single-file approach has to respect Google’s limit. | ||||
| link | Required | link | Required | Different rules |
Google rule Up to 2,000 characters. Microsoft rule 0 to 2,000 characters. No redirects, use ads_redirect instead. Domain must match the store domain. What to do If your Google link values pass through a redirect or tracking hop, move that hop into ads_redirect before importing. | ||||
| mobile_link | Optional | not present | Not in file feed | Dropped on import |
Google rule 1 to 2,000 characters. Microsoft rule Absent from the Microsoft catalog file specification. Exists in the Content API as mobileLink. What to do Column is ignored on import. If mobile URLs matter, submit through the Content API rather than a file feed. | ||||
| image_link | Required | image_link | Required | Different rules |
Google rule Minimum 500×500 px enforced from 31 Jan 2027 across all categories. Microsoft rule Minimum 220×220 px, 250×250 for shoes and clothing. What to do Microsoft accepts images Google will reject from 2027. Size to Google’s 500×500 now and both platforms are covered. | ||||
| additional_image_link | Optional | additional_image_link | Optional | Different rules |
Google rule Up to 2,000 characters, up to 10 images. Microsoft rule 2,000 characters, up to 10 images separated by a comma. What to do Check your separator. Microsoft documents comma separation specifically. | ||||
| price | Required | price | Required | Different rules |
Google rule ISO 4217 currency code. Microsoft rule 0.00 to 10,000,000.00, two decimals, no currency symbols. Currency must match the catalog market. What to do Two traps. Anything above 10 million fails outright, and a multi-country Google feed throws a currency or ISO code mismatch against the catalog market. | ||||
| sale_price | Optional | sale_price | Optional | Different rules |
Google rule Same format rules as price. Microsoft rule 0.00 to 10,000,000.00. The Content API requires it to be paired with salePriceEffectiveDate. What to do Send sale_price_effective_date alongside it or the sale price may not apply. | ||||
| sale_price_effective_date | Optional | sale_price_effective_date | Optional | Different rules |
Google rule ISO 8601 range. Microsoft rule YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm±hh:mm / YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm±hh:mm. What to do Microsoft documents the timezone-bearing form explicitly. Include the offset. | ||||
| availability | Required | availability | Optional, defaults to in stock | Breaks on Microsoft |
Google rule in_stock, out_of_stock, preorder, backorder. Microsoft rule in stock, out of stock, preorder. backorder is not documented. What to do Two separate breaks. Microsoft uses spaces where Google uses underscores, and has no backorder value. Map underscores to spaces and route backorder to preorder or out of stock before import. | ||||
| availability_date | Required for preorder and backorder | not present | Not in file feed | Dropped on import |
Google rule 1 to 25 characters, ISO 8601, up to one year ahead. Microsoft rule Absent from the file specification. Exists in the Content API as availabilityDate. What to do Column is ignored. Preorder dates do not carry across a file feed import. | ||||
| condition | Required for used and refurbished | condition | Optional, defaults to new | Identical |
Google rule new, refurbished, used. Microsoft rule new, used, refurbished. What to do No action. Values match exactly. | ||||
| brand | Required for new products, media excepted | brand | Required where manufacturer assigned | Different rules |
Google rule Up to 70 characters. Microsoft rule 70 characters and a 10 word limit. What to do Microsoft adds a word count cap Google does not have. Long descriptive brand strings can pass Google and fail Microsoft. | ||||
| gtin | Required for some products | gtin | Required where manufacturer assigned | Different rules |
Google rule Up to 50 numeric characters, 14 per value. Microsoft rule 14 digits per value, up to 10 values, comma and space separated. What to do Microsoft caps at 10 values and specifies comma plus space. Invalid GTINs also disapprove faster on Microsoft. | ||||
| mpn | Required where no GTIN exists | mpn | Required where manufacturer assigned | Identical |
Google rule Up to 70 alphanumeric characters. Microsoft rule 70 characters. What to do No action. | ||||
| identifier_exists | Optional | identifier_exists | Required for new products lacking gtin or mpn with brand | Breaks on Microsoft |
Google rule yes or no. Microsoft rule Boolean, TRUE or FALSE. What to do Google’s literal yes and no are not documented Microsoft values. Convert to TRUE and FALSE in the export or in a pre-import rule. | ||||
| google_product_category | Optional | product_category | Optional | Breaks on Microsoft |
Google rule Single value, category ID or full path, not both. Microsoft rule 255 characters. Only the greater than symbol is a valid delimiter. Uses the Bing taxonomy. What to do Different column name and different taxonomy. Microsoft describes product_category as the equivalent, but it reads the Bing taxonomy file, so a Google category ID does not map cleanly. Rename the column and remap values. | ||||
| product_type | Optional | product_type | Optional | Different rules |
Google rule 0 to 750 characters. A space before and after the greater than symbol. Up to 5 values, only the first is used. Microsoft rule 750 characters. Greater than symbol as delimiter. What to do Microsoft documents a 750 character limit and a live disapproval code for exceeding it. Do not assume this field is unlimited. | ||||
| item_group_id | Required for variants in select countries | item_group_id | Optional | Identical |
Google rule Up to 50 alphanumeric characters. Microsoft rule 50 Unicode characters. What to do No action, though Microsoft never requires it. | ||||
| color | Required for apparel in select countries | color | Required for Apparel and Accessories in FR, DE, UK, US | Different rules |
Google rule Up to 100 characters, 40 per colour. Microsoft rule 100 characters, up to 3 values separated by a forward slash. What to do Different multi-value convention. Microsoft also rejects single character and numeric colour values. | ||||
| size | Required for apparel | size | Required for apparel in FR, DE, UK, US | Identical |
Google rule Up to 100 characters. Microsoft rule 100 characters. What to do No action. | ||||
| gender | Required for apparel | gender | Required for apparel in FR, DE, UK, US | Identical |
Google rule male, female, unisex. Microsoft rule male, female, unisex. What to do No action. | ||||
| age_group | Required for apparel | age_group | Required for apparel in FR, DE, UK, US | Identical |
Google rule newborn, infant, toddler, kids, adult. Microsoft rule Same five values. What to do No action. | ||||
| material | Required where it distinguishes a variant | material | Optional | Different rules |
Google rule Up to 200 characters. Microsoft rule 200 characters, up to 3 values separated by a forward slash. What to do Match Microsoft’s slash convention if you send multiple materials. | ||||
| pattern | Required where it distinguishes a variant | pattern | Optional | Identical |
Google rule Up to 100 characters. Microsoft rule 100 characters. What to do No action. | ||||
| shipping | Required for Shopping ads and free listings in 28 countries | shipping | Required in Austria and Germany only | Breaks on Microsoft |
Google rule Structured field repeated up to 100 times, with country, region, postal code, service, price and handling and transit times. Microsoft rule Flat numeric value, 0.01 to 10,000,000.00, two decimals. What to do The single largest structural difference in the two specs. A Google structured shipping string does not parse as a Microsoft numeric value. Strip it and configure shipping in the Microsoft interface, or send a flat numeric. | ||||
| shipping_weight | Optional | not present | Not in file feed | Dropped on import |
Google rule lb, oz, g, kg. Imperial 0 to 2000 lbs, metric 0 to 1000 kg. Microsoft rule Absent from the file specification. Exists in the Content API as shippingWeight. What to do Column is ignored on import. | ||||
| tax | Conditional by country | not present | Not in file feed | Dropped on import |
Google rule Structured tax field. Microsoft rule Absent from the file specification. The Content API has taxes but flags it as included for Google compatibility and not used. What to do Accepted and ignored. Do not spend time maintaining it for Microsoft. | ||||
| custom_label_0 to custom_label_4 | Optional | custom_label_0 to custom_label_4 | Optional | Identical |
Google rule 1 to 100 characters. Up to 1,000 unique values per label, 5,000 total. One value each. Microsoft rule 100 characters. Up to 1,000 unique values per label, 5,000 total. What to do The one field where both specs agree exactly. Worth knowing, because custom labels not appearing in Microsoft product groups after a Google import is the single most repeated complaint in the Microsoft support forum, and it is a surfacing problem rather than a spec problem. Check the downloadable feed file before assuming the import dropped them. | ||||
| promotion_id | Optional | promotion_id | Optional | Google is tighter |
Google rule 1 to 50 characters. Up to 10 values. Microsoft rule 60 characters per promotion. Up to 10. What to do Build to 50. A 55 character promotion ID is valid on Microsoft and rejected by Google. | ||||
| unit_pricing_measure | Optional | unit_pricing_measure | Optional | Different rules |
Google rule Numeric value plus unit. Microsoft rule Closed unit list: oz, lb, mg, g, kg, floz, pt, qt, gal, ml, cl, l, cbm, in, ft, yd, cm, m, sqft, sqm, ct. What to do Check your units fall inside Microsoft’s published list. | ||||
| unit_pricing_base_measure | Optional | unit_pricing_base_measure | Optional | Different rules |
Google rule Restricted base numbers: 1, 10, 100, 2, 4, 8 plus metric combinations. Microsoft rule Same unit list, no documented base number restriction. What to do Google is the tighter side here. Keep to Google’s allowed base numbers. | ||||
| multipack | Required for multipacks in select countries | multipack | Optional | Different rules |
Google rule Integer. Microsoft rule Integer, greater than 1. What to do A multipack value of 1 or 0 is rejected by Microsoft. Omit the field instead. | ||||
| is_bundle | Required for bundles in select countries | not present | Not in file feed | Dropped on import |
Google rule yes or no. Microsoft rule Absent from the file specification. Exists in the Content API as isBundle, boolean. What to do Column is ignored on a file feed import. | ||||
| adult | Required where applicable | adult | Optional | Breaks on Microsoft |
Google rule yes or no. Microsoft rule Boolean, TRUE or FALSE. The Content API also states adult products will be rejected. What to do Convert yes and no to TRUE and FALSE. Also check whether your catalogue is eligible on Microsoft at all before spending time on the mapping. | ||||
| excluded_destination | Optional | excluded_destination | Optional | Breaks on Microsoft |
Google rule Shopping_ads, Display_ads, Local_inventory_ads, Free_listings, Free_local_listings, Cloud_retail, Local_cloud_retail, Youtube_affiliate, Youtube_merchandise. Microsoft rule Shopping_ads and Local_inventory_ads only. What to do Seven of Google’s nine values are undefined on Microsoft. Strip the unsupported values or the rows carrying them can fail. | ||||
| included_destination | Optional | included_destination | Optional | Breaks on Microsoft |
Google rule Same nine values as excluded_destination. Microsoft rule Shopping_ads and Local_inventory_ads only. What to do Same fix. Reduce to the two supported values. | ||||
| shopping_ads_excluded_country | Optional | shopping_ads_excluded_country | Optional | Different rules |
Google rule ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes. Microsoft rule ISO 3166-1 alpha-2, up to 100 country codes, comma separated. What to do Microsoft publishes a 100 code cap. Google does not. | ||||
| ads_redirect | Optional. Not available for free listings | ads_redirect | Optional | Different rules |
Google rule 1 to 2,000 characters, RFC 3986, ASCII only, domain must match link or mobile_link. Microsoft rule 2,000 characters. HTTP, HTTPS or Google formatted XML. What to do On Microsoft this is the sanctioned redirect path because link itself forbids redirects. Use it rather than putting the hop in link. | ||||
| expiration_date | Optional | expiration_date | Optional | Breaks on Microsoft |
Google rule ISO 8601 datetime with timezone, up to one year in the future. Microsoft rule YYYY-MM-DD only, maximum 30 days from upload. What to do Breaks twice. Microsoft wants a date with no time or timezone, and refuses anything more than 30 days out. Truncate the format and cap the horizon, or drop the column. | ||||
| structured_title | Optional. Required wrapper for AI generated titles | not present | Not in Microsoft docs | Dropped on import |
Google rule Carries digital_source_type, set to trained_algorithmic_media for AI generated copy. Microsoft rule No equivalent found in any Microsoft specification. What to do Google only. Keep it for Google, expect nothing on the Microsoft side. | ||||
| structured_description | Optional. Required wrapper for AI generated descriptions | not present | Not in Microsoft docs | Dropped on import |
Google rule Carries digital_source_type, set to trained_algorithmic_media. Microsoft rule No equivalent found in any Microsoft specification. What to do Google only. | ||||
| pickup_cost / minimum_order_value | Mandatory from 30 Sep 2026 for in-store pickup in UK, Switzerland, EEA | not present | Not in file feed | Dropped on import |
Google rule minimum_order_value added 14 Apr 2026, mandatory with pickup_cost from 30 Sep 2026 in the named markets. Microsoft rule No documented equivalent. What to do A Google compliance deadline with no Microsoft counterpart. Do not delay the Google fix waiting for parity. | ||||
| native_commerce(checkout_eligibility) | Gating attribute for UCP checkout | Column name not published | Required per Microsoft guidance | UCP / agentic |
Google rule Boolean. If FALSE or missing, the product gets no Buy button. Applies to products eligible in US, Canada and Australia. Microsoft rule Microsoft states merchants must submit native checkout eligibility, but its catalog attribute documentation does not name the column. What to do Implement on Google now. On Microsoft, do not guess a column name. Confirm it with your rep or your feed vendor before building. | ||||
| consumer_notice(notice_type, notice_message) | Optional, UCP | consumer_message_type, consumer_message_content | Optional, UCP readiness | UCP / agentic |
Google rule notice_type accepts legal_disclaimer, safety_warning, prop_65. notice_message up to 1,000 characters, accepts b, br, i and a href tags. Microsoft rule consumer_message_type accepts legal_disclaimer, safety_warning, prop_65. consumer_message_content up to 1,000 characters, accepts bold, italic, asterisk and square bracket formatting. What to do Identical enum values and identical 1,000 character cap. Only the column names differ, so this is a rename rather than a rebuild. | ||||
| Return policy | Account level in Merchant Center, required for merchant of record | return_policy_labels | Optional, UCP readiness | UCP / agentic |
Google rule Defined at account level: return cost, return window, link to the full policy. Microsoft rule Feed level attribute, 50 characters maximum per string. What to do Structurally different. Google wants it in the account, Microsoft wants labels in the feed. | ||||
| external_seller_id | Marketplaces only | seller_name | Optional, required for aggregators | Microsoft only |
Google rule Marketplace seller identifier, different semantics. Microsoft rule 255 characters. Also implicated in the free listings only disapproval, where a catalogue is approved for free listings but blocked for paid. What to do Not a true equivalent. If you are an aggregator on Microsoft, seller_name is required and getting it wrong can leave the catalogue serving free listings only. | ||||
| link_template | Optional | link_template | Optional | Microsoft only |
Google rule Present in the Google spec. Microsoft rule 0 to 2,000 characters, HTTP or HTTPS only, no redirects, must include the {store_code} parameter. What to do Name collision rather than a shared field. The {store_code} requirement is Microsoft’s. | ||||
| No Google equivalent | feed_label | Content API | Microsoft only | |
Google rule Google deprecated country of sale in favour of feed_label, which is what causes the mismatch. Microsoft rule Maximum 20 alphanumeric characters, auto converted to uppercase, dashes allowed. What to do The silent geo breaker. When feed labels do not resolve, Microsoft defaults country of sale to the United States, so an Australian or German catalogue serves nothing and throws no error. Check country of sale after every import. | ||||
| No Google equivalent | onlineOnly | Content API, optional | Microsoft only | |
Google rule No Google equivalent. Microsoft rule Boolean, defaults to false. What to do Microsoft only. No action needed on the Google side. | ||||
51 of 51 attributes shown
Where the official docs contradict each other
These are not our opinions. Microsoft publishes different values for the same field in different places, and the community has settled on a name that appears in none of them. Build to the stricter value until Microsoft reconciles them.
Microsoft has three official names for the product category field
The catalog file attributes page updated 19 Jun 2026 calls it product_category. The product categories page updated 27 Jul 2026 calls it BingCategory. The Content API calls it googleProductCategory. Meanwhile almost every agency blog and feed tool calls it bing_product_category, which appears in no Microsoft document at all.
Two different image file size caps
The Microsoft feed specification states a 16 MB maximum. The Microsoft Content API states 3.9 MB. These have not been reconciled. Build to 3.9 MB and both hold.
Two different brand limits
The feed page states a 70 character limit. The Content API states a maximum of 1,000 characters, a 10 word maximum and 70 characters recommended. Build to 70 characters and 10 words.
The import is marketed as seamless, and Microsoft support says otherwise
Microsoft’s own marketing describes importing your complete Google Merchant Center feed with product details synchronised seamlessly. Microsoft support, answering a merchant whose columns did not carry across, lists attribute mapping differences as the first cause and states that Google and Microsoft differ in accepted formats, supported characters and optional versus required fields.
No consistent processing time
Microsoft support has quoted 24 hours, 48 hours and a mandatory 72 hour review in different threads, plus up to 12 hours for Merchant Center to campaign sync. Merchants cannot tell broken from still processing. Wait a full 72 hours before treating a fresh import as failed.
Google Shopping feed format and Bing shopping feed format, side by side
The file requirements for each platform, taken from the Google product file formats page and the Microsoft catalog file requirements. Most upload failures happen here, before a single attribute is read.
| Format | Google Merchant Center | Microsoft Merchant Center |
|---|---|---|
| .txt tab delimited | Accepted | Accepted. This is the documented format |
| .tsv | Accepted | Not named in the documented list. Rename to .txt |
| .csv comma delimited | Not an accepted file type | Not accepted. Tab delimited only |
| .xlsx / .xls | Not accepted as an upload. Google Sheets is accepted as a linked source | Not accepted |
| .xml | Accepted | Accepted only if it is Google formatted XML |
| .zip .gz .bz2 | Accepted around .txt or .xml | .zip .gz .gzip .tar.gz .tgz accepted |
| Encoding | UTF-8 or UTF-16 | UTF-8 without a byte order mark is safest |
| Max size | 4 GB per product file | No published figure |
| File name | No published restriction | No spaces, 50 characters maximum |
| Structure | One header row, one product per line | One header row, one offer per line, no trailing tabs, no tabs or line breaks inside a value, no HTML |
Google Shopping and Bing product feed questions, answered from the specifications
Every answer below comes from the Google product data specification, the Microsoft catalog file attributes page, the Microsoft Content API reference or a Microsoft support thread. Nothing is inferred.
Can I upload my Google Merchant Center feed straight into Microsoft Merchant Center?
Microsoft offers a Google import that reads your Google Merchant Center feed. It carries across the attributes that exist in Microsoft’s catalog file specification, ignores the ones that do not, and rejects values that do not match its documented formats. Eight Google attributes are silently dropped on a file feed import and eight more carry across with values Microsoft does not accept, so the import is a starting point, not a finished catalogue.
Which Google feed attributes does Microsoft drop on import?
The attributes absent from Microsoft’s catalog file specification are mobile_link, availability_date, shipping_weight, tax, is_bundle, structured_title, structured_description, and pickup_cost with minimum_order_value. Several of these exist in the Microsoft Content API, which is a different submission path from a file feed.
Why does availability break when I import a Google feed into Microsoft?
Google uses in_stock, out_of_stock, preorder and backorder. Microsoft documents in stock, out of stock and preorder, written with spaces, and has no backorder value at all. Map the underscores to spaces and route backorder rows to preorder or out of stock before importing. The Microsoft ready file from this tool does both.
Does Microsoft Merchant Center accept CSV feeds?
No. Microsoft documents tab delimited plain text as .txt, .zip, .gz, .gzip, .tar.gz or .tgz, plus Google formatted XML. Google Merchant Center lists .txt, .xml and .tsv. A comma separated .csv is not an accepted upload on either platform, which is the most common silent failure at the upload step.
Can I use an Excel file or a Google Sheet as my feed?
Neither platform accepts an .xlsx upload. Google Merchant Center can read a Google Sheet as a linked source. Microsoft cannot, so download the sheet as tab separated values first. This checker reads both formats so you can find the problems before you export.
What is the Microsoft equivalent of google_product_category?
Microsoft’s catalog file attributes page calls it product_category and it reads the Bing taxonomy, so a Google category ID does not map cleanly. The product categories page calls the same field BingCategory and the Content API calls it googleProductCategory. The name bing_product_category, used by most feed tools and blogs, appears in no Microsoft document.
Why are my custom labels missing in Microsoft after a Google import?
custom_label_0 to custom_label_4 have identical rules on both platforms, so this is a surfacing problem rather than a specification problem. It is the most repeated complaint in the Microsoft support forum. Check the downloadable feed file inside Merchant Center before assuming the import dropped them.
How long does Microsoft take to process an imported feed?
Microsoft support has quoted 24 hours, 48 hours and a mandatory 72 hour review in different threads, plus up to 12 hours for Merchant Center to campaign sync. Wait a full 72 hours before treating a fresh import as failed.
What is the maximum feed file size for Google Merchant Center?
A single product file can be up to 4 GB, encoded as UTF-8 or UTF-16, submitted as .txt, .xml or .tsv, or compressed as .gz, .zip or .bz2. Microsoft publishes no file size figure but requires a file name with no spaces and at most 50 characters, one header row, one offer per line and no trailing tabs.
Where is Google stricter than Microsoft?
Two places. description is capped at 5,000 characters on Google and 10,000 on Microsoft, and promotion_id is capped at 50 characters on Google and 60 on Microsoft. Build to Google’s limit and the same file works on both platforms.
Do I need identifier_exists for Microsoft?
Microsoft requires identifier_exists for new products that carry a brand but no gtin or mpn. Google accepts the literal values yes and no. Microsoft documents the boolean TRUE and FALSE, so convert the values in the Microsoft file. The same applies to the adult attribute.
Is there a free Google Shopping feed validator that checks the whole file?
Yes, this one. It reads a CSV, TSV, TXT or XLSX feed, or a Google Sheet, up to 200,000 rows, and validates the file structure first, then every row against the Google product data specification and the Microsoft catalog file specification. It flags missing required and recommended attributes, character limits, GTIN check digits, price formats, availability values and HTML, grades each issue, and gives the fix. There is no sign up and nothing is uploaded.
What is the Bing product feed specification?
It is the Microsoft Merchant Center catalog file specification that Bing Shopping reads. The file is tab delimited plain text with one header row and one offer per line. id, title, description, link, image_link and price are required on every row. brand, gtin and mpn are required where the manufacturer assigns them, identifier_exists is required for new products that carry a brand but no gtin or mpn, color, size, gender and age_group are required for apparel in the US, UK, France and Germany, and shipping is required in Austria and Germany. The attribute map on this page lists the Microsoft rule for all 51 attributes.
What are the Bing shopping feed requirements for the file itself?
Tab delimited .txt, or the same file compressed as .zip, .gz, .gzip, .tar.gz or .tgz, plus Google formatted XML. UTF-8 encoding, a file name with no spaces and at most 50 characters, one header row, no trailing tabs, no tabs or line breaks inside a value, and no HTML. Catalogs expire 30 days after the last upload, so the file has to be resubmitted on a schedule.
Is my feed uploaded anywhere when I use this checker?
No. The file or Google Sheet is read by your own browser. Nothing is sent to a server, nothing is stored, and there is no sign up or email. The Microsoft ready file, the issue CSV and the developer brief are all generated on your machine.
Want the feed fixed, not just the list of what is wrong
We run Google Shopping and Microsoft Shopping feeds for ecommerce brands every day, from the export rules through to campaign structure. Send us the issue list this tool just gave you and we will tell you what it is costing you in impressions and wasted spend.
No obligation. We will tell you if the feed is already fine.How to read the map. Dropped means the attribute is not present in the Microsoft file feed specification, so the column is ignored on import. Several dropped attributes do exist in the Microsoft Content API, which is a different submission path. Breaks on Microsoft means the value format Google accepts is not a documented Microsoft value, so offers disapprove. Google is tighter means Microsoft would accept the value but Google will not, so build to Google’s limit and the file works on both.
One honest limit. Microsoft has never published a field by field list of what the Google import drops. Its own wording is circular: it carries all Google feed file attributes used by Bing. This map is built by comparing both published specifications attribute by attribute. Anyone selling you a definitive drop list is inferring, not citing.
Primary sources
