Google needs the prices on your website and those listed in your product feed to match. Here's what to do if they don't.
Understanding the Issue
The "Automatic Item Updates Active [Price]" notification appears in Google Merchant Center when there's a discrepancy between the prices on your website and those listed in your product feed. This feature aims to prevent disapprovals due to mismatches by automatically updating your Google Ads based on your website's microdata.
Steps to Resolve the Issue
Step 1: Verify the Price Mismatch
- Check Your Product Feed: Ensure the prices in your Google Merchant Center feed match those on your website. You can check this in FeedOps on the products screen by adding the Price and Sale Price columns.
- Check Your Website’s Microdata: Use Google's Structured Data Testing Tool to verify that the microdata on your product pages accurately reflects the current prices. See below for more information on microdata and how it works.
Step 2: Update Your Product Feed
If the data in your feed is incorrect, you should check the following:- Are the correct price fields mapped from your website into the feed? If not, you can fix this in FeedOps by using the Attribute Mapping feature.
- Have the prices recently changed on you website? You can force an update of your feed by clicking the "Publish" button on the products screen.
Step 3: Configure Automatic Item Updates
- Access the Settings: In Google Merchant Center, go to the “Automatic improvements” section under “Settings”.
- Adjust the Settings: If you prefer not to use Automatic Item Updates, you can disable this feature. However, ensure that your feed remains accurate to avoid product disapprovals.
Understanding Structured Microdata and Its Impact on Price Detection in Google Merchant Center
What is Structured Microdata?
Structured microdata (sometimes called "metadata"), often implemented using Schema.org vocabulary, is a format for providing information about a webpage and classifying the page content. For online retailers, this typically includes details like product prices, availability, and descriptions embedded directly into a webpage's HTML.
How Structured Microdata Affects Price Detection
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Price Extraction: Google Merchant Center uses structured metadata to extract the most current price information from your product landing pages. This extraction process helps ensure that the prices displayed in Google Ads are accurate and match what customers see on your website.
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Update Frequency: The frequency with which Google scans your website's metadata can impact the price information detected. Frequent updates to your website's metadata ensure that Google captures any changes to prices, keeping the data current in your ads.
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Accuracy and Relevance: Accurate structured metadata leads to better data alignment between your website and Google Merchant Center, reducing discrepancies that might otherwise lead to ad disapprovals. Ensuring that your metadata correctly reflects the product prices, especially during sales or promotions, is crucial.
Implementing Structured Microdata for Accurate Price Detection
- Use Correct Tags: Implement the appropriate Schema.org tags for pricing on your product pages. Common tags include
offers,price, andpriceCurrency. - Regular Updates: Update your metadata promptly to reflect changes in pricing or availability. This practice helps minimize discrepancies between the price on your website and the price in your Merchant Center feed.
- Consistency Across Platforms: Ensure that the price and availability information is consistent across all platforms, including your website, Merchant Center, and any third-party platforms.
Conclusion
Properly structured metadata on your landing pages plays a vital role in how Google Merchant Center detects and displays prices. By accurately implementing and regularly updating this metadata, you can enhance the performance of your Google Ads, reduce the risk of ad disapproval, and provide a better shopping experience for your customers.