Google shopping free listings disappeared

Nightingale Superstore

Since end of April, we've noticed the Google shopping (Google merchant centre) free listings are suddenly gone. The feed file still executes as expected and the items in the feed file are still active and valid at Google Merchant Centre. Just the free listings have been disappeared all of sudden.

 

We've told by Google expert that Google shopping has recently made some updates and some old version attributes from Maropost or Neto Google Shopping addon are conflicted with their new changes.

 

Also, it is happened to Shopify, Wordpress and other platforms. Considering the popularity of wordpress, the google shopping plugin from wordpress has updated and solved this problem. Would think Maropost could make some patch as well.

 

Just would like to see if anyone else has got affected? And any help from Maropost would be much appreciated.

 

Erik Merkley

Google Shopping can be a pretty complex area. When you first set up your Neto account it will create an export template for Google Shopping. This is "baked in" at that point and won't update automatically. You could contact support to get the latest version of this if needed.

 

However, this template is really just a starting point. Since Neto is a super flexible platform, merchants have it set up quite differently and a single export template usually won't do everything you need. If Google Shopping is an important part of your business, I'd suggest getting an expert consultant to take a look at modifying your export template to best take advantage of Google's features.

 

There are changes coming to Google Shopping and you may be affected early (we use paid listings so I think we have a bit longer). Most significant is the requirement for shipping costs. This is a huge issue, because Neto supports very complex shipping setups (multiple carriers, regions, APIs, etc) whereas Google Shopping only handles a very basic shipping structure. Frankly it's typical of Google's arrogance and clueless understanding of ecommerce, especially in Australia. But it does mean many merchants are stuck.

 

If your shipping is any more complex than being free or flat rate, you're going to need an expert to modify the feed and you may even need to re-think your shipping policy.