Glossary · Categories & taxonomy
What is a Google product category ID?
A category ID is the number that identifies one entry in Google’s product taxonomy. 209 is Socks; 53 is Gift Cards & Certificates. Google accepts the ID or the path in google_product_category and recommends the ID.
What this comes down to
- Each taxonomy entry has one numeric ID, paired with its full path in Google’s file.
- Google’s product data specification recommends sending the ID.
- The ID is language-independent and immune to typos in the path text.
- Some products must use a specific ID — gift cards use 53.
Why the ID is the safer value
A path must match Google’s text exactly — the same ampersands, capitals and > separators. An ID is a short number with nothing to mistype. It also stays the same across the localized versions of the taxonomy, so one feed column works whatever language your paths would have been in.
IDs are not ordered by meaning: 3809 (Water Bottles) and 721 (Pots & Planters) tell you nothing about each other. Keep the path alongside the ID in your own records so a human can read it — the Bulk Mapper writes both into full.csv.
Examples from the current taxonomy
| ID | Path |
|---|---|
| 209 | Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Underwear & Socks > Socks |
| 3809 | Home & Garden > Kitchen & Dining > Food & Beverage Carriers > Water Bottles |
| 721 | Home & Garden > Lawn & Garden > Gardening > Pots & Planters |
| 53 | Arts & Entertainment > Party & Celebration > Gift Giving > Gift Cards & Certificates |
| 267 | Electronics > Communications > Telephony > Mobile Phones |
Every ID has its own page on this site: browse from the category index, or paste a product title into the finder to get the ID directly.
Questions
How do I find the ID for my product?
Paste the product title into the free Category Finder and it returns the ID, the full path and a confidence score. For many products, the Bulk Mapper does the same for every row of a CSV or XLSX file.
Can I send the ID and the path together?
No. Google accepts one or the other in the attribute, not both.
Sources
Read next
- Category pathThe full text form of a taxonomy entry — every level from the root down, joined by “ > ” — accepted in place of the category ID.
- google_product_categoryAn optional product-feed attribute that places a product in Google’s fixed product taxonomy, sent as a numeric category ID or as the full category path.
- Leaf categoryA category at the end of a branch of the taxonomy — one with no subcategories beneath it — and so the most specific place a product can be filed.
- Google product category: use the ID or the full path?Google accepts either the numeric ID or the full category path, not both. Why the ID is the safer choice, and how Microsoft treats each.
- How to find the right Google product category (with ID)A practical walkthrough: read the taxonomy, pick the most specific category that is still true, and get the numeric ID your product feed needs.