Glossary · Categories & taxonomy
What is product_type?
product_type is the category you write yourself. Where google_product_category takes a value from Google’s fixed list, product_type takes any text, and its main job is organising your own Shopping campaign bidding and reporting.
What this comes down to
- It is optional and entirely yours: no list of valid values, so no way to be “invalid”.
- Google’s documentation allows up to 750 alphanumeric characters.
- Only the first product_type value organises bidding and reporting in Shopping campaigns.
- Write the full path of your own tree, such as
Home > Women > Dresses > Maxi Dresses, not just the leaf.
Your taxonomy, not Google’s
Google describes product_type as a product category that you define. It usually mirrors the navigation of your own store — the departments and sub-departments a shopper clicks through — and Google suggests writing the full path rather than only the last level, so Home > Women > Dresses > Maxi Dresses rather than Dresses.
Because the values are yours, there is no invalid product_type. That is the clearest difference from google_product_category, which can be rejected if it is not a real taxonomy entry.
Why the first value matters
You can submit more than one product_type, but Google states that only the first is used to organise bidding and reporting in Google Ads Shopping campaigns. Put the value that matches how you want to split budgets first.
A common mistake is copying the Google category path into product_type. You end up with two copies of one view of your catalog and no second view — losing the segmentation that product_type exists to give you.
product_type and google_product_category side by side
| product_type | google_product_category | |
|---|---|---|
| Who defines values | You | |
| Valid values | Any text, up to 750 characters | One taxonomy entry, by ID or path |
| Can be invalid | No | Yes — invalid values are rejected |
| Main job | Your bidding and reporting segments | Category rules, Ads targeting, other channels |
The longer comparison is in google_product_category vs product_type.
Questions
Do I need both product_type and google_product_category?
Neither is required. They do different jobs: product_type carries your own segmentation, google_product_category places the product in Google’s taxonomy. Filling in both gives you two independent views of the catalog.
Can product_type be in any language?
It is your own free text, so it can follow your store’s language. Keep it consistent across products, since campaign subdivisions match on the exact text.
Sources
Read next
- 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.
- Custom labelFive free-text feed attributes, custom_label_0 to custom_label_4, used to group products in Shopping campaigns by criteria such as margin or season.
- 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 category vs product_type: what's the differenceOne is Google's fixed taxonomy, the other is your own. They do different jobs, and confusing the two is why feeds end up miscategorised.