Which product feed format should you use for Google Merchant Center?
For many stores, the best feed format is no file at all: let your store platform’s app sync products to Merchant Center. If you do need a file, Google’s file page lists tab-delimited text (.txt or .tsv) and XML (RSS 2.0 or Atom 1.0), optionally compressed, up to 4 GB. Tab-delimited suits small catalogs edited in a spreadsheet; XML suits large catalogs generated by a system. For a few dozen products, a Google Sheet is the simplest route.
What this comes down to
- If your store platform has an app that syncs products to Merchant Center, that usually beats maintaining a file by hand.
- Google’s file page lists tab-delimited text (.txt or .tsv) and XML (RSS 2.0 or Atom 1.0), each up to 4 GB.
- Tab-delimited suits small catalogs edited in a spreadsheet; XML suits large catalogs generated by software.
- Save files as UTF-8 and format identifier columns as text, or a spreadsheet may strip leading zeros from GTINs.
Choose by how your catalog is maintained
| Your situation | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A store on a platform with a Merchant Center app | The app’s sync | No file to keep up to date; changes flow through |
| A few dozen products, edited by hand | Google Sheets | Google offers a template; edits are live |
| Hundreds of products, edited in a spreadsheet | Tab-delimited .txt or .tsv | Opens in any spreadsheet; one row per product |
| Thousands of products, generated by software | XML, or tab-delimited, compressed | Built by code, never edited by hand |
| Several channels from one source | A feed tool | One source, a different output per channel |
What Google’s file page lists
- Delimited text:
.txtor.tsv, with tabs between columns. - XML:
.xml, in RSS 2.0 or Atom 1.0. - Compressed:
.gz,.zipor.bz2.
A single product file can be up to 4 GB. Google’s page also names text encoding as a common cause of errors: anything other than UTF-8 or UTF-16.
About CSV: Google’s file page describes tab-delimited text, and that is what we recommend. If your spreadsheet offers tab-delimited text as a save option, use it rather than testing whether another delimiter will be read correctly.
Three spreadsheet traps that corrupt feeds
These are about how spreadsheet software treats numbers, not about Google, and they catch people who build feeds by hand:
- Leading zeros vanish. A GTIN such as
0012345678905can be saved as a number and lose its zeros. Format the GTIN column as text before pasting. - Long numbers turn into scientific notation. A 13-digit code can come out as
1.23457E+12. Text formatting prevents this too. - The encoding changes on save. Some save options do not write UTF-8, and accented characters come out garbled. Choose UTF-8 explicitly.
XML or tab-delimited, when a system writes it
If code generates the feed, both work. Tab-delimited is smaller and easy to inspect: open it in a spreadsheet and you see the catalog. XML handles nested or repeated values more naturally and is common in systems that already produce RSS.
Pick the one your platform or developer already produces well. The choice matters far less than keeping the data in it correct and current.
Whatever the format: the category column
In every format, google_product_category takes either a numeric ID or a full path, and the ID is safer: it is short, and it stays the same in every language. The ID or path guide explains why, and the Bulk Mapper can add an ID column to your file before you upload it.
Questions
Does Google Merchant Center accept CSV files?
Google’s file page lists tab-delimited text (.txt or .tsv) and XML. Save your spreadsheet as tab-delimited text rather than relying on commas, since many product titles and category names contain them.
What is the maximum size of a Merchant Center product file?
Google says a single product file can be up to 4 GB. Files can be compressed as .gz, .zip or .bz2.
Should I use XML or TSV for my product feed?
Tab-delimited suits smaller catalogs edited in a spreadsheet. XML suits large catalogs generated by software. If your store platform has an app that syncs to Merchant Center, you may not need a file at all.
Read next
What is a product feed? The file behind every Shopping listing
A product feed lists every product as one row of attributes. What goes in it, what Google requires, and why channels read it instead of your product pages.
What is product feed management, and when does a spreadsheet stop being enough?
The four jobs inside feed management, what Merchant Center already does for free, and the signs that a spreadsheet is no longer enough for your catalog.
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.
Google Shopping XML feed example, with every required field
A complete Google Shopping XML feed example: the RSS namespace, the required fields per item, escaping rules, and how to send google_product_category.
Content API for Shopping sunset: the dates, the 410 errors and what to do
When the Content API for Shopping stops working: the August 2026 sunset, the 410 errors since September, the early 2027 shutdown, and who has to migrate.