Integration · Ad channel
Google product category on Microsoft Advertising
Microsoft’s Shopping content API has a googleProductCategory field that takes a Google-style category string or category ID, up to 255 characters. Microsoft also defines its own product_category field as the equivalent, with values from Microsoft’s own taxonomy. The accurate summary is that Microsoft accepts the Google-formatted attribute — not that Bing “uses Google’s taxonomy”.
What this comes down to
googleProductCategoryaccepts a category string or a category ID, limited to 255 characters.- Microsoft’s own
product_categoryfield takes values from Microsoft’s taxonomy. - A price of zero is only allowed for phones and tablets sold on contract, with the matching Google category.
- Send your Google IDs in the Google-formatted field; do not paste them into Microsoft’s own category field.
The short version
- Generate Google category IDsRun your catalog through the Bulk Mapper to get a Google category ID for each product.
- Put them in the Google-formatted fieldSend the IDs in google_product_category (googleProductCategory in the API), not in Microsoft’s own product_category field.
- Check category-dependent rulesIf you list phones or tablets on contract at a price of 0, confirm the category and the title keyword Microsoft requires.
Two fields that look alike
| Field | Values | Notes |
|---|---|---|
googleProductCategory / google_product_category | Google taxonomy string or ID | Up to 255 characters; levels delimited by > |
product_category | Microsoft’s taxonomy | Described by Microsoft as the equivalent of google_product_category |
productType | Your own categories | Up to 750 characters; can differ from the Google category |
The Google-formatted field is the one your existing Google category IDs belong in. Microsoft’s own category field is defined as equivalent but draws on the taxonomy Microsoft publishes, so a Google path pasted there is not what it expects.
The one rule that depends on the category
Microsoft requires a price between 0.01 and 10,000,000, with one exception: a price of 0 is allowed when googleProductCategory is Electronics > Communications > Telephony > Mobile Phones or Electronics > Computers > Tablet Computers and the title contains a keyword such as “contract”. Microsoft notes that “contract” can be used in all markets, while “installment”, “payment” and “lease” are US-only.
Google has a parallel rule for phones sold on contract, covered in products that must use a specific Google category.
Using one set of IDs for both
If your Microsoft feed is built from the same product data as your Google feed, the google_product_category column carries across. Generate it once with the Bulk Mapper, keep the path beside the ID for your own review, and let each channel read the column it understands.
Does every Google path fit in 255 characters?
In the current taxonomy, yes. The longest full path in Google’s file — a branch of orchestral string instrument parts — is 214 characters, so any single path fits under Microsoft’s 255-character limit. An ID is a few digits and never comes close. Where the limit bites is a malformed value: a path pasted twice, an ID and a path joined together, or several categories in one cell. Those are invalid for Google too.
Checking a feed before it goes to Microsoft
- Every value in the Google-formatted field is one ID or one full path, never both.
- Nothing from Google’s taxonomy has been pasted into Microsoft’s own
product_categoryfield. - Any product listed at a price of 0 is a phone or tablet on contract, in the matching category, with a permitted keyword in the title.
- The category column comes from the same source as your Google feed, so the two cannot disagree.
The last point is the one that saves the most time later: when both channels read one column, a category fixed once is fixed everywhere.
Questions
Does Bing use Google’s product taxonomy?
Not exactly. Microsoft accepts the Google-formatted category attribute, and defines its own product_category field as equivalent with values from Microsoft’s taxonomy.
Can I send a category ID instead of a path to Microsoft?
Yes. Microsoft’s content API documents googleProductCategory as accepting either a category string or a category ID.
Sources
Read next
- 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.
- Products that must use a specific Google product categoryGift cards, contract phones, physical subscriptions and alcohol may only use certain Google categories. The rules, with every ID and path.
- 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.
- 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 on ShopifyTwo category columns, two taxonomies. Filling Shopify’s does not fill Google’s, and a blank cell on re-import erases it.
- Google product category on WooCommerceCore WooCommerce has no Google feed. The category is extension meta: invisible to category editors, reachable by CSV round-trip.