Help CenterHelp Center / Sales channels · How-to
Tell Google what each of your categories sells, once, so every product in it gets a Google product category.
Google sorts products by its own list of categories. On this page you match each of your categories to one of Google's. Meta, TikTok and Snapchat receive the same Google category, so you map once for all four.
A product takes its Google category from, in this order:
| Counter | Says |
|---|---|
| First | How many active products have no Google category yet, or "Every active product has a Google category." |
| Second | How many barcodes "are not GTINs Google accepts. Those products are sent without one." With Check: and links to a few of those products |
| Third | How many active products have no barcode: "Branded products without a GTIN show less often on Google." |
Open the Sales channels menu and select Google categories. The table lists every one of your categories, sub-categories indented under their parent, each with its product count.
The row shows "Saving…" and then "Saved." There is no save button. Sub-categories without a choice of their own now show "Inherited from …" with the Google category they take over.
Map your top-level categories first. Then give a sub-category its own Google category only where the parent's does not fit.
Clear the box with its × . The row answers "Removed. Products of this category now inherit from its parent, if any."
| Message | Meaning |
|---|---|
| "Could not save. Your previous choice is back; try again." | The save did not go through. The row shows what is stored |
| "Choose a Google category from the list." | Pick an entry from the search results |
| "This category was not found in your shop." | The category was deleted meanwhile. Reload the page |
The page appears as soon as the Sales channels feature is on. Besides the owner, a Shop Product Manager has Google categories in their own menu. The owner also sees the one-line Google setup progress at the top, with Open Google setup.
A missing Google category never stops a product: it is sent with the warning "Choose a Google product category for the product or its category".