Is google_product_category required?

No, the attribute is optional. If you leave it out, Google assigns a category automatically. You still need the right category for alcohol, phones and tablets sold with a contract, gift cards and software subscriptions: with the wrong one the product can be disapproved.

Should I use the ID or the full path?

Either works, but not both in the same field. The numeric ID is shorter, does not depend on the feed language and cannot be broken by a typo in a long path, so most feed managers prefer it.

What is the difference between google_product_category and product_type?

google_product_category takes only a value from the Google taxonomy, one per product. product_type is free text for your own store structure (for example, your site breadcrumbs). It does not replace the Google category, but you can use it to build product groups in Shopping campaigns.

Can I use the taxonomy in my own language?

Yes, if Google publishes the taxonomy in that language — the path must match the file exactly. If there is no file for your language, use the English path or the numeric ID: both are accepted for every country.

Which version of the taxonomy is current?

The files Google publishes today are version 2021-09-21 — the date is in the first line of every file. The catalog on this page is built from that version.

Google Product Categories: Full List with IDs

The complete Google product taxonomy for Merchant Center feeds: every category with its ID and full path, explained with real product examples.

Google product categories — download XLS/TXT files

Google publishes the full category list in two formats: a plain text file (TXT) and an Excel sheet (XLS), each with or without numeric IDs. The current taxonomy version is 2021-09-21.

Language	With IDs	Without IDs
English (US)	TXT · XLS	TXT · XLS
English (UK)	TXT · XLS	TXT · XLS

Open the text file with UTF-8 encoding. Files for other countries and languages are available in Google's official documentation: switch the language at the bottom of the help page.

How the taxonomy is structured

The tree starts with 21 top-level categories and goes up to 7 levels deep: 192 categories on level 2, 1,349 on level 3, 2,203 on level 4, and fewer below. In our catalog every category on levels 1–3 has its own page with the ID, the feed path, real product examples from Google Shopping and a breakdown of what belongs there. Deeper categories are shown as a tree on the page of their level-3 parent.

What google_product_category is and why it matters

google_product_category is a Google Merchant Center feed attribute that classifies a product according to Google's own reference list, the product taxonomy. The taxonomy has 5,595 categories arranged in a tree up to 7 levels deep, from broad ones like Apparel & Accessories (ID 166) to narrow ones like Dresses (ID 2271).

The attribute is optional: Google automatically assigns every product a category from its taxonomy anyway. Google uses the value you submit instead of its own only in three cases:

to apply attribute requirements that depend on the category (apparel, for example);
to target Google Ads campaigns by category;
for alcoholic beverages.

In practice this means a slightly off category rarely hurts most products — but in a few cases a wrong or missing category gets the product disapproved.

When the category must be right

For these products Google requires a specific category. If the requirement is not met, the product is disapproved and you get a notification in Merchant Center.

Product	Category	ID
Alcohol	Alcoholic Beverages	499676
Homebrewing and winemaking kits	Homebrewing & Winemaking Supplies	3577
Phones sold with a contract or installments	Mobile Phones	267
Tablets sold with a contract or installments	Tablet Computers	4745
Gift cards and certificates	Gift Cards & Certificates	53
Software subscriptions	Computer Software	313

Subcategories of the alcohol categories work too. A contract phone listed at a price of 0 must use category 267. For merchant-defined bundles, use the category of the main product. See Google's alcohol policy for details.

How to submit the category in your feed

Submit either the numeric ID or the full path — never both. Levels in the path are separated by ">" with a space on each side, and the path must match the taxonomy file exactly.

Feed format	Example
Text (TSV, CSV)	`2271` or `Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Dresses`
XML	`<g:google_product_category>2271</g:google_product_category>` or `<g:google_product_category>Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Dresses</g:google_product_category>`
Merchant API	The category field of the productInputs resource

The ID is the safer choice: it is language-independent, short, and cannot break because of a typo or an extra space.
In XML, "&" in the path must be written as & or the feed will not parse; Google's own example also escapes ">" as >.
If the taxonomy is not published in your feed language, use the English path or the ID.
One product, one category: the attribute cannot be repeated.

How to choose the right category

Go for the most specific category that fits — Google recommends this explicitly. Dresses (2271) says more than Clothing (1604): a narrow category tells Google which attributes to expect and how to show the product.
Check the neighbouring categories. A wedding dress belongs to Wedding Dresses, not Dresses; a phone case goes to phone accessories, not Mobile Phones. Every page in our catalog has a section on what does not belong there.
No exact match? Take the closest broader category and pass your own detailed structure in product_type.
Do not pick a category for ad reach. The category describes what the product is, not who should see it.

The fastest way to find a category is the search at the top of this page: type a product name and it suggests matching categories with the ID and the feed path.

Common mistakes

Both the ID and the path in the same field.
A hand-typed path that differs from the file: different capitalisation, "and" instead of "&", a missing level.
A path in a language Google does not publish the taxonomy in — Google will not recognise it.
A category from an old taxonomy version that is no longer in the file.
One broad top-level category for the whole catalog.
Mixing up google_product_category and product_type: your own store section names are not valid Google categories.

Google Product Categories