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Autofeed

An autofeed is a Merchant Center data source that Google builds on its own by crawling an online store and reading the product data on its pages.

How it works

Google takes the title, price, availability and other attributes from the product pages it crawls. Structured data on the pages helps Google read them more accurately. In Merchant Center, the autofeed is one kind of primary data source, alongside uploaded or fetched files and the API. Changes on the site reach it through later crawls, and Google does not guarantee how long that takes.

Only accounts that meet Google’s eligibility conditions can use the autofeed, and marketplaces can’t. Google describes it as an option for smaller sites that change less often, and as a way to start with less effort. Our guide to Merchant Center autofeeds covers when to rely on it.

Where you see it

  • Merchant Center: among the product data sources, as a primary source that Google builds.
  • Merchant API: a read-only primary data source with the input type AUTOFEED. The API only switches the feature on or off and reports whether the account is eligible.

Example

Example store, not client data.

The tableware shop sends 3,000 products in its own feed, but its site also lists 200 gift sets that the feed misses. With the autofeed on, Google can pick the gift sets up from their pages, though crawling may not find all 200. Whatever it finds carries only what the pages show. Data the shop keeps off the site, such as stock in its physical store, can come only from a feed or the API.

Not to be confused with

  • Feed — the file you send yourself: you choose the products and when to update them, and can add data that isn’t on the site.
  • Automatic item updates — also read the site, but only correct the price, availability and condition of products you have already submitted. They add no products.

Right and wrong readings

  • Wrong: “With the autofeed on, Google has the whole catalogue, always current.” Right: Google says crawling may miss products. It also doesn’t guarantee how long a change on the site takes to be processed. For larger or fast-changing sites, it recommends uploading feeds.

Sources