Google launches Merchant API, signals transition from Content API

Google announced the general availability of Merchant API in August 2025, marking a significant transition in how e-commerce businesses manage their product data across Google Shopping and other Google services. The announcement establishes Merchant API as the primary tool for programmatic access to Merchant Center accounts while setting August 18, 2026, as the shutdown date for the existing Content API for Shopping.

The transition affects thousands of advertisers and retailers who have relied on the Content API to manage product feeds for over a decade. According to PPC Land's coverage of Merchant Center developments, Google has been preparing the e-commerce ecosystem for this shift through various platform updates and enhanced documentation.

"Merchant API is now generally available and features a simplified interface designed to help you manage your Merchant Center accounts and showcase your products at scale and with ease," according to Google's official announcement dated August 2025. "You will also get programmatic access to data, insights, and unique capabilities at scale, allowing you to control how your business and products appear on Google."

Technical specifications and enhanced capabilities

The new Merchant API introduces several technical improvements over its predecessor. The maximum pageSize has increased from 250 to 1000 rows per API call, enabling more efficient data handling for large-scale operations. The API supports both gRPC and REST protocols, with gRPC established as the recommended integration method for its performance benefits.

"The transition to Merchant API introduces a robust and efficient solution with an improved design for faster product rollouts, easier updates, and new features like Google Product Studio," according to the documentation. The platform also addresses a technical limitation where delays previously occurred for product insertion, promotions, product reviews, and merchant reviews after DataSources creation.

Merchant API operates through a modular design with multiple sub-APIs, each targeting specific functionality areas. The Products sub-API includes a new ProductsUpdate method that allows updating individual products without requiring all fields necessary for ProductInput. The Accounts sub-API introduces new resources including OmnichannelSettings for Free Local Listings and Local Inventory Ads configuration, and OnlineReturnPolicy for creating, deleting, and updating return policies.

Major interface changes and developer impact

The API transition introduces substantial changes to how developers interact with Google's e-commerce platform. Resource identification shifts from traditional ID-based systems to resource names following Google's API Improvement Principles. Product identifiers change from the Content API format of "channel:contentLanguage:feedLabel:offerId" to Merchant API's "contentLanguage~feedLabel~offerId" structure, eliminating the channel component and replacing colons with tildes.

URL request structures require additional parameters including resource, version, name identifiers, and method specifications. The standard format follows: "https://merchantapi.googleapis.com/{SUB_API}/{VERSION}/{RESOURCE_NAME}:{METHOD}". The Content API's customBatch method functionality is replaced by built-in batching capabilities optimized for asynchronous calls.

According to the migration documentation, "We recommend using the value from the name field directly in your calls, instead of parsing or manually constructing a resource's name to avoid issues." This approach prevents compatibility problems that could arise from manual identifier construction.

New features exclusive to Merchant API

Several capabilities remain exclusive to the new platform. The Reviews API enables implementation and management of product and shop ratings through dedicated endpoints. The notification system allows developers to receive push notifications for account product data changes, eliminating the need for periodic polling.

Product Studio integration provides generative AI capabilities for product title and description optimization, though access requires signing a specific form for alpha participation. The API introduces comprehensive reporting through the Reporting sub-API, including a new NonProductPerformanceView table for analyzing incoming traffic to retailer websites.

Data source management expands beyond primary sources to include supplemental product data sources, local inventory data sources, regional inventory data sources, promotion data sources, product review data sources, and merchant review data sources. This expansion enables more sophisticated data organization strategies for complex e-commerce operations.

Timeline and migration requirements

Google provides an 18-month transition period from the August 2025 announcement to the August 18, 2026, Content API shutdown. "We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible and will provide access to the Content API until August 18, 2026, after which the Content API will be shut down," according to the official documentation.

The migration timeline aligns with Google's broader API modernization efforts, which have seen similar documentation and functionality improvements across multiple advertising platforms. Recent developments in Google's developer ecosystem, including the launch of Discord communities for advertising developers, demonstrate the company's focus on improving developer experience during major platform transitions.

Businesses must link their Merchant Center accounts to Google Cloud projects through the Developer Registration method to access Merchant API functionality. The process requires adding at least one API Developer user who serves as the primary contact for integration communications, surveys, and opportunities.

Industry implications for digital marketing

The transition represents a fundamental shift in how e-commerce businesses interact with Google's shopping ecosystem. PPC Land's analysis of Google's Merchant Center platform evolution shows how these technical changes support broader strategic objectives including AI integration and omnichannel retail capabilities.

The enhanced API capabilities align with current e-commerce trends toward automated product management and AI-driven optimization. Product Studio's generative AI features for content creation reflect industry movement toward automated content generation, while improved reporting capabilities support data-driven decision making at scale.

For marketing teams managing large product catalogs, the increased efficiency gains from higher pageSize limits and improved batch processing could significantly reduce operational overhead. The expanded data source options enable more sophisticated feed management strategies, particularly beneficial for businesses operating across multiple channels or regions.

The 1000-row pageSize increase directly addresses scalability concerns that have affected large retailers using the Content API. Combined with the elimination of previous insertion delays, these improvements target operational pain points that have constrained automated product management workflows.

Strategic positioning within Google's ecosystem

Merchant API's launch coincides with Google's broader platform consolidation efforts, including enhanced Merchant Center Next features and improved AI integration capabilities. The timing suggests coordination between Google's e-commerce and advertising divisions to provide unified programmatic access across shopping services.

The API's gRPC support positions it within Google's broader infrastructure modernization, offering improved performance and scalability compared to REST-only implementations. This technical direction aligns with industry trends toward high-performance API architectures capable of handling enterprise-scale data volumes.

Future features will appear exclusively in Merchant API, with limited exceptions such as the 2025 annual feed specification. This exclusivity strategy encourages migration while ensuring developers gain access to the latest platform capabilities only through the new API structure.

Preparation recommendations for businesses

E-commerce businesses should begin migration planning immediately, focusing on inventory of current Content API usage patterns and identification of required new functionality. The 18-month timeline provides sufficient preparation time, but complex implementations may require extended development and testing periods.

Developers should prioritize understanding the new resource naming conventions and URL structures, as these represent the most significant interface changes. Testing environments should be established using Merchant API to validate functionality before production migration deadlines.

The enhanced documentation and client library support reduce technical barriers to migration, while the compatibility period allows gradual transition of different product management workflows. Businesses can maintain Content API operations while implementing Merchant API features incrementally.

Early adoption may provide competitive advantages through access to exclusive features like AI-powered content optimization and enhanced reporting capabilities. The notification system and improved batch processing offer immediate operational benefits for businesses handling large product catalogs.

Timeline

• August 2025: Google announces Merchant API general availability and Content API for Shopping sunset timeline
• May 2024: Merchant API beta testing begins
• August 23, 2024: Google completes Merchant Center Next rollout with enhanced features and AI integration
• July 4, 2024: Google unveils advanced data management tools including attribute rules and supplemental data sources
• April 13, 2024: Google announces significant changes to Merchant Center product data specifications including AI-generated content disclosure requirements
• August 18, 2026: Content API for Shopping scheduled shutdown date

PPC Land explains

Merchant API: Google's new simplified API designed to help businesses manage Merchant Center accounts and showcase products across Google services. This modern interface replaces the Content API for Shopping as the primary tool for programmatic access, featuring enhanced capabilities including gRPC support, improved batch processing, and exclusive features like AI-powered content generation through Product Studio integration.

Content API for Shopping: Google's legacy API that has served as the primary interface for programmatic product data management for over a decade. Scheduled for shutdown on August 18, 2026, this API enabled businesses to upload, manage, and synchronize product information across Google Shopping and related services, but lacks the advanced features and performance improvements found in its Merchant API successor.

Merchant Center: Google's centralized platform where businesses upload, store, and manage product data including titles, descriptions, images, pricing, and shipping details. This free service serves as the gateway for product information to appear across Google Shopping ads, free listings, and other Google surfaces, requiring proper configuration and data quality maintenance for optimal performance.

Product Studio: An AI-powered feature exclusive to Merchant API that leverages generative artificial intelligence to create and optimize product titles and descriptions. Currently in alpha testing with restricted access requiring special form submission, this tool represents Google's integration of machine learning capabilities into e-commerce content creation workflows.

gRPC: Google Remote Procedure Call, a high-performance, language-agnostic communication protocol that uses HTTP/2 and protocol buffers for efficient data transmission. Merchant API's recommended integration method, gRPC offers superior scalability and performance compared to traditional REST implementations, particularly beneficial for enterprises handling large-scale product data operations.

Data Sources: The various methods and origins for product information within Merchant Center, renamed from the previous "Feeds" terminology. Merchant API expands data source capabilities beyond primary sources to include supplemental product data, local inventory data, regional inventory data, promotion data, product review data, and merchant review data sources for comprehensive catalog management.

Migration: The technical process of transitioning from Content API for Shopping to Merchant API, involving code updates, authentication changes, and adoption of new resource naming conventions. This 18-month transition period requires businesses to update their integration methods, test new functionality, and prepare for the Content API shutdown while maintaining operational continuity.

API: Application Programming Interface, the structured communication protocol enabling software applications to interact with Google's e-commerce platform capabilities. APIs define the methods, data formats, and authentication procedures required for programmatic access to services like product management, inventory updates, and performance reporting within the Merchant Center ecosystem.

E-commerce: Electronic commerce encompassing online retail operations, digital product catalogs, and internet-based commercial transactions. The Merchant API transition particularly affects e-commerce businesses managing large product inventories, automated pricing systems, and multi-channel selling strategies that rely on programmatic integration with Google's shopping services.

Google Shopping: Google's product discovery platform where consumers can search, compare, and purchase items from various retailers. Merchant API serves as the primary backend interface for businesses to manage their product presence across Google Shopping ads, free listings, and related services, requiring accurate product data and proper feed management for visibility and performance optimization.

Summary

Who: Google's Merchant Center development team announced the transition, affecting e-commerce businesses, developers, advertisers, and retailers who manage product feeds programmatically through the Content API for Shopping.

What: Google launched Merchant API as the general availability successor to Content API for Shopping, introducing enhanced capabilities including AI-powered features, improved performance with 1000-row pageSize limits, gRPC support, modular sub-API design, and exclusive features like Product Studio and enhanced reporting.

When: The announcement occurred in August 2025, with Merchant API now generally available and Content API for Shopping scheduled for shutdown on August 18, 2026, providing an 18-month transition period.

Where: The transition affects all users of Google Merchant Center and Content API for Shopping globally, with implementation through Google's API infrastructure and requiring Google Cloud project linking for access.

Why: Google aims to provide a more robust, efficient solution with improved design for faster product rollouts, easier updates, future-proof technology, streamlined data management, and exclusive API capabilities while modernizing the e-commerce platform infrastructure.