Google Merchant Center unveils key product data specification changes for 2025

Five days ago, on April 8, 2025, Google announced important updates to the Merchant Center product data specification that will impact how retailers manage their product listings. The changes, designed to improve the shopping experience for consumers, include immediate modifications to installment pricing, energy efficiency classifications, and shipping attributes, with additional updates to member pricing and sales tax requirements coming in July.

Google has implemented several significant changes to the Merchant Center product data specification effective immediately. These modifications will substantially alter how merchants display product information, particularly regarding installment pricing, energy efficiency classifications, and shipping details.

The first major change affects how merchants handle installment pricing. According to Google, "We will stop supporting the price [price] attribute for down payments on products with installment pricing." This means merchants must now use the specific downpayment sub-attribute within the installment attribute framework. The price attribute must instead reflect the full upfront payment alternative.

For merchants operating in European Union countries, a notable shift has occurred in how energy efficiency information is presented. "The energy efficiency class attributes will be replaced in EU countries by the more general certification [certification] attribute," states Google in their announcement. This change aims to ensure compatibility with products requiring graphical energy efficiency class labels in the EU, covering both rescaled and non-rescaled labels. It's worth noting that for products sold in Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, the previous energy efficiency class attributes will remain available.

The third immediate change introduces expanded shipping attributes at the individual product level. Google explains, "We're adding more shipping options at the offer level, mirroring existing account-level features." This includes the new carrier_shipping attribute and additional attributes for specifying business days for handling and transit. These additions will enable more accurate delivery time estimates for consumers viewing shopping ads and free listings.

July 2025 Changes to Pricing and Tax Requirements

Beginning July 1, 2025, Google is implementing two additional changes that will affect how merchants handle member pricing and sales tax information.

The first change addresses member pricing. According to Google's announcement, "We will no longer allow member prices in the price [price] or sale price [sale_price] attributes." This change applies globally and includes member prices for both paid and free loyalty programs. Instead, merchants must use the loyalty_program attribute to submit member prices in countries where the loyalty program operates. Google warns that after July 1, "including member prices in the price [price] or sale price [sale_price] attributes could lead to offer or account disapproval."

The second July change removes US sales tax requirements. "We will no longer require merchants to provide US sales tax (through either the tax [tax] and tax category [tax_category] attributes, or the tax settings in Merchant Center)," states Google. This modification may benefit merchants by potentially allowing previously disapproved offers to receive traffic, though Google cautions this "may impact any associated campaign spend." The tax information submission requirement for US products will remain in place until the July 1 implementation date.

Technical Implementation Details for the New Requirements

The technical implementation of these changes requires merchants to adapt their product feeds and data structures accordingly.

For installment pricing, merchants must now properly structure the installment attribute with its sub-attributes. The installment attribute uses four sub-attributes: months [months], amount [amount], down payment [downpayment], and credit type [credit_type]. The months and amount sub-attributes are required, while down payment and credit type are optional. According to documentation, "the default option for this sub-attribute will be 0 or 'no down payment'," and down payment is not supported in Latin America since these payments are uncommon in the region.

The certification attribute for EU energy efficiency replaces the previous system with a more comprehensive approach. This attribute uses three sub-attributes: authority [certification_authority], name [certification_name], and code [certification_code]. The authority and name sub-attributes are always required. For European energy labels, merchants must specify "EC" or "European_Commission" as the authority, "EPREL" as the name, and include the appropriate EPREL code.

The new shipping attributes provide greater flexibility for merchants to specify carrier-based shipping options. The carrier_shipping attribute uses multiple sub-attributes including country, origin postal code, carrier price, handling time, and transit time. According to the documentation, "Carrier cost and speeds provide more accurate shipping cost and speed for customers as their location is used to determine the shipping cost and transit time."

Impact on Merchants and Marketing Professionals

These changes represent a significant shift in how merchants must structure their product data feeds. Marketing professionals and e-commerce managers will need to update their systems and processes to accommodate these new requirements before the respective deadlines.

Jason Wong, Director of E-commerce at Digital Commerce Partners (not affiliated with Google), notes that "these specification changes reflect Google's ongoing efforts to standardize how product information is presented across different markets and to improve the customer shopping experience with more precise shipping and pricing information."

For merchants with installment payment options, the separation of down payment information from the primary price attribute creates a clearer distinction between full payment and installment options. This change may help reduce consumer confusion regarding pricing structures but requires merchants to restructure their data feeds accordingly.

The transition to the certification attribute for EU energy efficiency labeling aligns with European regulatory requirements for displaying graphical energy efficiency information. Merchants selling appliances, electronics, and other products subject to EU energy efficiency labeling regulations will need to integrate with the EPREL database to ensure compliance.

The expanded shipping attributes offer merchants greater control over shipping information at the product level, potentially improving conversion rates by providing consumers with more accurate delivery time estimates. However, implementing these attributes requires additional data management and coordination with shipping carriers.

The removal of US sales tax requirements simplifies the data submission process for US merchants but may require adjustments to campaign budgets as previously disapproved listings begin receiving traffic.

Industry Implications and Future Directions

Google's product data specification updates reflect broader trends in e-commerce toward increased standardization and transparency in product information. The changes also align with regulatory requirements, particularly in the European Union, where energy efficiency labeling has become increasingly important.

The shift away from member prices in the primary price attributes indicates Google's focus on providing consistent pricing information across different user segments. By requiring the use of the loyalty_program attribute, Google aims to clearly distinguish between standard pricing and loyalty program benefits.

These specification changes may foreshadow future updates as e-commerce continues to evolve. As shopping experiences become more personalized and delivery expectations more precise, product data specifications will likely continue to adapt to support these trends.

Key Takeaways for Merchants

1. Merchants offering installment pricing must update their data feeds to use the downpayment sub-attribute within the installment attribute framework.
2. Products sold in EU countries requiring energy efficiency labeling must transition to the certification attribute with appropriate EPREL codes.
3. New shipping attributes at the product level provide opportunities for more accurate delivery time estimates but require additional data management.
4. After July 1, 2025, member prices must be submitted using the loyalty_program attribute, not in the primary price or sale price attributes.
5. US merchants will no longer need to provide sales tax information after July 1, 2025, potentially simplifying their data feeds.

Timeline of Google Merchant Center Changes for 2025

• April 8, 2025: Announcement of product data specification updates
• April 8, 2025: Implementation of installment pricing changes, energy efficiency certification attribute, and new shipping attributes
• July 1, 2025: Implementation of member price restrictions and removal of US sales tax requirements
• July 1, 2025 and beyond: Full enforcement of new specification requirements

These systematic changes to Google's Merchant Center product data specifications demonstrate the company's commitment to improving the online shopping experience through standardized, detailed product information and transparent pricing structures.