Google Products Variation Manager (formerly called Multi Ad Generator)


This feature allows you to create multiple Google Product Listing Ads (PLA's) from a single product using it's category, manufacturer, options and attributes data. This allows generic products to be listed in many different ways without having to set up a new product for each and every variation.


For example, if a single product had 4 size options (e.g. S,M,L,XL) and 2 pattern attributes (e.g. Plain, Stripes) then you could create 8 variations of the product which are then fed into Google's PLA system as individual products, each having a unique product title which includes the option / attribute details. 


NB: Sellers who already submit feeds which require specific attributes (such as clothing for example) will have their settings migrated to the 

Google Products Variation Manager system automatically.


Setting This Up


  • First set up all your categories, brands/manufacturers, products, options and attributes with the values you want to appear in your multiple product listings
  • Go to Admin > Multi Ad Generator
  • Select the Type of group you wish to use from Options, Attributes, Manufacturers, Categories (read more about Categories below)
  • In Key Name put in the name of the group you want to use e.g. "Size", "Pattern" etc
  • In the Product Name Template column, determine whether the Type group is to be displayed after the {product_name} which is the default displays: {product_name} - {option_group}, but you can switch it the other way round if preferred: {option_group} - {product_name}
  • Product Code Template allows you to use the product code from either the main record or the one held in options set up for the product
  • Repeat the above for up to 8 Types (maximum)


How The Category Type Works


This works slightly different to the others and lets you put the category name into the product, however, you need to specify a starting category under which sub-categories / products fit into which it then uses to find the product category / sub-category name to put in the product title.


Note: Legacy Mode For Existing Stores


This feature is effectively a new ID system for products to ensure uniqueness in product ids and extends from the existing 4 Types limit to 8 Types maximum. Existing stores will be automatically set to use the existing legacy id limit of 4 Types which is what is in place already and will continue to work with no changes necessary. If you wished to make use of more than 4 Types then you can disable the legacy ids by unticking in Admin > Setup > "Enable legacy Google product feed CSV ids?" and setting up your extra Types.


Testing


Once you have made your changes and saved them, go into Google Products Console and press Refresh, then review / fix any errors that are reported. You can also view your product feed at http://www.your-domain.co.uk/pages/product_feed.csv.php?i=1. Check your feed is submitted correctly in your Google Merchant Centre settings.



Importing & Exporting Your Data


You can export your product feed data to a CSV file within Google Products Variation Manager, modify it with any alterations you need, then import it via the Import System, selecting Google Products GTINs in step 2. This change was introduced  to help the situation where products are set up with multiple options and each one needs its own GTIN (in this case for clothing that has a GTIN for each size/colour combination).