Listing Products in Google Product Search
Since August 2008 when we first released a Google Product Search (Google Base) module a lot has changed. Not only has Google’s own service undergone a series of changes to the feed specification, Prestashop has also moved on.
The release of Prestashop 1.4.x in particular has seen support for many of the additional data items not previously possible to include, along with major changes in the generation of SEO urls which alone merit a code refresh. It has also become much harder to get good rankings in Product Search as the uptake has increased, and more attention needs to be taken in terms of feed data quality than ever before.
This version of the module is based on the information in the following Google Merchant Center Help topics (as at 17 August 2011):
It is strongly recommended that you review the data requirements detailed in the above documents prior to using this module as it will greatly increase the likelihood of successful product submissions. Particular attention needs to be made to Section 3 “Unique Product Identifiers” in the feed specification as this has become a critical factor in the success of listing products with Google.
Currently (0.7.3.x – 30th August 2011) the module concentrates on the first three sections:
- 1. Basic Product Information (all fields apart from google_product_category)
- 2. Availability & Price (all fields apart from sale_price_effective_date)
- 3. Unique Product Identifiers(all fields)
For older versions see the article: Exporting products to Googlebase
Changes
Version 0.7.3.5.1
- Test of fix for problems with languages requiring diacritics
Version 0.7.3.5
- Minor bugfix: condition element wasn’t being translated correctly and was omitted in 0.7.3.4
Version 0.7.3.4
- Modifications to xml entity encoding (hopefully to finally solve problems with German/French feeds)
- Translation support added for
- Minor changes to variable naming
Version 0.7.3.3
- Fixed calls to Tools::convertPrice() (pre-1.4 requires a currency object)
- Added price compatibility functions (for later support of attribute pricing)
Version 0.7.3.2
- Added optional encoding to xml element generation function
- Fix for some html entities in text fields (broken in 0.7.3.1)
Version 0.7.3.1
- Removed uninstall function override
- Modified some htmlentities() calls
- Fix for gtin field configuration bug
- Added private function for xml element generation
Version 0.7.2
- Changes to compatibility logic
- Fix for image links for 1.3.x
- Fix for currency handling in 1.3.x
Version 0.7.1
- Code updated to support new 1.4.x Module specifications
- Removed g:weight attribute
- Removed g:guid attribute
- Improved error checking
- User selectable language (from those enabled)
- User selectable currency (from those enabled)
- Ean13 (EU) or UPC (US) code choice added for “g:gtin” element
- Optional inclusion of Supplier Reference as MPN (Manufacturer Part Number)
- Improved product url and image url generation (maintaining backwards compatibility)
- Support for a second “additional” image
- Support for 1.4 item “condition” (defaults to “new” for older versions)
- Fixes to currency formatting
- Additional of sale_price element for active discounts
- Architecture improvements to support future additional features
- Improved error checking for permissions issues
- Cache implemented for frequently re-used data
Known Issues
- Need to be able to select between short (current) and long description field from database
- Nearby Stores functionality disabled (Requires implementation of “Regional Profiles”
Downloads
Beta 0.7 series Releases (Last Updated: 30th August 2011):
Googlebase v0.7.1
Googlebase v0.7.2
Googlebase v0.7.3.1
Googlebase v0.7.3.2
Googlebase v0.7.3.3
Googlebase v0.7.3.4
Googlebase v0.7.3.5
Googlebase v0.7.3.5.1 (minor release to test fix for diacritics in product type)
eCartService.net was set up specifically to cater for the needs of small to medium enterprises trading online using the Prestashop eCommerce solution. It was set up in 2008 by Paul Campbell, a veteran in the IT industry who has experience of working in technology planning and implementation in some of the most diverse and technically challenging environments on the planet. 
Hello!
The 0.7.3.5.1 version is working fine in my italian Prestashop.
But, i’ve some product title and product short description that have too much capitol letters in it. Is there a way to maintain only the first letter of the product title and the product short description as capitol?
Thank you!
Great piece of code. Thank you very much. Easy and simple to install and works great.
One thing is I would like to see the shipping cost in the feed if possible.
Thanks
That’s work in progress at the moment, as is tax for US users
Thanks for the reply Paul.
I have been trying to adjust your code to get the shipping price and the country of delivery as they are two required fields.
My code is not something sophisticated like yours but it outputs the following:
GB
4.50
I could send the file to you if you wish.
Hey Paul,
I had to check your page again see if there was any updates.
I’ve been trying to get the condition to work. But no luck so far.
Most of the products in my shop are second hand so the condition is set to ‘used’. Though they appear as ‘new’. Google sent me a message. :/
Any ideas are much appreciated.
Otto
I am having trouble with your google base module i config it correctly and update, but when i click the generate button it works for a sec than says “Fatal error” I really need this module working 100% any help would be apperciated. Thanks
The best way to diagnose errors of this type is to enable developer mode. You can do this by editing the file config/defines.inc.php and change the first line of code under the opening comments to:
define('_PS_MODE_DEV_', true);I’ll send you an email address you can send the output to for me to investigate. Once you’ve tried it, remember to set the above line back to :
define('_PS_MODE_DEV_', false);Same problem as described.
I’ve activated the DEV MODE. So, how can i send you the report?
Thank you
I have just installed the latest v0.7.3.4 and all seems OK apart from Google won’t puclish my products becuase of the missing ‘condition’ attribute. You mention it in the 0.7.1 update but I have checked the feed file and indeed the condition attribute is missing. The feed file is as follows:
pcen-10
Epiphone EJ-160E John Lennon
<![CDATA[Immaculate second-user EJ-160e with FULL 1-year warranty. Why bother buying new??]]>
http://www.symphonymusicstore.co.uk/product.php?id_product=10
http://www.symphonymusicstore.co.uk/img/p/10-50.jpg
in stock
319.00 GBP
Epiphone
5186530001140
Please could you advise?
Thanks again,
Dave
I rolled back to 0.7.2 and all now seems OK
I’ve uploaded a 0.7.3.5 (hopefully the last 0.7.3 series version!). I had missed out a return in a function and now if there’s no value in an element it gets missed out of the xml file.
Should work properly now.
Thanks Paul I will give it a try
Google Base Feed Products v0.6.3
http://www.ecartservice.net
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Prestashop Version: 1.3.6
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I currently have approximately 1000 products loaded and have used the Google Base Feed module for about 3 months now.
Problem: The module is NOT including ‘product type’ in many/some items in the feed list.
Info: I checked the feed and I noticed that many products that have a menu title that includes a number such as ‘Cat5e Network Cable’ or perhaps ‘Cat6 UTP Network Cable’ are not included. I am not sure if the title is the issue or simply the menu structure of the categories.
What I do know as FACT is that ALL of the missing values are for products that are sub-category menu items.
See Category Menu: http://www.texasmatrix.com
Note: when you select ‘Passive Networking’ in the main category tree, there are then sub-categories such as ‘Cat5e Patch – 0.5 FT’
This type of category title seems to be the only type affected. To be clear, any category title or sub-category title that includes a number is NOT included in my feed as ‘Product Type’.
Any suggestions?
Hello;
I tried Googlebase v0.7.2 with my prestashop 1.4.1
It creates an en_try_googlebase.xml file.
But when i upload it to google merchant, although it says Your data is good,
it gives “XML formatting error – Error” like:
“Error parsing/validating XML feed
Our system encountered an error when processing your XML data feed. Please see the following Help Center topics for more information:
XML tag mismatch
Invalid RSS/Atom document format”
I live in Turkey, Turkish Lira is used as currency. Can it be a problem?
Or can it be the “target country” ? As Turkey is not in the options, i have chosen United States. Should i chose a country from europe? Or is there a way to create an option as Turkey?
Not sure if “Unique Product Identifier” is important here to match with target country but i have chosen EAN13.
Thanks for your help.
I opened the xml file with notepad++.
I guess Turkish charcters are the main problem.
Although i choose Turkish or English, it doesnt change. It writes weird
characters instead of Turkish characters.
Like “Ãȥrç” instead of character “ç”
I guess this is the root cause of the problem.
I am trying to solve the problem by “Find and replace” for now.
Do you have any idea?
Thanks
You may find the following useful:
Countries where Google Shopping is available
To select “English” you would need to ensure that all your products have valid English translations, otherwise it will just use the entries you have for your default language.
Thank you for your help.
So it means:
1-As my country is not listen here, i cant use google merchant.
2-If my language is not english, i have to replace the wrong characters in xml one by one. Myself.
is it true?
thanks
Yes, and change the currency to match the country specified in merchant center (USD). To be honest though I don’t think it’s worth using this at all at the moment, as it’s unlikely that your listings will get you much exposure. I’m working on further enhancements (such as shipping information) which may allow you to list your products in another (appropriate) country successfully. You need to target the SERPS displayed in your country (if Product Searches appear at all in your localised Google searches).