Policies and restrictions
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This page describes policies that you must comply with to participate in the
vehicle listings program. Be aware that these policies can be updated at any
time.
Overview
When Google evaluates your feed, we exclude individual vehicles that don't
include any of the required fields listed in the Feed specification
or that
violate the policies on this page. Additionally, we might exclude entire
dealerships that violate the policies below, or if the inventory is incomplete
when we compare it to the dealership's website.
Dealership policies
Vehicle policies
- Only include vehicles with a valid Vehicle Identification Number
:
- Vehicle parts, accessories, tires, and services are not supported.
- Vehicle auctions and auction pricing are not supported.
- Vehicles available for rent, lease or subscription are not supported.
- Examples of supported vehicle types: passenger cars and trucks, RV, ATV,
motorcycles, trailers.
- Only include vehicle inventory for sale directly from the dealership.
Vehicles from private sellers, individuals, or auto brokers are not
permitted.
- If a vehicle isn't located at the dealership, mark the vehicle as
IN_TRANSIT
or SHIP_TO_STORE
. See vehicle_fulfillment
.
Image policies
For the best viewing experience on both large and small screens, we require high
quality images that show the vehicle for sale with minimal background. Only
provide images that you're permitted to share for use by Google.
Image Specifications
Image quality issues
The following types of images will be excluded:
- Images with inappropriate or sensitive visuals.
- Images that can't be crawled by Google.
While images may not be excluded for the reasons below, we've heard from users
that they do not contribute to a good user experience and could negatively
impact your vehicle listings performance. We recommend avoiding these types of
images for best results. Google may utilize technical solutions, like the ones
described in Automatic image improvements
,
to modify these images to be more consistent with our guidelines.
- Images that don't have stable URLs.
- Images that have watermarks or overlays.
- Placeholder images which don't show the vehicle available for sale.
- Stock images, especially those which don't show the correct vehicle exterior (for example, color, model, etc.)
Please refer to this documentation
about how to fix image issues.
Vehicles without images might be ranked lower on Google. For this reason, although vehicle images aren't required, we strongly recommend uploading high quality images for every vehicle.
Price policies
We want to show the lowest possible price that is publicly available to all
consumers. Any discount shown needs to apply to all consumers. For instance,
don't include veterans discounts.
If you would like to show only MSRP prices for a new vehicle, put the MSRP price
in both the price
and vehicle_msrp
fields.
We exclude vehicles with prices that fall outside of the range of prices that we
expect, based on similar vehicles that are available for sale.
Mileage policy
We exclude any new vehicle with more than 20,000 miles.
Business Profile Products
We hide the Business Profile Products
when showing vehicle
listings on Business Profiles.
Can we enable both vehicle listings and Products on our Business Profile?
Our users found it confusing to see two similar modules next to each other.
Additionally, vehicle listings consistently have significantly higher
interaction rate compared to Products, so we believe it provides users with the
best experience when searching for vehicles.
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License
. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies
. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2024-10-09 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2024-10-09 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThis page outlines the policies dealerships must adhere to for participating in Google's vehicle listings program, including requirements for dealership verification, vehicle data, images, and pricing.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eDealerships must have a verified Google Business Profile with the 'vehicle_dealer' Place type and be located in a supported country to be eligible for the program.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eVehicles listed must have a valid VIN, be for sale directly by the dealership, and accurately reflect their location and condition (e.g., IN_TRANSIT, SHIP_TO_STORE).\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eImages should be high-quality, accurately represent the vehicle, and adhere to specified format, size, and content guidelines to ensure a positive user experience.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003ePricing should reflect the lowest publicly available price, and new vehicles with over 20,000 miles are excluded from the program.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Dealerships must have a verified Google Business Profile with the `vehicle_dealer` place type in a supported country (currently U.S. and territories). Only valid vehicles for sale directly from the dealership are allowed, excluding rentals, auctions, and private sellers. Vehicles must have a valid VIN. High-quality images are strongly recommended, with specified formats, dimensions, and no watermarks. Pricing should be publicly available to all consumers, and new vehicles cannot exceed 20,000 miles.\n"],null,["# Policies and restrictions\n\nThis page describes policies that you must comply with to participate in the\nvehicle listings program. Be aware that these policies can be updated at any\ntime.\n\nOverview\n--------\n\nWhen Google evaluates your feed, we exclude individual vehicles that don't\ninclude any of the required fields listed in the\n[Feed specification](/vehicle-listings/reference/feed-specification) or that\nviolate the policies on this page. Additionally, we might exclude entire\ndealerships that violate the policies below, or if the inventory is incomplete\nwhen we compare it to the dealership's website.\n\nDealership policies\n-------------------\n\n- The dealership must have a claimed and verified Business Profile on Google. See [How to verify your business on Google](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7107242).\n- The Business Profile must have the Place type [`vehicle_dealer`](/maps/documentation/places/web-service/supported_types). See [How to choose a category for your Business Profile](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7249669/choose-a-business-category-computer).\n- The dealership must be based in a country where the vehicle listings program is supported, which is currently limited to the U.S. \\& U.S. territories.\n\nVehicle policies\n----------------\n\n- Only include vehicles with a valid [Vehicle Identification Number](/vehicle-listings/reference/feed-specification#vin):\n - Vehicle parts, accessories, tires, and services are not supported.\n - Vehicle auctions and auction pricing are not supported.\n - Vehicles available for rent, lease or subscription are not supported.\n - Examples of supported vehicle types: passenger cars and trucks, RV, ATV, motorcycles, trailers.\n- Only include vehicle inventory for sale directly from the dealership. Vehicles from private sellers, individuals, or auto brokers are not permitted.\n- If a vehicle isn't located at the dealership, mark the vehicle as `IN_TRANSIT` or `SHIP_TO_STORE`. See [vehicle_fulfillment](/vehicle-listings/reference/feed-specification#vehicle_fulfillment).\n\nImage policies\n--------------\n\nFor the best viewing experience on both large and small screens, we require high\nquality images that show the vehicle for sale with minimal background. Only\nprovide images that you're permitted to share for use by Google.\n\n### Image Specifications\n\n| Attribute | Requirement |\n|--------------------------|---------------------------------------------|\n| File Formats | JPEG (`.jpg` or `.jpeg`) or PNG (`.png`) |\n| Minimum Dimensions | 256 x 256 pixels (recommended is 800 x 600) |\n| Maximum image size | 64 megapixels |\n| Maximum file size | 16 MB |\n| Recommended aspect ratio | 4:3 |\n\n### Image quality issues\n\nThe following types of images will be excluded:\n\n- Images with inappropriate or sensitive visuals.\n- Images that can't be crawled by Google.\n\nWhile images may not be excluded for the reasons below, we've heard from users\nthat they do not contribute to a good user experience and could negatively\nimpact your vehicle listings performance. We recommend avoiding these types of\nimages for best results. Google may utilize technical solutions, like the ones\ndescribed in [Automatic image improvements](/vehicle-listings/integration-process/image-improvements),\nto modify these images to be more consistent with our guidelines.\n\n- Images that don't have stable URLs.\n- Images that have watermarks or overlays.\n- Placeholder images which don't show the vehicle available for sale.\n- Stock images, especially those which don't show the correct vehicle exterior (for example, color, model, etc.)\n\nPlease refer to this [documentation](/vehicle-listings/support/how-to-fix#how_to_fix_invalid_image)\nabout how to fix image issues.\n\nVehicles without images might be ranked lower on Google. For this reason, although vehicle images aren't required, we strongly recommend uploading high quality images for every vehicle.\n\nPrice policies\n--------------\n\nWe want to show the lowest possible price that is publicly available to all\nconsumers. Any discount shown needs to apply to all consumers. For instance,\ndon't include veterans discounts.\n\nIf you would like to show only MSRP prices for a new vehicle, put the MSRP price\nin both the `price` and `vehicle_msrp` fields.\n\nWe exclude vehicles with prices that fall outside of the range of prices that we\nexpect, based on similar vehicles that are available for sale.\n\nMileage policy\n--------------\n\nWe exclude any new vehicle with more than 20,000 miles.\n\nBusiness Profile Products\n-------------------------\n\nWe hide the [Business Profile Products](https://support.google.com/business/answer/9124203) when showing vehicle\nlistings on Business Profiles.\n\n### Can we enable both vehicle listings and Products on our Business Profile?\n\nOur users found it confusing to see two similar modules next to each other.\nAdditionally, vehicle listings consistently have significantly higher\ninteraction rate compared to Products, so we believe it provides users with the\nbest experience when searching for vehicles."]]
