Item group ID [item_group_id]

Use the item group ID [item_group_id] attribute to group product variants in your product data. Variants are a group of similar products that only differ from one another by product details such as color and size for apparel or memory sizes, display sizes, processors, and graphics options for electronics.

When you use an item group ID [item_group_id] to group your products, you can ensure that your product and its variants are shown to customers as a group, instead of separately.

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On this page

• When to use
• Format
• Minimum requirements
• Best practices
• Examples

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When to use

Required for free listingsfor product variants

Required for Shopping adsfor product variants targeting the following countries:

• Brazil
• France
• Germany
• Japan
• United Kingdom
• United States

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Format

Follow these formatting guidelines to make sure Google understands the data you're submitting.

Learn when and how to submit your product data in English

Type	Unicode characters (Recommended: ASCII only): alphanumeric, underscores, and dashes
Limits	1–50 characters
Repeated field	No
Schema.org property ( What’s this? )	Product.inProductGroupWithID , Type: Text ProductGroup.productGroupId , Type: Text

File format	Example value
Text data sources	AB12345
XML data sources	<g:item_group_id>AB12345</g:item_group_id>
API data sources	To format your data for Merchant API, see the Merchant API resource.

Minimum requirements

These are the requirements you'll need to meet to show your product. If you don't follow these requirements, we'll disapprove your product and let you know in the Diagnostics page in your Merchant Center account.

• Submit a unique ID for each different product.Use the same value for the item group ID [item_group_id] attribute for all variants of the same product. For example, a T-shirt comes in 9 variants: 3 sizes (small, medium, large) and 3 colors (red, blue, green). Submit each variant as a separate product (for a total of 9 separate products), and submit the same value for the item group ID attribute for each to indicate that these are variants of the same product.
• Align grouping with your landing page experience: If your website allows customers to select between multiple variants on a single landing page (for example, a T-shirt available in different sizes or colors), make sure all those versions are submitted with the same item group ID [item_group_id] . This ensures that the grouping of your product accurately reflects the shopping experience on your site.
• Each distinct item group must have a unique valuefor the item group ID [item_group_id] attribute.
  • Don’t rely on casing to make the item group ID unique. The values "abc123" and "ABC123" are interpreted as the same product.
  • Don’t reuse or recycle the same item group ID attribute for different products.
• Specify the item group title [item_group_title] attribute together with the item group ID [item_group_id] attribute to define a unique name for your product group. Make sure the item group title [item_group_title] is the same for all variants with the same item group ID [item_group_id] .
• Specify the variant option [variant_option] attribute in combination with the item group title [item_group_title] and item group ID [item_group_id] attributesto define all variant-identifying properties of the variants of the same product. For example, a t-shirt with different sizes and colors, or a laptop with different memory sizes, display sizes, processors, and graphics options.
• Use all standard variants: Specify the standard color [color] , pattern [pattern] , material [material] , age group [age_group] , gender [gender] and size [size] attributes in addition to variant option [variant_option] even when these are part of the set of variant-identifying properties.

• Make sure that the product details displayed on your landing page match the variant-identifying values you provide for the variantlike title [title] , variant option [variant_option] , color [color] , price [price] , availability [availability] , and image link [image_link] . Learn more about requirements for landing pages

Best practices

These best practices can help you go beyond the basic requirements to optimize your product data for performance.

• Use the parent SKU as the item group ID value for all variants of the same product.Don't submit a parent SKU as a separate product. If you'd like to group variants using a parent SKU, use the parent SKU as the value for the item group ID [item_group_id] attribute for all products in the variant group.

• Don’t mix up item group ID and ID attributes.Use the ID attribute to uniquely identify a single product, and use item group ID [item_group_id] to group together several products as variants.

• Don’t submit a value for the item group ID attribute if your product is not a variant.If your product is similar to other products, but not specifically a variant, don’t t submit the item group ID attribute. Some examples of products that are not variants include a suit consisting of a jacket and pants or a set of bath accessories.

• Use a stable item group ID value for each group of product variants.Once you've assigned an item group ID to a product, don't change it. If the item group ID changes often, it could cause inconsistency in the way variants are grouped and shown to customers.
• Make sure to have different landing page URLssubmitted for each variant, with each URL using a different path segment and/or query parameters, for example "/t-shirt/green" or "/t-shirt?color=green&size=small" or "/t-shirt/preselect=8901491"
• For instructions on how to best structure your website and URLs for variants, refer to the URL structure article on Search Central.
• For details on how to add Schema.org structured data for variants, refer to the Product variant article on Search Central.

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Examples

General examples

Apparel products

Shoes

Electronics Furniture Makeup