SingleFeed Blog

As you probably know, SingleFeed fully supports Google Base Custom Attributes. Now it’s time to get merchants to really start using them.

Google Base has 7 types of custom attributes. Here are examples taken from Base Upload Instructions:

String Type: Any Text String

Example: c:favorite_movie:string

Example Value: Total Recall

Integer Type: Whole Number Value

Example: c:revenue:integer

Example Value: 32000000

Decimal Type: Number with a decimal point.

Example: c:engine_displacement:decimal

Example Value: 3.5

dateTime Type: Date and time, in ISO 8601 format: YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss. (Times are based on the 24-hour clock.) You can also create a range of dates by including a start and end date, each in this format, and separating them with a forward slash.

Example: c:birth_time:dateTime

Example Value: 1979-10-12T03:44:26

Example: c:dates_employed:dateTime

Example Value: 2004-03-20T09:00:00/2006-03-10T17:00:00

Location Type: Location value. Addresses should be formatted as: street, city, state, postal code, country. Each location element should be separated by a comma.

Example: c:interview_location:location

Example Value: 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA, 94043, USA

URL Type: HTTP URL.

Example: c:favorite_data_feed_management_company:url

Example Value: http://www.singlefeed.com

Boolean Type: Value may be either yes/no or true/false.

Example: c:promo_offer:Boolean

Example Value: true

Real world examples include:

c:drum_lift_type:string

Example Values: hoist, hydraulic, mechanical

Uses: This could be used for a forklift retailer

c:cutting_depth:decimal

Example Values: 2.5, 2.75, 3

Uses: This could be used for a power saw retailer

c:caliber:decimal

Example Values: .177, .22

Uses: This could be used for an air rifle retailer

c:serving_size:integer

Example Values: 4, 6, 10

Uses: This could be used for a cappuccino machine retailer

c:adjustable_shoulder_straps:Boolean

Example Values: True, False

Uses: This could be used for a lingerie retailer

c:customer_feedback:url

Example Values: http://www.aesecurity.com/cufe.html

Uses: Does your site have a feedback page? How about a shipping information page

c:customers_also_bought:url

Example Values: [insert url]

Uses: Upselling similar products, complimentary products, and more.

So how do you create your own custom attributes?

As you can see from the examples, there are three parts to the custom attribute:

The c: tells Google Base that the attribute is a custom attribute (that’s an educated guess).

The part in between the colons (:) is the attribute name.

The final part is the kind of attribute (string, integer, decimal, dateTime, location, URL, boolean).

Please note that attributes with two words are separated by an underscore ( _ ).

Once you enter these Google Base Custom attributes as headings in your feed, just fill in the corresponding field value in your feed for your product listings. You can leave a field blank if a product should not have a custom attribute associated with it.

As you can see from the examples above, these attributes are not hard to use and with a lot of knowledge about a product and just a bit of creativity, you can come up with a number of custom attributes.

Here are other examples to get you started:

c:hypo_allergenic:boolean (data in the feed can be true or false)

c:down:Boolean (data in the feed can be true or false)

c:thread_count:integer (data in the feed can be 200, 400, 600, etc.)

c:made_in:string (data in the feed can be USA, China, Egypt)

c:bed_size:string (data in the feed can be twin, double, queen, king)

I’m not a ‘beds or sheets’ expert, but I was able to come up with 5 custom attributes fairly easily. Why not start out by adding 2-3 custom attributes and take it from there. Eventually, Google Base will pick up on these attributes and make them into recommended (although not required) fields as they’ve done so for 22 categories. For example, if you sell computers, they recommend adding the following attributes:

battery_life

capacity

color

height

length

model_number

mpn

operating_system

optical_drive

processor_speed

recommended_usage

screen_size

tech_spec_link

upc

weight

width

These optional attributes aren’t custom attributes, so you don’t have to put a c:[insert_header]:[insert attribute type]. However, I’d still recommend taking the time to brainstorm additional attributes. My IBM (it wasn’t Lenovo when it was purchased) T43 could have the following custom attributes:

c:IBM_Active_Protection:Boolean

c:Fingerprint_Reader:Boolean

c:Touchpad:Boolean

c:Trackpoint:Boolean

Please note that you don’t have to turn SingleFeed’s current attributes into custom attributes. If you’re already submitting MPN, for example, SingleFeed is processing it as a custom attribute (since Google Base doesn’t accept MPN as a regular attribute).

Now it’s time to get started. If you come up with really good custom attributes or want to share attributes with others, submit them as comments here. If you have any Google Base Custom Attributes active, you’ll see the link on the Active Products page indicate active.

We’ll soon have a page up and running which will discuss Google Base in depth so stay tuned.