Use the availability [availability] attribute to tell users and Google whether you have a product in stock.
In this article
When to use
Required for all products.The values in your feed should always match the information on your website.
These are the supported values that you can choose from:
- In stock
[in_stock]- You’re accepting orders for this product and can fulfill the purchase request. You’re certain that the product will ship or be in-transit to the customer in a timely manner because it's available for sale. You can deliver the product to all of the locations that you support in your product data and shipping.
- Out of stock
[out_of_stock]- You’re not accepting orders for this product, or the product isn't available for purchase.
- Preorder
[preorder]- You’re accepting orders for this product, but it’s not been released for sale. You're required to provide the availability date
[availability_date]attribute to indicate the day that the product becomes available for delivery.The availability date should be visible on the landing page.
- You’re accepting orders for this product, but it’s not been released for sale. You're required to provide the availability date
- Backorder
[backorder]- The product isn't available at the moment, but you’re accepting orders and it will be shipped when it's available again. You're required to provide the availability date
[availability_date]attribute to indicate the day when it will be shipped.The availability date should be visible on the landing page.
- The product isn't available at the moment, but you’re accepting orders and it will be shipped when it's available again. You're required to provide the availability date
[preorder] value should only be used for new products that haven’t been released yet. Existing products that are out of stock and will be back in stock at a later date that you’re accepting orders for should use backorder [backorder].Format
Follow these formatting guidelines to make sure Google understands the data that you submit.
Learn When and how to submit your product data in English.
| Supported values |
|
|---|---|
| Repeated field | No |
| Schema.org property (What's this?) |
How to map to Merchant Center values:
|
| File format | Example value |
|---|---|
| Text feeds |
|
| XML feeds | <g:availability>in_stock</g:availability> |
To format your data for Content API, go to the Content API for Shopping resource.
Minimum requirements
These are the requirements you need to meet to show your product. If you don't follow these requirements, we disapprove your product and let you know in your Merchant Center account.
- Indicate the product availability on your landing page. Learn more about Requirements for landing pages.
- Match your product availability with your account shipping.
- Ship the product to all of the locations that you support in your product data and shipping. This way, the availability that users see matches what you submit.
- Match the availability listed in your product data with the availability listed on your landing page and checkout pages. When users come to your website, they expect to find the same availability on your landing page and during checkout that's provided in your product data. One common availability mismatch is that your shipping settings don’t reflect your delivery locations accurately.
- Make sure the product can be shipped, not just picked up in store. In-store pickup is not currently supported with the exception of Argentina and Chile.
- If there are fixed regions or zip codes within a country where you don’t sell or ship any products, you may be able to exclude this region or zipcode in your shipping settings. If you do this, ensure all shipping services have the same configuration to exclude this region.
- Show a consistent availability across the landing page, structured data (if available), checkout page, and your data source. The availability of all of your products needs to match across all three. A mismatch in one of these will trigger a product disapproval.
- If your products are not available within the entire target country, make sure your offers are set up as “out of stock” for the regions that the products are not available in. Check to see whether regional availability and pricing is available in your target country. Make sure your offers are set up as “out of stock” for those regions the products are not available.
- If there are specific zip codes within a region where you don’t sell or ship any products, ensure you’re setting up regional availability and pricing.
- Provide the most up-to-date data. Availability and prices of your products can change frequently. Learn more About maintaining high-quality product data.
-
Provide the availability date
[availability_date]attribute if you submit[preorder]or[backorder]as the availability value.This information should be visible on your landing page.
Best practices
These best practices can help you go beyond the basic requirements to optimize your product data for performance.
- When your product is temporarily unavailable in the target country and you’re not accepting orders for it, set the availability
[availability]attribute toout_of_stock. If we find that a product is out of stock on your landing page or during checkout, but the availability attribute is set toin_stockin your product data, we disapprove the product. - Don't set the availability attribute to
out_of_stockwhen you take down your website for maintenance or a holiday. Use the excluded destination[excluded_destination]attribute instead. By following this best practice, you prevent unnecessary disapprovals in your account and get your products running again more quickly than if they'd been disapproved. - Don’t use
out_of_stockwhen you don't want your product to show. If the product is available for sale but you want to stop your product showing on certain or all destinations, use the excluded destination[excluded_destination]or pause[pause]out_of_stockin your product data, we disapprove the product. - Temporarily pause your product. If you want to stop your product from showing in ads or free listings for up to 14 days, with the option to reactivate quickly, use the pause
[pause]attribute. - Don't set the availability attribute to
out_of_stockfor products that you're no longer selling. Remove any discontinued products from your product data. - Consider using automatic item updates to help you avoid availability mismatches. Automatic item updates is a feature that uses your landing page status to automatically update your product data, which prevents disapprovals.
- Product variant availability in the data source should match the availability on the landing page. The availability of a product variant (for example,a shoe in size 8) in your data source should match the availability of the same product variant on its landing page.
Examples
Product is available for sale
Product data for an Android Squishable available for sale Attribute Value Availability [availability]in_stockThe landing page for this product should display an "in stock" status.
Product inventory ran out
Product data for an Android Squishable that is out of stock Attribute Value Availability [availability]out_of_stockThe landing page for this product should display an "out of stock" status.
Product inventory on backorder
Product data for an Android Squishable that is on backorder Attribute Value Availability [availability]backorderAvailability date [availability_date]2021-05-24T13:00-0800The landing page for this product should display an "on backorder" status. The availability date information should be displayed on the landing page.
Product inventory on preorder
Product data for an Android Squishable that is on preorder
Attribute
Value
Availability
[availability]preorderAvailability date
[availability_date]2021-05-24T13:00-0800The landing page for this product should display an "available for preorder" status. The availability date information should be displayed on the landing page.
Temporarily stop a product from showing on Google
If you want to temporarily stop displaying a product in certain locations on Google, but you still have the product marked as being in stock on your landing page, you can use the excluded destination
[excluded_destination]attribute. This attribute allows you to control where your product is shown.To stop your product from showing in ads for up to 14 days, with the option to reactivate quickly, use the pause
[pause]attribute.Product data for an Android Squishable that is in stock and shown as in stock on the landing page
Attribute Value Availability [availability]in_stockExcluded destination [excluded_destination]Shopping_ads*Shown in Shopping ads? No Shown in free listings? Yes Product data for an Android Squishable that is in stock and shown as in stock on the landing page
Attribute Value Availability [availability]in_stockExcluded destination [excluded_destination]Free_listingsShown in Shopping ads? Yes Shown in free listings? No Product data for an Android Squishable that is in stock but paused for 14 days or less from showing in ads Attribute Value Availability [availability]in_stockPause [pause]ads*Note: Exclude all destinations that you don’t want to use. Learn more About the
excluded_destinationproduct data attribute.If your product comes in multiple colors or sizes, you might have different availability for each of these variants.The availability of a product variant (for example, a shoe in size 8) in your data source should match the availability of the same product variant on its landing page.
Example:
Product data for a small green Google T-shirt priced at $10.99 USD Attribute Value Title
[title]Google T-Shirt - Green - Small Price
[price]10.99 USD Availability
[availability]in_stockColor
[color]Green Size
[size]S ID
[id]9876-S-GRN Item group ID
[item_group_id]9876 Product data for a small blue Google T-shirt priced at $10.99 USD Attribute Value Title
[title]Google T-Shirt - Blue - Small Price
[price]10.99 USD Availability
[availability]in_stockColor
[color]Blue Size
[size]S ID
[id]9876-S-BLU Item group ID
[item_group_id]9876 Product data for a small yellow Google T-shirt priced at $10.99 USD Attribute Value Title
[title]Google T-Shirt - Yellow - Small Price
[price]10.99 USD Availability
[availability]out_of_stockColor
[color]Yellow Size
[size]S ID
[id]9876-S-YELLOW Item group ID
[item_group_id]9876