Basic Feeds

  • You need to create Merchant feeds (and optionally Services feeds, though not recommended) to transmit your inventory data to Google.

  • Feeds must be in JSON or Protocol Buffer 3 format, uploaded to your Google SFTP Dropbox, and uniquely named, ideally with a timestamp.

  • Google evaluates the feeds for quality, completeness, and adherence to specifications, including required fields and matching with Google Maps locations.

  • Each merchant must have at least one action_link or one service with at least action_link defined within the feeds for successful processing.

  • Pre-evaluation of your feeds before submission is strongly recommended to ensure a smooth integration process.

 Overview

This section provides details about the feed files required to transmit inventory data to Google. The contents of your feeds define the services that you provide and the services that are available to consumers.

You need to create the following feed files and upload them to the Actions Center in both sandbox and production environments.

Feed Description Frequency
Entity Describes your merchant entity. Once every 24 hours.
Action Describes your deep links associated with your entities. Once every 24 hours.
Services (Optional) Describes services your merchants provide. Once every 24 hours.

The following diagram shows how service, restaurant, and action entities represent a single restaurant.

redirect feeds

Implement real time updates (Optional)

RTUs are primarily intended for updates that are not predictable, such as emergency closures or metadata that changes periodically (such as ETAs). If your change doesn't need to be reflected immediately, you can use batch feed ingestion instead. Real-time updates are processed within five minutes. For more information, see Real time update.