This section describes the XML schema feed file including file format, naming conventions, sizes, number, and how often to generate the file.
File Formats and Extensions
Required
- The file format must be either XML or GZIP which decompresses to XML. All other file formats will not be processed.
- The file extension must be either .xml (for uncompressed XML files) or .gz (for compressed GZIP files).
Recommended
- XML and GZIP file formats are acceptable, however Google recommends publishers send uncompressed XML files.
Filenames
Recommended
- The filename should contain a timestamp showing when the file was created.
File Size
Required
- Publishers should not send Google an empty file. Google stops processing your feeds if there is empty feed file.
Recommended
- Google recommends that each XML feed file be no larger than 500M. If an XML file is compressed in GZIP format, then the original XML file should not be larger than 500M.
Number of Files
Recommended
- Group reviews into a single file, as long as the feed file size does not exceed 500M.
Feed Generation Frequency and Time Recommendation
Required
- Generate an incremental feed every day.
- Keep at least 60 days of data in the directory from which our system fetches the feed file.
Recommended
- Google fetches feeds daily at 12PM UTC and so recommends that publishers generate feeds at 10AM UTC.