Manage your products

The Products sub-API lets you programmatically manage your product inventory in Google Merchant Center. You can create, retrieve, update, and delete products, giving you the flexibility to integrate your systems directly with Google.

A key concept in Merchant API is the distinction between the data you submit and the final product that Google uses. This separation provides a clearer model of the product data lifecycle and gives you more precise control over your product information. The API reflects this with two main resources:

  • ProductInput: This represents the raw product data you submit to a specific data source. Think of this as the row you upload in a feed file or the data you submit with an API call before any Merchant Center processing happens. You use this resource for all write operations (insert, patch, delete).

  • Product: This is a read-only resource that represents the final, processed product as it appears in Merchant Center and on Google surfaces. It is built from one primary ProductInput and zero or more supplemental ProductInput resources after all feed rules and processing have been applied. This resource includes the product's final status and any data quality issues. You use this resource for all read operations (get, list).

The format and requirements for all product attributes submitted using the ProductInput resource are defined in the Product data specification.

What you can do with the Products sub-API

The Products sub-API lets you to perform the following key tasks. Explore the guides for detailed instructions and code samples for each use case.

  • Add and manage products: Learn how to add new products to your account, provide supplemental data for existing ones, and delete products you no longer sell.
  • Make frequent updates to your products: Discover how to make efficient, partial updates to product attributes that change often, such as price and availability.
  • List your products data and product issues: Find out how to retrieve your processed products, check their approval status for different destinations, and identify any data quality issues that may be affecting their visibility.

Before you begin

Before using the Products sub-API, you must create at least one API data source in your Merchant Center account. The Products sub-API can only insert or update products in data sources of type API. For instructions, see the Manage API data sources for product uploads guide.