Key Takeaways
Google Merchant Center warns against inappropriate titles.
Non-compliant titles risk penalties, resulting in limited US visibility.
Advertisers must follow Google's standards, avoiding offensive language and excessive details.
Recently, Google Merchant Center has issued a warning to advertisers regarding their product titles. Google Merchant Center allows businesses to upload information about their products to advertise them on Google's platforms.
The warning said that some product titles were "inappropriate." This means the titles did not follow Google's rules and standards. Google has specific guidelines for how product titles should be written.
If a product's title is considered inappropriate according to Google's rules, that product may get limited visibility in the United States. Limited visibility means the product advertisement will not show up as often in places like:
Google Discover (A feed of content recommended to users based on their interests)
Demand Gen ads (Ads aimed at generating interest and demand for a product or service)
Having limited visibility can negatively impact advertisers. Their products may not get seen by as many potential customers. This could lead to fewer sales and less profit for the business.
To avoid getting penalized with limited visibility, Google says advertisers need to follow certain standards when writing product titles. The standards include:
No obscene or offensive language
No strange punctuation or capitalization (Like !!!! or ALL CAPS)
Titles must be short, with no more than 10 words before a delimiter (like a dash or pipe symbol)
No excessive details like product codes, SKUs or part numbers that are not part of the actual product name
If an advertiser's titles violate these standards, Google may restrict how often those product ads show in the US until the titles are fixed.
Some advertisers think Google's warning about inappropriate titles was a mistake or bug. They believe their titles seem normal and should not have been flagged. However, Google has not responded or clarified the situation yet.
Advertisers need to carefully review all their product titles. Updating any titles that violate Google's standards is important.
Following the title rules can help ensure products maintain good visibility and are shown often in advertising spaces like Google Discover and Demand Gen ads in the US market.