Get your Google Product Search Feed Ready by Sept. Deadline

Just when you thought your Google feed was perfect, Google has announced even MORE changes this month that will be enforced Sept. 22, 2011. These apply to Google Product Search feeds sent to the US, UK, Australia and Germany.

Rest assured that GoDataFeed is on top of all of these changes and has already started making changes to our 'Google Product Search' template, including the 'Google Product Category', 'Product Type', and 'Availability' fields.

Google's Newest Requirements:

· 'Availability' attribute will now be required, so make sure you have one of these four values: in stock, out of stock, available for order or preorder

· 'Google Product Category' attribute will be required - that is Google's category of the item

· 'Product Type' is now a new recommended field intended for your Merchant Category. We recommend that you map this to your Merchant Category right away in your Google feed, to avoid seeing warnings in your Google Merchant Center

· Images will now be required [image_link]. Please use full size images (300x300 pixels or larger), not thumbnails or logos. Soon, you will also be able to add up to 10 Additional Image Links through [additional_image_link]

· Apparel: In order to create a better experience for product variants such as dresses or shoes that are available in multiple colors or sizes, Google will be requiring US Merchants to include [size], [color], [gender] and [age group]. If you're an Apparel Retailer, please review Google's Tips for Submitting Apparel Products

Warnings vs. Errors

To prepare Merchants for upcoming changes, Google started placing 'Warnings' on these items. Please note that 'Warnings' will change these to 'Errors' as of 9/22/2011. Keep in mind that product listings with 'Warnings' will generally still get listed, but 'Errors' will not.

We highly suggest that you check your product data and/or download the current feed file to be sure you are in compliance with these changes.

You can learn more about Google's latest round of changes to the Product Feed Specifications here (with examples).

Learn how GoDataFeed can optimize your Google Product Feed

Drive More Qualified Shoppers to Your Site
We'll help you get started with 2 free shopping feed setups

• Visit us at www.GoDataFeed.com
• View our Online Demo instantly, or
• Start your Risk-Free Trial today

3dCart Announces Version 4, Promotion for GoDatafeed Merchants

3dCart's version 4 features combined with GoDataFeed's powerful automated feed submissions will help new and existing merchants increase traffic and conversions

Ecommerce software provider, 3dCart, recently announced the launch of version 4. As the biggest rollout to date, 3dCart 4 capitalizes on the group buying trend by putting control of group deals in the hands of online businesses. The new version features tight integration with GoDatafeed.

3DCart Promotion for GoDataFeed Merchants
As part of the release, 3DCart is inviting GoDatafeed merchants to sign up for 3dcart and get two extra months of service free.

The biggest new features of 3dCart 4 include:

• Daily Deals – By featuring a “daily deal” on their sites, online stores gain the ability to drive more conversions by adding urgency, pique customer interest with exclusivity, allow partner sites to promote deals, generate more content for social media channels and more easily clear stock of outdated products.

• Group Deals – The new “Group Deals” tool gives online stores the ability to feature their own group deals without paying out to a middleman. Businesses have the ability to run their own group promotions whenever they want and control how those deals are promoted.

• Make An Offer – This feature allows customers to place a bid on items. If the bid falls within a pre-designated percentage margin, the sale is closed. If not, the administrator has the ability to accept or decline the sale. The feature is meant to appeal to comparison, bargain and haggling shoppers.

• Autoresponders – Set and forget autoresponders—preprogrammed emails that go out based on customer activity and designations—to build brand loyalty.

• Feedback – Collect more leads, generate more sales, reduce cart abandonment and keep customers happy with easy-to-implement feedback tabs.

3dCart 4 also includes new features like:
“Quick View” to preview products and buy directly from the category page
“Quick Cart” to preview products in the customer’s shopping cart without leaving the page
“Facebook Send Button” to allow customers to quickly and easily share products over Facebook
“Facebook Open Graph Meta Tags” that allows customers to “Like” your store directly from your website
“Recently Viewed Items” for customers to return to product pages they previously visited
Integration with Australia Post; warehouse location updates; and updated order sorting

More details about 3dcart 4 are available on their site at 3DCart.com