Product type is an optional attribute in your product feed, sent as product_type, where you describe how an item fits into your own categories. It is usually written as a path, such as “Home > Kitchen > Cookware > Frying Pans”. Unlike Google’s fixed list of categories, you write it yourself, so it can mirror your shop’s navigation or the way you think about your range.
How product type works
Product type sits alongside Google product category, but they do different jobs. Google’s category comes from a taxonomy Google maintains, and Google usually assigns it automatically. Product type is free text that you control, split into levels with the “>” character. For a bike shop, “Bikes > Electric > Folding” and “Accessories > Lights > Rear” both work, because each level narrows the one before it.
It is used in two ways. First, Google reads it as extra context about what the item is, which can help it match products to relevant searches. Second, it gives you a way to divide products inside campaigns. In Standard Shopping and in Performance Max listing groups, you can subdivide products by product type one level at a time, then bid differently or report separately on each branch.
You can send more than one product type for an item, but the first value is the one used to organise listing groups, so put the most useful path first.
Why it matters
A sensible product type structure is often the difference between a Shopping account you can manage and one you cannot. Without it, a retailer with 4,000 products is stuck grouping items by brand or by Google’s broad categories, which rarely match how the business thinks about its stock. With it, a garden centre can separate “Plants > Perennials” from “Furniture > Rattan Sets”, see which earns money and move budget towards the profitable lines.
It also lasts. Custom labels suit temporary groupings such as best sellers, margin bands or clearance stock, and there are only five of them. Product type describes what an item is, so it rarely needs changing once it is right.
Common mistakes
- Leaving it blank because it is optional, which leaves campaigns with no meaningful way to split products.
- Copying Google’s category into product type, which adds nothing new.
- Inconsistent paths, such as “Women > Dresses” on some items and “Dresses > Womens” on others, which break listing groups into fragments.
- Going so deep that each branch holds three products and never gathers enough data to judge.
- Using it for promotions or margin bands, which belong in custom labels.
How to act on it
Export your product IDs with any product types they already have. Draft a structure of three or four levels that matches how customers browse and how you would want to read a report, then apply it consistently across the catalogue. A quick test: show the top-level types to a colleague who knows the stock but not the feed. If they can predict which branch any product belongs in, the structure is clear enough to manage. Most shop platforms can output collection or category paths automatically; if yours cannot, a supplemental feed can add product type without touching the website.
Once it is in place, rebuild the listing groups so the first split is by product type, and check that every product lands in the group you intended. Feed structure is one of the first things I review when I take on ongoing Google Ads management for an online shop.