availability tells Google whether the product can be bought now: in_stock, out_of_stock, preorder or backorder (build_to_order exists for vehicle ads only), spelt as Google’s specification spells them. It is required, it must match the availability on the landing page and at checkout, and a value such as “available”, “yes” or a translated word is reported as “Invalid value [availability]”.
| Attribute | availability |
|---|---|
| Requirement | Required for each product. |
| Format |
|
Accepted values
in_stock | Can be bought and shipped now. |
out_of_stock | Not accepting orders, or not available for purchase. |
preorder | Not released yet; pair with availability_date. |
backorder | Temporarily out, but orderable; pair with availability_date. |
Google’s rules for availability
- Match the availability on your landing page and checkout pages.
- Update the feed when stock changes; a stale value becomes a page-crawl mismatch.
- Do not submit translations, yes/no, quantities or store vocabulary.
Common mistakes, and the error each one becomes
- “available”, “yes”, a stock count or a translated word. → Invalid value [availability]
- The field left out entirely. → Missing value [availability]
- A feed built yesterday for a product that sold out today. → Mismatched value (page crawl) [availability]
Where the value comes from on a connected store
| Shopify | Derived from the variant’s inventory quantity and its continue-selling setting, updated on every inventory change. |
|---|---|
| WooCommerce | Mapped from the variation’s stock status (in stock, out of stock, on backorder) at the moment the feed is fetched. |
The free feed check reads this attribute from any feed file and reports the defects above; every check is listed. For one value at a time: Translate a stock word into each channel’s value.
Questions merchants ask
Is “in stock” with a space accepted?
Google’s specification lists in_stock, with the underscore. Meta and Microsoft document the spaced form. Use the underscore form for Google and let each channel have the spelling it documents.
What if I have more stock states than four?
Map them: low stock is in_stock; sold out is out_of_stock; coming soon with a date is preorder; orderable but not in stock is backorder, with an availability_date. Remove a product you no longer sell from the feed.
Does out_of_stock remove the product?
Google’s availability page says not to use out_of_stock to stop a product showing: the pause attribute does that for up to 14 days, and the product data specification names excluded_destination for longer. Google asks for discontinued products to be removed from the product data. out_of_stock is for a product you are not accepting orders for.
Do the other channels use these same four words?
Not quite. Meta lists two values: in stock and out of stock. Microsoft lists three: in stock, out of stock and preorder. TikTok publishes five: in stock, available for order, preorder, out of stock and discontinued. Pinterest publishes three: in stock, out of stock and preorder. Send each channel the spelling its own specification lists.
Sources
- Availability [availability] — Google Merchant Center Help
- Product data specification — Google Merchant Center Help
- TikTok: Catalog Product Parameters
- Pinterest: Get started with retail catalogs
- Meta: Product data specifications for catalogs in Commerce Manager
- Microsoft Advertising: What Google feed file attributes can I use?