Short answer. description is required for each product, 1 to 5,000 characters of plain text about the product, without promotional text, consistent with the title and with the landing page. Google matches searches against it, so an empty or one-line description is a product that can only be found by its title; Google’s fix page recommends around 500 to 1,000 characters.
| Attribute | description |
|---|---|
| Requirement | Required for each product. |
| Format |
|
Google’s rules for description
- Don’t include promotional text such as price, sale price, sale dates, shipping, delivery date, other time-related information, or your company’s name.
- Keep it consistent with the other details in the data source (the title) and with your landing page.
- Describe the product: material, dimensions, fit, use, what is included.
Common mistakes, and the error each one becomes
- No description at all. → Missing value [description]
- The title copied into the description.
- A description in capitals. → Excessive capitalization
Where the value comes from on a connected store
| Shopify | The product description with HTML stripped, shared by all variants of the product. |
|---|---|
| WooCommerce | The variation’s own description when set, otherwise the product’s short description, otherwise its long description, HTML stripped. |
The free feed check reads this attribute from any feed file and reports the defects above; every check is listed.
Questions merchants ask
Is there a minimum length?
Not in the specification; Google’s help page recommends 500 to 1,000 characters. Under about 50 characters there is little for a search to match against, and the free check reports those as thin.
Does Google penalise a description that differs from the page?
Google asks for consistency with the landing page, and a description written for the feed alone is a mismatch you created. Use the page’s text.
Can I include a link in the description?
No. Promotional text and links are not what the field is for, and HTML is stripped anyway.
Sources
- Description [description] and structured description [structured_description] — Google Merchant Center Help
- How to fix: Missing product description — Google Merchant Center Help
- Product data specification — Google Merchant Center Help