Google merchant listings support sale duration and product category

Google has updated its merchant listing structured data to support sale duration and product category property. This is to more align the merchant listing structured data support within Google Search with Google Merchant Center feed support.

Sale duration. Google added a new section on “Sale duration” to the Merchant listing structured data help document. Google said, “this explains how to use the validFrom, validThrough, and priceValidUntil schema.org properties to set the effective range for sale prices, including best practices and examples for placement on either Offer or PriceSpecification nodes.” Google added this because it “aligns schema.org usage with the Merchant Center feed attribute sale_price_effective_date, providing clear instructions and best practices for merchants using structured data.”

Here is that new section:

Product category. Google also updated that document to include support for Product.category property.

Google wrote it has updated the Merchant listing documentation to detail how the Product.category property can be used with both Text and CategoryCode types. “This aligns with the Google Merchant Center feed specifications for the product_type and google_product_category attributes,” Google added. Google also said this is to “help merchants provide both merchant-defined and Google-defined category information within their schema.org markup, enhancing product information for Google Search and Shopping.”

Here is what was added:

Why we care. If you maintain merchant listing structured data for Google, these additions may be useful. Product category support can help Google understand more about the products you are feeding it, which may help with showing that product for more relevant queries. Google’s sale duration support can let you plan your product sales more effectively and efficiently when updating your merchant listing structured data.

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