Later this month Google will roll out a change to the condition attribute for shopping ads. If you’re a retailer, your products could be disapproved if you have the incorrect attribution set.

A condition attribute tells potential shoppers about the condition of the product you are selling. Currently, there are three condition attributes:

• New
• Refurbished
• Used

New products do not require a condition to be set, while Used and Refurbished items do. 

What will this affect? All shopping accounts will be automatically opted-in to use automatic updates for condition. This critical attribute, used to refine Googles search results, will use your landing page information to help keep your data (products) more accurate and up to date. 

At the moment there is no word whether Google will start requiring the condition to be added for New items, or if the change will only affect items for which the condition has already been set.

Kirk Williams from Zato Marketing adds, “I don’t really see this as a negative thing TBH, since condition is something that should be set correctly on a PDP (product description page) anyway so if it’s not already… fix it anyway. But I always pay attention when I see the words “all accounts will be opted in!”

Why we care: Automatic updates can be a hassle for brands and marketers if they affect performance, cost, or visibility. However, this update seems to be more helpful than hurtful, and has been created to help retailers keep their product information up to date without the pain of modifying each item individually.