Resolved - Google Base/Product Feed issue

Prebeat · June 20, 2015

I am having a real hard time getting the Google product feed approved. So far out of over 4,000 products only 2 are active. Amongst other errors this is one of the main ones...

Product identifiers provided but 'identifier_exists' set to false.

Anyone got any ideas ?

Dirty Butter · June 20, 2015

Identifier_exists as false is a field I need, because we sell used toys that often do not have tags any more. The error message says you DO have UPC or other product identification. Do the 2 "active" ones actually have an identifier you failed to fill in? If so, fix those two. Then you could take the identifier_exists column off your feed entirely.

See http://www.datafeedwatch.com/blog/new-in-google-shopping-identifier-exists/

To take the field off, goto the hooks folder in the Google_Base directory in Modules, admin.product.import.format.php. It really should be set to not use that field at all IF 2 other identifiers exist (normally one of those is Brand). So if that's what you need, someone else will have to provide a code fix.

Prebeat · June 20, 2015

Thank you for the reply - a little over my head, but something for me to investigate. Indentifier Exists is showing as NO for both products active and not active.

As an example here is what it says is provided for one product :

Id

4099

price

£18.49

availability

In stock

product type

Music > Musical Accessories > Stands & Supports > Drum Stands

google product category

Arts & Entertainment > Hobbies & Creative Arts > Musical Instrument & Orchestra Accessories > Music Stand Accessories > Music Stand Bags

description

This high quality digital drum stand features tripod legs, secure height adjustment with locking pin and tilt/angle adjustment, so you can enjoy a comfortable and totally customised fit. Suitable for most digital drum controllers.

condition

new

ean	5021196705253

brand

New Jersey Sound Corp

identifier exists

No

Dirty Butter · June 20, 2015

It wouldn't be NO even if you didn't have the brand and ean. It would be False. Can you do a Find/replace on your feed in a spreadsheet and take the No off all of them.Then add back on just those 2 that should say "false" without quotes?

(This is a temporary fix, just to get your products listed, until knowledgeable help arrives)

Dirty Butter · June 20, 2015

Do you have access to the CubeCart files, either by ftp or cpanel?

In the admin/sources/products.export.inc.php about line 83 I have:

   $result['store_category'] = $GLOBALS['seo']->getDirectory($result['cat_id'], false, ' > ');
   $result['shopping_com_category'] = $GLOBALS['seo']->getDirectory($result['cat_id'], false, ' -> ');
   if (isset($result['mpn']) && empty($result['mpn']) && isset($result['gtin']) && empty($result['gtin'])) {
    $result['identifier_exists'] = 'FALSE';
   } else {
    $result['identifier_exists'] = 'TRUE';
   }

That should mean any product WITH either mpn or gtin should show as TRUE. There is evidently an assumption being made that brand is also given (not always true for me).

Dirty Butter · June 20, 2015

Just a thought - are you using the Google_Base plugin from the Extension Marketplace, or the included CubeCart export feed?

Prebeat · June 20, 2015

Thank you for your replies. Yes I have access via ftp and Cpanel.

I'm using the plugin from the extension marketplace.

Edited June 20, 2015 by Prebeat

Dirty Butter · June 20, 2015

My suggestion here isn't going to work.

See comment below:

Since you are filling in ean and the code seems to check only for gtin and mpn, please try making a backup copy of the products.export.inc.php file. Then EDIT the code from one line , replacing gtin with ean, so it looks like this:

if (isset($result['mpn']) && empty($result['mpn']) && isset($result['ean']) && empty($result['ean'])) {

~~Save the file and try another feed export, checking to see what happens in the indentifier_exists column. If it doesn't work, just delete your edited file and put the backup file back live.~~

Edited June 20, 2015 by Dirty Butter
edit doesn't look like it will work - see more recent comment

Prebeat · June 20, 2015

Thank you. I'll have a look at that when I'm back at my desk and let you know how I get on.

Dirty Butter · June 20, 2015

Did some more reading about identifiers, and found this on Google:

Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs), which include UPC (in the US), EAN (in Europe), JAN (in Japan), and ISBN

from https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/160161?hl=en

So this should be solvable if you can copy your ean codes over to the gtin column in phpMyAdmin.

Prebeat · June 21, 2015

Hello
Nipped in to the office today and have been having a look at this and comparing it to a successful feed we have on our other website (not cube cart) and it does seem that the EAN for that feed is put in to the GTIN column on each product. That must be done automatically we we only use EAN numbers there too. In fact I don't even get what a GTIN is if I am being honest.

I will keep looking and get this resolved - although I have also noticed this is just a warning and not an error so isn't what is stopping the products being listed.

Prebeat · June 21, 2015

Interestingly enough if I change that code to this then that problem is no more - but this isn't the solution I don't think. Then I had a brain waive, we use feedoptimise for our other website and the guy there knows is stuff - so he is looking at using his system to do clever things for this website too. I will get this on PPC shopping ! lol.

    $result['identifier_exists'] = 'TRUE';
   } else {
    $result['identifier_exists'] = 'TRUE';

Robsta · June 21, 2015

In fact I don't even get what a GTIN is if I am being honest.

GTIN = Global Trade Item Number

Dirty Butter · June 21, 2015

A way around it with your current setup is to do a swap in the hooks file I previously mentioned in the Google_Base module folder.

In admin.product.import.format.php

Change where this line has gtin as the header and gtin as the field

	$header_fields = array('id', 'product_type', 'google_product_category', 'link', 'title', 'description', 'image_link', 'price', 'condition', 'shipping_weight', 'upc', 'ean', 'jan', 'isbn', 'availability', 'brand', 'gtin', 'mpn', 'identifier_exists');
	$fields  = array('product_id', 'store_category', 'google_category', 'url', 'name', 'description', 'image', 'price', 'condition', 'product_weight', 'upc', 'ean', 'jan', 'isbn', 'availability', 'manufacturer', 'gtin', 'mpn', 'identifier_exists');

To this where gtin is the header, BUT ean is the field

	$header_fields = array('id', 'product_type', 'google_product_category', 'link', 'title', 'description', 'image_link', 'price', 'condition', 'shipping_weight', 'upc', 'ean', 'jan', 'isbn', 'availability', 'brand', 'gtin', 'mpn', 'identifier_exists');
	$fields  = array('product_id', 'store_category', 'google_category', 'url', 'name', 'description', 'image', 'price', 'condition', 'product_weight', 'upc', 'ean', 'jan', 'isbn', 'availability', 'manufacturer', 'ean', 'mpn', 'identifier_exists');

.So if that was just a warning, and not what is keeping your feed from working, we'll need to look back to see what the real issue is.

Prebeat · June 23, 2015

Really Really odd - overnight last night Google suddenly started approving our listings - we now have 3,000 items listed and have started taking orders today from those listings. Of course, some other glitches have now appeared - but I have almost everything crossed they are simple fixes and the masters of Cubecart will sort it out.

Thank you again Dirty Butter for your replies and help.

Dirty Butter · June 23, 2015

Glad whatever it was has been resolved. Good luck with your site!! I'll mark this as Resolved, but if you ever figure out what the actual issue was and how it was fixed, please share with everyone.

harrisorganic · February 8, 2023

Hi BD and Prebeat, some 8 years on and I have picked up this thread regarding GTIN and google merchant Base feed.

Google wants me to provide a GTIN for all my products even though I have none.

Google says "What to do"

Add your product's globally valid GTIN

This item has an internationally recognized, unique identifier. Submit a valid GTIN, and either set this value to true or remove this value.

I have In the admin/sources/products.export.inc.php about line 83:

 if (isset($result['mpn']) && empty($result['mpn']) && isset($result['gtin']) && empty($result['gtin'])) {
    $result['identifier_exists'] = 'FALSE';
   } else {
    $result['identifier_exists'] = 'TRUE';
   }

Any recommendations to remove this value, please?

robertbell · February 8, 2023

You might be able to set identifier exists = false in the feed rules on Google's end:

image.png.7a8f69b761ff68ad9d06c9a231e7e474.png

harrisorganic · February 9, 2023

to be clear, this is what I have now. In line 91 I changed True to FALSE.

if (isset($result['mpn']) && empty($result['mpn']) && isset($result['gtin']) && empty($result['gtin'])) {
    $result['identifier_exists'] = 'FALSE';
   } else {
    $result['identifier_exists'] = 'FALSE';
   }

volteq · May 23, 2023

I am also trying to submit to google product feed, and none of our products got approved. we currently have cubecart 6, and I used export catalog to generate the feed. all our products do not have GTINs. wondering if you have any recommendations as what to do?

harrisorganic · May 23, 2023

On Google Search console, do you have any listings on the Merchant listings tab?

volteq · May 27, 2023

sorry I did not see your comment until now. we are still having issues with merchant listings, we annot see any product listed. I was working on the performance issues last few days and will try to look into this issue more.

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Resolved - Google Base/Product Feed issue

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