Two different jobs
Google product category is Google's own taxonomy. Google assigns a category to every product automatically from your titles, descriptions, brand and GTIN. You only need to set it to correct Google in specific cases.
Product type is your own categorization, usually your store's navigation. Google uses it to understand what you sell, and you can use it to split products in Shopping campaigns and Performance Max listing groups.
When to set Google product category
- Google put the product in a category with extra required attributes, such as apparel, that don't apply to it.
- Your campaigns are split by Google product category and a product landed in the wrong one.
- Alcoholic drinks, which must be categorized correctly.
- Submit either the numeric ID or the full path from Google's list, not both.
How to write product type
- Go from broad to specific with " > " between levels, for example Home > Women > Dresses > Maxi Dresses.
- Use the same structure across the catalog so products group cleanly.
- You can submit up to five values, but only the first is used to organize bidding and reporting in Shopping campaigns.
- Up to 750 characters.
Why it matters for campaigns
A clear product type lets you separate best sellers, new lines and low-margin ranges in listing groups without relying on custom labels for everything. Clean titles and descriptions also help Google assign the right category in the first place.
How UltraROAS.ai does this for you
UltraROAS.ai checks every product for a missing or shallow product type and a missing or overly broad Google product category, and writes better values from your own product data through its supplemental source.