Google Merchant Listings Add Sale Duration and Product Category

Google updated its merchant listing structured data to support sale duration and product category properties, aiming to align structured data within Google Search with Google Merchant Center feed support. The company added a new section on "Sale duration" to the Merchant listing structured data help document. This section explains how to use the schema.org properties validFrom, validThrough, and priceValidUntil to set the effective range for sale prices, including best practices and examples for placement on Offer or PriceSpecification nodes. Google stated this addition aligns schema.org usage with the Merchant Center feed attribute sale_price_effective_date, providing clear instructions for merchants using structured data.

In addition to sale duration, Google also updated its documentation to include support for the Product.category property. The company detailed how this property can be used with both Text and CategoryCode types. This update aligns with the Google Merchant Center feed specifications for the product_type and google_product_category attributes. Google indicated this enhancement will help merchants provide both merchant-defined and Google-defined category information within their schema.org markup, thereby improving product information for Google Search and Shopping.

These updates are significant for entities maintaining merchant listing structured data for Google. Enhanced product category support can improve Google's understanding of products, potentially leading to more relevant query matching. Furthermore, the sale duration support allows merchants to plan their product sales more effectively and efficiently when updating their structured data, ensuring accurate representation of sale periods.