The attribute (certification) in Google Merchant Center, is a "new" attribute created by Google in 2023 and of a mandatory nature for all those products belonging to the vertical of household appliances, air conditioning, televisions, lamps and similar.
Its purpose is to describe the energy certifications associated with a product according to the requirements of the new European regulation on product labeling and its implementation is necessary to appear in both organic and paid search results on Google.
The new attribute [certification] replaces the previous energy efficiency attribute [energy_efficiency_class]. which indicated to customers the classification of a product in a given energy efficiency range.
It was used in conjunction with the minimum energy efficiency level [min_energy_efficiency_class] and maximum energy efficiency level [max_energy_efficiency_class] attributes. At Geotelecomwe explain it to you.
How do I know if I need to include the (certification) attribute in my product feed?
In the diagnostics panel of your Merchant Center account you will probably see several warnings warning you about this. Some of them will refer to outdated energy efficiency attributes (which are the attributes above). Others will indicate that a potentially mandatory [certification] attribute is missing.
If we click on the examples or download them, Google will tell us exactly for which references in our catalog it will be necessary to include the [certification] attribute.
What is the deadline I have to implement this new attribute in my data feed?
Google initially urged vendors to have this new attribute in the data feeds of affected verticals by September 1, 2024. It has now put in place an "extension" to give vendors more time to catch up and make the necessary implementations. Until 2025, it is not anticipated that Google will be able to cause "rejections" on products or account suspensions for this reason.
How is the attribute (certification)?
This attribute is composed of the following sub-attributes:
- Authority [certification_authority] (required): the certification authority or certification body responsible for issuing the certification. At this time, the following values are supported:
- "EC" or "European_Commission for energy labels in the EU
- "ADEME" for the CO2 emission class of vehicles in France.
- "BMWK" for the CO2 emission class of vehicles in Germany.
- Name [certification_name] (required): the name of the certification. At this time, the following values are supported:
- "EPREL", which represents energy efficiency certifications in the European Product Register for Energy Labeling (EPREL) database.
- "Vehicle_CO2_Class" for the general CO2 class of a vehicle.
- "Vehicle_CO2_Class_Discharged_Battery" for the CO2 class of a vehicle with a discharged battery.
- Code [certification_code] (mandatory in some cases): this is a numerical code associated with the certification and is unique for each product. It is mandatory for all products affected by the regulation except for vehicles. The complexity of the new attribute lies in obtaining this code, since manufacturers do not provide it by default. (See the following section: How to obtain the EPREL code of my product).
- certification_value] (mandatory in some cases): the value of the certification. Only required for vehicles. In particular, the appropriate CO2 emission class value is required when advertising vehicles in some countries.
How to obtain the EPREL code of my product?
As we have already mentioned, manufacturers will generally not provide us with the EPREL code value necessary for energy labeling products, we must obtain them on our own. There are two main ways to do this:
- By scanning the QR code on the energy label of the product in question.
- Searching the EPREL Database. https://eprel.ec.europa.eu/screen/home. On this website we must search for our specific product by filtering by fields such as brand, model...
Once we have located our product, we must go to the product details page. Once there, at the top of the page URL, the number at the bottom is the EPREL code we are looking for. We can also find it halfway down the page next to the product breadcrumbs.
It is important to mention that there may be products that do NOT appear in EPRE's database.L and therefore you will not be able to get the code. In our opinion this is the main reason why Google has granted an extension for the implementation of the standard. In case you do not have EPREL code, you can continue to use the old [energy_efficiency_class] attribute, until Google finally repeals it.
How to send the new [certification] attribute to Google?
In text feeds:
To format the attribute header, you must indicate the sub-attributes that you want to send. First include the certification [certification]. Then, in parentheses, add the names of the sub-attributes to be sent separated by a colon (:). Do not use quotation marks and remember that the authority [certification_authority] and name [certification_name] sub-attributes are always mandatory.
Example:
For EPREL: certification(certification_authority:certification_name:certification_code)EC:EPREL:123456
For XML feeds:
EC.
EPREL.
123456.
ImportantOnce the new [certification] attribute has been implemented, in order for Google to detect it, it is necessary to delete the values of the old energy efficiency level attributes. Otherwise, Google will not read it because it considers it redundant and the following warning message will appear in Merchant Center:
As you can see, this is a long, tedious and very manual process that is not viable for large product catalogs. In these cases, the most appropriate solution is to use an automated solution through a feeds like Lighthousefeed.
Using LighthousefeedThe tool creates these new fields in the data feed, and fills them automatically as long as the product in question is in the EPREL database.
It seems that the year 2024 is still coming loaded with changes in the Google universe, most of which are having a strong impact on sellers who advertise on the search engine. The good news is that for the moment they seem to be giving leeway and flexibility to adapt to the new environment. However, it is best not to be complacent and get up to speed as soon as possible with all these new developments.
If you need help optimizing your feed and manage your campaigns in Google Ads optimally, don't hesitate, Geotelecom is on your side!
