Screen: ShopSite > Merchandising > Google > Froogle/Google Base > Configure

Configure Google Product Search/Google Base


Note:
Google Base is the name of the new tool for submitting product information to Google Product Search (formerly called Froogle) and to Google's main web search. Throughout ShopSite, the terms Froogle and Google Base are used interchangably when discussing the product information submission process.

In order to send product information directly from ShopSite to Google Base, you must do the following:

  1. Sign Up for Google Base
  2. To use the API, Create a Google Base API Key
  3. To use FTP, Register your FTP Upload File
  4. Configure ShopSite to use Google Base
  5. Select the Products to Submit to Google Base

Sign Up to use Google Base

Before you can submit your product information, you need to create a Google Base account:

  1. Go to the Google Base Sign in Page.
  2. All Google tools, including Google Base, use the same account for access.
  3. The first time you sign in to Google Base, you will be required to accept the Google Base Terms of Service. Read through the terms and click the I accept the Google Base Terms of Service. Continue >> button if you agree to the terms. You must agree to the Terms of Service in order to use Google Base.
  4. After accepting the Terms of Service, you will be taken to a screen where you can post an individual item. You have finished creating your Google Base account at this time.

You can select either the API or FTP to submit a feed. If you have a large number of products (a few hundred), or if you frequently encounter problems submitting a feed using the Google Base API, you should use FTP to submit your feed.

Create a Google Base API Key

Once you have a Google Base account, if you want to use the Google Base API, you need to create a Google Base API Key:

  1. If you are not still signed in to Google Base, go to the Google Base Sign in page and sign in.
  2. Go to the Google Base API Key Sign Up screen.
  3. Read through and agree to the Google Base API Terms of Use. You must agree to the terms in order to create an API key.
  4. Check the box indicating you have read and agree to the terms and conditions.
  5. Select the radio button for a Web applications on the domain:
  6. Enter the domain name of your store in the text field.

    Note:
    You must enter the correct domain name when creating your API key. In order to avoid any mistakes, you may want to log in to your ShopSite back office in another browser window, go to Merchandising > Google > Froogle > Configure, and copy and paste the domain name displayed in the Domain URL to use for Google API Key row.
  7. Click on the Sign Me Up button to generate your Google Base API Key.
  8. Your new Google Base API Key will be displayed in a box near the top of the screen, with the domain name the key works for displayed in a box below it. Copy and paste the entire key (including anything that scrolls past the edge of the window) into a text file on your local computer. Make sure to save the file in a location you will be able to find later.

Register your FTP Upload File

To submit your feed to Google Base using FTP (instead of the API), you will need to register your FTP Upload file with Google Base:

  1. If you are not still signed in to Google Base, go to the Google Base Sign in page and sign in.
  2. Click the link to Register a new bulk upload file.
  3. On the Specify a bulk upload file screen, enter froogle-bulk.xml in the File name field, then select Products from the Item type pull-down menu.
  4. Click Register bulk upload file and continue to formatting instructions.
  5. ShopSite will create a properly formatted upload file for you, but you may want to read through the formatting instructions for ideas on what sort of attributes you may want to send. When you are ready, scroll to the end of the page and click I'm done formatting my file. Continue to upload..
  6. Click the link on the right side of the screen to Sign Up for FTP uploading.
  7. Enter an FTP username and password in the appropriate fields. You will enter the username and password into your ShopSite configuration screen, but you may want to use information you can remember. Click Create FTP account to continue.

Configure ShopSite to use Google Base

Once you have a Google Base API Key or FTP account, you can configure how ShopSite submits product information to Google Base. Configure the following options on your store's back office Google Base Configuration screen:

Submittal method
Select whether to use FTP or the Google Base API to submit your feed. If you have more than a few hundred products or if you are encountering errors submitting via the API, you should use the FTP method.
FTP User Name
If you are using FTP to submit the feed, enter the FTP user name you configured when you Registered your FTP file.
FTP Password
If you are using FTP to submit the feed, enter the FTP password you configured when you Registered your FTP file.
File Name to use for FTP registration
This is the file name to enter when registering an FTP bulk upload file.
Google API Key
If you are using the API, paste your Google Base API Key into this field. See Create a Google Base API Key if you have not already created your key.
Domain URL to use for Google API Key
This is the domain name you should enter in to the text box when you create your API key (see Create a Google Base API Key step 6 above)

Expiration
Items Expire
Select how often you want the Google Base listings of your products to expire. Expired items will not be searchable until you re-submit them.
Reminder
ShopSite can send you an e-mail reminder that your products are about to expire on Google Base. Select Yes to have ShopSite send you a reminder. If you do not want an e-mail reminder, select No.
To
Enter the e-mail address you want the reminder sent to. By default, this is the merchant e-mail address (from your store Preferences > Hosting Service screen).
Subject
Enter the subject to be used for your reminder e-mail.
Message
Enter the message to be used in your reminder e-mail.

Indicate which ShopSite field maps to the corresponding Froogle field

Select what ShopSite product fields will be mapped to the Google Base information fields.
Title
Select whether to send the Product name or the SKU as the Title of the product on Google Base.
Description
Select whether to send the Product Description, the More Info Page Text, or the More Info Meta:Description for Google Base to use as the product description.
Price
Select what price you want to send as the list price on Google Base. Select Regular to send the regular product Price. If you select On Sale/Lowest, ShopSite will also look at the Sale Price and Quantity Pricing and send the lowest price to Google Base.
Image
Select whether to send the URL of the Product Image or the More Info Page Image to Google Base.
Quantity
Select the radio button to indicate how to send inventory information to Google Base.
  • Select the Do not Specify radio button if you do not want a quantity sent.
  • Select the Use Inventory: Quantity On Hand radio button to send your current Quantity On Hand.
  • Select the Enter Amount radio button, then enter a number in the text box to send that number as the inventory quantity for all your products.
Weight Select what weight information to send to Google Base:
  • Select Do Not Specify if you do not want a weight sent.
  • Select Use Product Weight to send the produt's weight.
Product URL (Landing Page)
Select where Google Base should send people who find your product.
  • A page the product is assigned to will send people to a page the product appears on.
  • More Info Page will send people to the product More Information Page.
  • Search Destination will send people to the same location they would get sent to from a store Search Results page.
Product Type (category)
Google Base uses the Product Type to create categories for your products. By default, ShopSite will send the product's Froogle/Google (Product Type) value. You may alternately select to have ShopSite send the Page Name of a page the product appears on, or one of the Customizeable Product Fields.

Indicate any Attributes That Are To Be Included

Google Base allows you to assign additional descriptive attributes to your products. When you add or edit a product, there are Google Base fields for the Brand, Product Type, and Condition. You can use the Customizeable Product Fields to add any additional attributes.
Attributes
Check the boxes for the product fields you want to be included as attributes for your product. The customizeable field name will be used as the attribute name, and the field itself will be used as the attribute information.

After making changes to your configuration, click on Save to save your settings or Cancel to abandon your changes.

Select the Products to Submit to Google Base

Before you can Send your Product Information to Google Base, you need to select which products you want to include in your feed. By default, new products are selected to be included in the feed, so you only need to change the setting for products you don't want to submit.

  1. Go to your Back Office Products screen.
  2. Click on List All Products or Search for the products you want to list on Google Base.
  3. Select the products you want listed on Google Base from the list of products and click on Power Edit
  4. Scroll down the Information list and select Google Base. Check the radio button to set a Global value, then click on Proceed.
  5. Check the box to Include in data feed, then click Save Changes.

The Google Base checkbox can also be edited when you Add Products or Edit Product Info.

Once you have selected what products to send to Google Base, you can go to the Froogle/Google Base screen in your Back Office and Submit your Product Information to Google Base.

ShopSite Help and Resource Center
Last updated: October 1, 2008
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