What a Shopping feed destination does
A Shopping feed destination is a connection that exports your product data from your connected sources into the exact format that Google Merchant Center or Microsoft Merchant Center expects. Once the feed arrives at either platform, your products become eligible to appear in Shopping ads and free listings.
Without a properly configured destination, your product catalogue remains isolated in your own systems. A destination bridges that gap by automating the export, transformation, and delivery of your data on a schedule you control. This means you avoid manual uploads, reduce errors, and keep your merchant account in sync with your actual inventory.
The feed export pipeline: four stages
Every time you trigger an export to a shopping feed destination, the system runs through a four-stage pipeline. Understanding this flow helps you diagnose issues and know where validation happens.
Stage 1: Start
The export process begins when you manually trigger it or when a scheduled export runs at your configured time. The system identifies the destination, the source data to be exported, and any feed rules you have set up. At this point, nothing is validated yet; the pipeline is simply gathering instructions.
Stage 2: Generate
The system assembles your product data from the connected sources. It pulls fields like title, description, price, availability, GTIN, and any custom attributes you have mapped. If you have configured feed rules (for example, rules that add a margin to price, set a category override, or filter products by stock level), those rules are applied during generation. The output is a structured feed file in the format the destination expects (typically XML or CSV). At the end of this stage, you have a complete, rule-adjusted feed ready for validation.
Stage 3: Upload
Once the feed is generated, it is sent to Google Merchant Center or Microsoft Merchant Center. The destination platform receives the file and begins its own ingestion process. Your export log records the upload timestamp and any acknowledgement from the destination.
Stage 4: End
The pipeline closes, and the export is marked as complete. The system records the outcome: success, partial success (some products validated, others rejected), or failure. You can review the full export log to see what happened at each stage.
Feed validation: catching errors before rejection
Validation is the critical checkpoint that prevents your feed from being rejected by Google or Microsoft after upload. The validation step occurs between generation and upload, so you catch problems before they reach the merchant platform.
Validation checks that every product in your feed meets the field requirements and format rules of the destination. Common validation errors include:
- Missing required fields (such as GTIN for certain product categories).
- Invalid values in enumerated fields (for example, an availability value that is not one of the permitted options: 'in stock', 'out of stock', or 'preorder').
- Malformed URLs in image_link or link fields.
- Price or currency mismatches.
- Duplicate product IDs (id field).
If validation finds errors, the export log shows exactly which products failed and why. You can then adjust your source data, update your feed rules, or correct your field mappings, and trigger a new export. This iterative approach means you never send a feed you know will be rejected.
A successful export shows zero validation errors and a full product count that matches your expectation. Only then should products appear live and approved in your Merchant Center account.
Change detection and audit trail
Each time you export, the system compares the new feed against the previous one. This change detection process highlights which products are new, which have been modified, and which have been removed. The audit trail records every export, including timestamps, product counts, validation results, and the specific changes made.
Change detection serves two purposes. First, it helps you understand the impact of your data changes: if you updated prices on 50 products, the audit log confirms that 50 products changed. Second, it provides accountability: if a product disappears from your feed or a price drops unexpectedly, you can trace back through the audit trail to find when and why the change occurred.
Where to find Shopping feed destinations
Shopping feed destinations are configured in the DataHub section of your account, under Destinations. This is where you create new destinations, edit existing ones, view export logs, and trigger manual exports. The same interface applies whether you are setting up a Google Merchant Center destination or a Microsoft Merchant Center destination.
Permissions and access control
Not every team member needs the ability to create or trigger exports. Permissions are role-based:
- Editor or above: Can create new destinations, edit destination settings, trigger manual exports, and view all logs and validation results.
- Viewer: Can see the list of destinations and view export logs and validation results, but cannot create, edit, or trigger anything.
If you need to grant a team member export access, ensure they have at least the Editor role.
Setting up a destination: step-by-step
- Navigate to DataHub in your account menu.
- Select Destinations from the left sidebar.
- Click 'Create Destination' or 'Add Destination'.
- Choose the destination type: Google Merchant Center or Microsoft Merchant Center.
- Enter the destination name (for example, 'Google Shopping - UK' or 'Microsoft Shopping - US').
- Provide the merchant account ID or feed ID that corresponds to your Google or Microsoft account.
- Select the source: which product catalogue or data source should be exported to this destination.
- Map your product fields to the destination's required fields (title to title, your price field to price, and so on).
- Configure any feed rules: these might include price adjustments, category overrides, product filtering, or field transformations.
- Set the export schedule: choose whether to export manually only, or on a recurring schedule (daily, weekly, and so on).
- Save the destination.
- Trigger a test export to validate the configuration.
- Review the export log and validation results.
- Once validation passes with zero errors, the destination is ready for production use.
What success looks like
A successful shopping feed setup has three markers:
- Destination configured: The destination exists in DataHub, the source is connected, fields are mapped, and any feed rules are in place.
- Successful export with zero validation errors: You have triggered at least one export and the log shows all products passed validation. The export count matches your expected product volume.
- Products live and approved in Merchant Center: Your products appear in your Google Merchant Center or Microsoft Merchant Center account, are marked as 'approved', and are eligible for Shopping ads and free listings.
If you reach this state, your feed pipeline is working correctly. Products will continue to sync on your configured schedule, and the audit trail will track every change.
Troubleshooting and next steps
If validation fails, do not attempt to upload the feed. Instead, review the validation error report in the export log. Common fixes include:
- Adding missing GTINs to your product records.
- Correcting availability values to match the destination's allowed options.
- Fixing malformed URLs.
- Ensuring all required fields are populated.
Once you have corrected the issues, trigger another export. The change detection log will show which products you fixed and confirm the corrections.
After your destination is live, monitor the export logs regularly. If validation errors suddenly appear, it often means your source data has changed; investigate the change and correct it promptly to avoid products being disapproved in Merchant Center.
For integration with Google Ads or Microsoft Ads, see connecting-google-ads-to-vendably and connecting-microsoft-ads-to-vendably respectively. If you are running Google Shopping campaigns, you may also benefit from learning about how-css-saves-google-shopping-cpc-and-how-to-enrol.