A Tilda store sends products to Google Shopping as a file, not through a separate Merchant Center button. In Catalog Settings on Tilda → Additional you select “Enable .csv file generation for Facebook Catalog”. The same help page says this feed can also be used for the Google Merchant catalog. You add the link in Merchant Center. If the file is not processed, because Merchant Center lists txt, xml, and tsv and csv is not among them, move the export into Google Sheets and save it as tsv, or fill in the Sheets template.
Before you build a feed, the site must already sell that product: the page is published, price and availability match checkout, and returns and a way to get in touch are visible. The site checklist before a campaign is in the piece on a Tilda site for Google Ads. The suspension rules name the site and the product data. The name of the website builder is not in those rules.
Can a Tilda store work with Google Shopping
It can, if the products live in the catalog. You turn the catalog on in Site Settings, under Built-in services. Personal holds up to 5,000 products, Business up to 50,000, and both hold up to 1,000 categories. The free plan has no catalog: after you switch to it, products stay for 30 days and are then deleted.
Products in a page block do not enter the catalog on their own. You copy them from the block. Until the category block is published, the product is not on the site, and its link will not work for Merchant Center.
You need linked Merchant Center and Google Ads accounts. Shopping ad policies are different from Google Ads policies. Send product data at least every 30 days, and the products on the ad’s landing page must be in the linked feed. An affiliate link is not allowed, except a comparison shopping service in a country that has that program.
How to get a product feed from Tilda
The three-dot button in the catalog opens export and import. One import file can be up to 50 MB.
In Catalog Settings on Tilda → Additional, select “Enable .csv file generation for Facebook Catalog” and copy the link. Tilda’s import and export help says this feed can also be used for the Google Merchant catalog. In the category’s additional settings, enter the numeric Google category ID. The feed then gets a google_product_category column. If some products are missing, check whether the photos are uploaded and whether the description or the extra text is filled in.
The columns in the catalog export include brand, SKU, title, description, text, photo, price, quantity, category, and link. There is no gtin, condition, or availability column. A blank quantity on the card means stock with no limit, not a Google status.
Merchant Center accepts txt, xml, and tsv up to 4 GB. Do not upload an xlsx spreadsheet directly: save it as tsv, txt, or xml. Html and pdf are not processed. Open the export in Google Sheets, add the columns, and download a tsv: File, then Download, then Tab-Separated Values (.tsv). Or in Merchant Center choose Use Google Sheets, then Use template. The sheet must follow the template, and it syncs every 24 hours. How the file is built is covered in the piece on the product feed.
A linked file is fetched every 24 hours. The address must point at the file itself and start with http://, https://, or sftp://. A web page will not do. Googlebot and AdsBot-Google must be able to reach the file. A file uploaded from your computer does not update itself. A schedule works for a file at a link, and you set it after your edits.
Required Merchant Center fields and where they are on the product card
Attribute names and allowed values are written in English. The title and description use the same language as the page. The list is in the product data specification. A product with a missing required attribute is not shown.
| Attribute | Where on the Tilda card | Typical error |
|---|---|---|
| id, up to 50 characters | SKU or external code. Keep the same value on every update. | A new code creates a different product. |
| title, up to 150 characters | Title. It matches the page. | A slogan, all capitals, or a different name on the page. |
| description, up to 5,000 characters | Short description or the longer text. | Empty, a link to the store, or a promotional line. |
| link | Link to the published page. The domain is verified. The address uses http or https. | The category block is not published. |
| image_link | Photo by a direct link. JPEG, WebP, PNG, non-animated GIF, BMP, or TIFF. | No photo, or the image has text, a border, or a watermark. |
| price | Price is not zero, except a phone on a contract and a physical product on subscription. In the US and Canada, do not include sales tax. Elsewhere, include VAT or GST. ISO 4217 code, decimal point. | The checkout total is higher, or the currency changes. |
| availability | The card has no field for this. In the file: in_stock, out_of_stock, preorder, backorder. | A number instead of a status. The product is already gone on the site. |
| brand, up to 70 characters | Brand in the specifications. Required for a new product, except films, books, and music. If there is no brand, leave it empty. | The word “none” or an invented name. |
Add a product identifier only when it is real, with no spaces or hyphens, and no more than 14 digits. An invented number is rejected. If identifier_exists is missing, Google treats it as yes. Use no only when the product truly has no brand, identifier, and manufacturer code. The manufacturer code, up to 70 characters, must be real and is used only when there is no identifier. Used and refurbished products need condition: used or refurbished.
Variants in feeds aimed at the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, and Brazil, and free listings of any variant, need item_group_id of up to 50 characters. Tilda’s parent code does not become this field by itself. A Google category is optional for most products. From January 31, 2027, the image must be at least 500 by 500 pixels.
Shipping, return, and contact pages
In Shipping and returns you set the time, the cost, and the countries: the cutoff for same-day handling, handling business days, and transit business days. The cost is to the customer, not to your office. A shipping cost on the product replaces the account cost and turns off the account times, even when the file has no days.
Shipping cost is required, under some conditions, for a long list of countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, and Poland. You still set the cost on the account. In the United States and Canada, sales tax stays out of the price. If currency conversion is off, the currency of the country of sale stays the same from the product page through checkout.
The return page opens without a login: what the customer does, in which cases you take the item back and refund the money, the time window, and when the refund arrives. If you do not accept returns, say so in plain words. The site text and the account text match. Google does not process the refund. Path: Products & store, Shipping and returns, Return policies, Add return policy, Save. Status: Verified, Pending, or Rejected.
Put a contact where people can see it: a form, a profile, an email, or a phone number. If the account was stopped because of the site, the name, phone, and addresses must match Merchant Center. You need working links for shipping, returns, and privacy, checkout on https, and a path from cart to payment. A guest can check out without registering. If an account is required, it is free and needs no app download. The price does not rise at checkout. Availability and language match across the file, the page, the cart, and the contact page.
Step by step: from the feed to the first Shopping campaign
The Merchant Center account is covered in the piece on Google Merchant Center setup. What follows is only the path from the catalog to the data the ads use.
- Turn on the catalog, fill in the cards, and publish the category block.
- Two paths. For the scheduled Tilda csv link, send missing attributes, including availability, in a supplemental data source with the same id or with data source rules. Or export into Google Sheets: add the columns and save a tsv, or use the Sheets template.
- Open Products & store → Products → Add products → Add products from a file. Paste a direct link or upload the file, then select Continue.
- Set the target country and the language of the data. The business country you chose when you created the account cannot be changed later. One email address creates one account.
- Set the schedule after your edits. By default the file is fetched every 24 hours, and the size limit is 4 GB.
- Watch the status and the Needs attention tab. If a field is missing from the Tilda link, add it in a supplemental data source with the same id or with data source rules. Turn that source on with the Advanced data source management add-on. It does not add new products. In the tsv, add the missing field in the file. In the Sheets template, add the columns in the sheet.
- Add the return policy and the shipping rules as they are written on the site.
- Link Merchant Center to Google Ads. Refresh the data at least every 30 days, and sign in at least once every 14 months.
Typical product disapprovals
A file is not processed without the txt, xml, or tsv format, or without id, title, price, availability, or link. A product is disapproved when the checkout price is higher than the file, availability does not match the page, the identifier is invented, the brand says “none”, or the photo carries promotional text.
The misrepresentation rules hit the whole account: false contacts, a hidden company address or ship-from location, an unclear price, or a refusal of returns that contradicts the site. For a serious violation, the account is suspended at once. For an unavailable offer, the warning comes at least 7 days before suspension. How this shows in the account is in the piece on misrepresentation. A review request after you fix the products or the account usually takes 3-7 business days.
When this does not apply
This path does not work without the catalog turned on, and it does not work on the free plan: there is no feed, and after 30 days the products are deleted. It does not work if the products stay in a page block. It does not work for an affiliate link, a store with no path from cart to payment, or a site that hides where the company is and where the goods ship from.
Questions and answers
Will Merchant Center accept a csv file from Tilda?
Tilda says the csv feed can be used for the Google Merchant catalog. Merchant Center names txt, xml, and tsv. If the link is not processed, build a tsv or the Sheets template and add the product identifier and the availability status.
What if the product has no gtin (global trade item number)?
Do not invent the number. A new product, except films, books, and music, needs a brand, and if there is no brand you leave the field empty. Set identifier_exists to no only when the identifiers are truly absent.
Is shipping cost required in the file for the US and the UK?
The United States and the United Kingdom are on the list of countries where shipping cost is required for Shopping ads and free listings. The list is longer. You can set the cost on the account, and a value on the product replaces it. In the United States and Canada, keep sales tax out of the price.
The store site is already built, and ads on it come next. The step-by-step version of how I launch the first campaigns for a site like this is in my book on Google Ads for business owners.
My e-book “19 Google Ads Secrets”: how to get the most out of Google Ads without draining your budget, drawn from real campaigns and tests.
See the book →