How to display Sendlane Reviews on Google Shopping product listings

Overview

Google Shopping product listings are a great place to display the reviews you’ve worked hard to collect from your customers. After applying for the Google Product Ratings program, you can generate a dynamic feed of your approved reviews within Sendlane and connect them to the Google Shopping tab of Google search results! Read on to learn how.

In This Guide

• Google Shopping Review Requirements

1. Apply For a Google Merchant Center Account
2. Set Up a Reviews XML URL
3. Install XML URL in Google Merchant Center

What are Google product ratings?

From Google:

The Product Ratings program allows you to display aggregated reviews for your products to customers shopping on Google. Product Ratings are shown in ads and free product listings, appearing as 1 to 5-star ratings that also display the total number of reviews for the product.

These ratings and reviews help with product research and purchase decisions. This can drive more qualified customers to your product pages.

Star ratings represent the aggregated rating for the product, compiled from multiple sources. These sources include merchants, review aggregators, review sites, and Google users.

Read more about the product ratings program here.

Google Shopping Review Requirements

Google maintains strict requirements for participation in its Product Ratings program. Read the entire policy document carefully, and make special note of the following requirements:

• Review volume: Your store must have at least 50 product reviews. Your application will be rejected if your store has fewer than 50 product reviews. Set up an Automation to request reviews from your purchasers if you haven’t already!
• Review sync frequency: Google requires you to provide them with at least monthly updates of your review feed, which is an XML URL similar to an RSS feed. When you add your XML URL to your Google Merchant Center, you’ll select a frequency for the XML URL to refresh. We recommend selecting a refresh rate of daily to keep your reviews as up to date as possible.
• Review content: Google reserves the right to “remove reviews or block entire fields that violate these policies.” You must actively moderate your reviews and select the appropriate reason when rejecting reviews. Reviews without content (e.g., reviews with a rating only) are not accepted by Google and will not be displayed or included in average star rating calculations.

1

 Apply For a Google Merchant Center Account

1. Apply for a new account or log in with an existing account to the Google Merchant Center
2. Apply for Google’s Product Reviews program using Google’s Product Ratings Interest Form
   1. For “Do you work with an approved third-party reviews aggregator?”, select No

Because Sendlane is still in the process of joining the Google Product Ratings program, after you submit your application, you will receive an email from Google saying:

Your aggregator, 'Sendlane', isn’t part of the Product Ratings program yet, so they won’t be able to submit a direct feed for you. Instead, you’ll need to send a direct product ratings feed to Google Merchant Center. Please let us know if you would like to send a direct Product Ratings feed by replying to this email.

Reply to the email from Google and say you will submit a direct product ratings feed to your Google Merchant Center.

Applications can take a few days to be processed. If your application is approved, Google will send a follow-up email, and a Product Reviews tab will appear in your Google Merchant Center account:

2

 Set Up a Reviews XML URL

The XML URL you generate in Sendlane will tell Google which reviews to display. Only reviews that have been approved, manually or automatically, will appear in your XML feed and be added to the Google shopping tab.

To generate an XML URL:

1. Click the Reviews icon
2. Click Google Shopping
3. Select options to include or exclude Global Trade Number (GTN) and Manufacturing Part Number (MPN; uses your Shopify SKUs) data from your XML URL. Use Google’s guidance to determine which options work best for your store.
4. If you modify either of the GTN or MPN options, click Save Changes
5. Click the copy icon to copy the XML URL

3

 Install XML URL in Google Merchant Center

Once Google approves your application and you’ve generated your XML URL, you’re ready to install your XML URL in your Google Merchant Center and start displaying product reviews on the Google Shopping tab!

To install your XML URL:

1. Log into Google Merchant Center
2. Click Product Reviews
3. Select the following options for your reviews feed:
   1. Feed type: Product Reviews
   2. Primary feed name: Sendlane Reviews (ensure that the file name you submit to Merchant Center if submitting via SFTP, FTP, or Google Cloud Storage is also Sendlane Reviews)
   3. Choose how to set up your feed and connect your data to Merchant Center: Scheduled fetch
4. Click Continue
5. Copy the XML URL from the Google Shopping tab of the Reviews page
6. Set Fetch frequency to Daily
7. Leave other options set as the default selections
8. Paste your XML URL in the File URL field
9. Click Create feed

Clicking Create feed submits your feed information to Google for final approval, which can take a few days. If your feed is approved, you’ll receive an email from Google, and your feed’s status should be live. You can search for your products on the Google Shopping tab to see your reviews!

If you receive a confirmation email, but your feed is not live, or if your feed is not approved and you want further information, contact Google.

Troubleshooting

How do I set up Google Shopping reviews if I use Shopify’s Google Shopping app?

Please contact Sendlane’s 24/7 product support team or your assigned Customer Success Manager for assistance with Shopify’s Google Shopping app.