Data tip: Location values
January 31st, 2006 | Published in Google Merchant
by Steven De La O, Google Base Operations
One formatting issue we've often come across when processing bulk uploads is the presence of invalid "location" values. Our bulk upload specifications mention that a valid location value is formatted as follows:
Street, city, state, postal code, and country
We understand complete addresses are not always available or applicable for certain items, so we accept partial addresses as well. So how can you find out if your location values will be accepted? Here's a tip you can use to check your values:
Before you submit your bulk upload file, try entering a few of your location values at http://local.google.com/. Your location is considered valid if it returns a hit on the Google Local map. If you don't get a hit, try modifying your location according to the suggestions Google Local makes. If you still can't get a hit, read the information in this Google Local help article.
We also use Google Local resources to help determine if location values in a file are valid. If your address works there, it should work in Google Base as well.