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All Questions

Administrative Questions

Will I be charged if a task fails?
Your account will be credited automatically if a task fails.
Will I be charged if the data feed is not accepted by the recipient?
No refund will be made if the recipient does not accept your product data, unless there is a technical flaw with the data format.
Will I be charged for submission when my store has not changed?
No. The system has an auto-skip feature. It cancels submissions if it is sure that your store data has not changed since the last submission, saving you submission fees. Auto-skip is enabled by default, but can also be disabled.
Are there any hidden fees?

Accounts must be prefunded and there is a minimum payment of $10.00. Other than that, there are no hidden fees, maintenance fees, minimum contracts, or cancellation fees. Setup fees are at your option.

What support do I receive?
Included in your service is troubleshooting and technical support support by email. There is also help documentation available on the website.
What if I want to cancel my service?
You can stop your submissions at any time. If you want to close your account, we will provide a full refund of any remaining credit in your account (less free trial credit).
What payment methods do you accept?
We accept all major credit card payments, eChecks, and business checks. Payments are processed online through Paypal or Google Checkout, or may be mailed in.
Acceptance Mark
How do I reset or recover a lost or forgotten password?
Please use our Password Reset page.
How do I get my confirmation code after registering my account?
The confirmation code will be automatically emailed to you upon registration. If you do not receive it, use our Resend Confirmation Code page. If that doesn't work, please re-register.
Where can I find your terms of service and policies?
Please see our Terms of Service page.
How do I submit or upload my data feed after changing settings, updating pricing, adding items, republishing, etc.?

To run a submission manually, simply go to 'My Account > Manage > Submit a Task' and click the 'Submission' button. A task status page will appear.

You do not have to stay on the page or keep your browser open for the task to complete. Go to 'Manage > View Results' to view the submission history for the feed.

How do I merge my accounts?

If you have multiple accounts with us that you would like to merge together, please contact us and provide us with the account email addresses of the account(s) you want to deactivate and account you want to keep. We will manually process your request. Feeds, alerts, and credit balances (excluding free trial credits) will be transferred, but not account credit history.

Advanced Data Feed Features

What FTP settings can be configured?
You can configure your data feed to upload to any FTP server. On the Modify Settings page, configure the FTP server, username, and password. Use the Advanced Settings page to configure the port, initial directory, and mode (port/passive).
How do I change the display URL of my products?

Product URLs in your store export may be listed as sub-domains of Yahoo. You can use the Display URL setting to convert those URLs to have your own domain name, for example, store.yahoo.com/acme can be converted www.acme.com. From the Define Fields page, click the 'Edit' link next to the Product URL field and follow the instructions. You can also use this setting to add tracking codes to your data feed.

Can I exclude or filter some products from submission?

Yes. You can set up exclusion criteria for your data feed that will automatically remove unwanted items from the submission. You can filter out products based on any field/attribute. For example, you can filter out all products with price under $1.00, or all products containing "gift certificate" in the title.

From the product list, you can review the filtered and unfiltered items before submitting. You can also filter out individual items with a single click.

How do I configure products to be excluded or included?

There are many ways to exclude/include products from your data feed.

To exclude groups of items, go to "Manage Feed > Product Exclusion Criteria". Add criteria like 'price < $1.00', 'title contains "gift certificate"', or 'department starts with "Clearance"'. Then go to the "Product List" to review the filtered and unfiltered items.

You can add a custom field to your Yahoo Store, like 'exclude-from-nextag' with values 'y' and 'n'. Add a catalog field to your feed for this custom field, and mark it disabled. Now, simply create an exclusion criteria like 'exclude-from-nextag = "y"'. This method allows you to exclude/include products directly from your Yahoo Store catalog.

To exclude individual items, find the item using "Product Search" or by sorting the "Product List". From the "View Product" page, click the Exclude/Include icons. (Click the help icon there for more information.) This method can be time-consuming if you have many products.

You can also manually remove items. Download your data feed file from the "Data Feed File" page, remove the items using a spreadsheet program, and then upload it manually. This is not recommended because you would have to repeat the manual clean-up every time you want to submit.

After making your changes, run a Submission task from "Submit a Processing Request" to update your products.

How do I exclude duplicate products from my stores?

If you have multiple Yahoo stores, you may have some items that exist in multiple stores with the same product ID. Google Base does not allow you to submit the same product more than once. The duplicate exclusion feature allows you to set a priority for each store. Products existing in multiple stores will only be submitted in the store with highest priority. This ensures that your feeds only submit each product once. To use this feature, simply assign a priority to each of your data feeds from the "Advanced Settings &rarr Duplicate Priority" page.

How do I add custom fields to a legacy Yahoo store?

Legacy Yahoo stores do not support the catalog.xml Store Export file that would contain extended product attributes. As a workaround, you can embed these attributes in your product captions or descriptions as follows:

<!--
<googleproducttype>Sporting Goods &gt; Indoor Games 
     &gt; Bowling &gt; Bowling Gloves</googleproducttype>
<pgcategory>Sporting Goods &gt; Bowling &gt; Gloves &amp; Accessories</pgcategory>
<bingcategory>Sports & Outdoors &gt; Bowling &gt; Gloves</bingcategory>
<manufacturer>Acme Golf Supply</manufacturer>
<brand>Performance Golf</brand>
<upc>0123456789</upc>
<mpn>100XYZ</mpn>
<agerange>adults</agerange>
<feature>non-slip</feature>
<department>mens</department>
<height></height>
<width></width>
<depth></depth>
<color>white</color>
<material>leather</material>
<style>golf</style>
<madein>US</madein>
<shipping>US:::0.00</shipping>
--> 

You can eliminate any tags that you do not need, and add tags that you want to include. For best results, we recommend adding a category field for each shopping engine. We can configure each feed to use the appropriate data. For the other fields like <manufacturer> and <mpn>, we can use the same data for every feed, so you do not need to make a different one for each shopping engine.

The information in the made-up HTML tags is commented out and will not be visible in your actual product pages, but you could use style sheets and display the information too. After you populate the data in your descriptions, just contact us and we can add the custom fields to extract the data. Your feed will have to be upgraded to an Advanced feed to support custom fields.

Not all the items need to have the embedded attribute values. We can define default values for those items with a value missing.

If product attributes are already in your descriptions in a consistent, standardized format, we can usually write custom fields to extract the existing attribute values.

How do I hide, disable, or suppress fields from my data feed?

Follow the instructions below to prevent a field from being written out to the data feed file.

  • Go to "Manage > Define Fields" for your feed.
  • Click "Edit" for the field you want to hide.
  • Uncheck the box labeled "Enabled" and click "Update".
  • Run another retrieval/submission task to update your products.

You can still apply exclusion criteria to disabled fields. Also, the field will still display in the product list on our site, but the data will have a line through it.

Use Case 1

The Basic data feed templates contain fields that, in certain circumstances, you may not wish to submit to the search engine. For example, you may want to suppress the following, optional attributes of the Google feed:

  • c:options:string - all the option values of your product
  • c:store_department:string - the product 'path' as defined in your Yahoo Store

The above attributes are generated and submitted as custom attributes for the purposes of keyword optimization. You may prefer to disable them if you do not want those keywords as part of your data feed, or they contain prohibited words that are causing the listings to be rejected.

Use Case 2

Suppose you have a custom field in your store such as "cpc-submit". You set it to 'Yes' when you feel the product will provide a return on investment in a CPC-based shopping engine.

In this scenario, you can add an exclusion criteria to filter products by this field, but leave the field disabled so that it is not submitted in the data feed. Now, directly from your Yahoo Store, you have fine-grained control over the products being submitted.

How do I deal with items prohibited due to shipping terms?

Google Product Search prohibits items with words like 'free shipping' anywhere in the product listing. You may see a message like, "Prohibited word in attribute: title or description" when you view the status of your data feed in your Google Merchant account. Google's content policy states, "Text relating to shipping or store policies should not be included."

To look up the items with errors, use the Manage Feed > Search by Item Number page, and follow one of the workarounds below.

  • The best way to resolve this is to remove the policy text from your product descriptions, titles, and other fields. The disadvantage of this is that all your products will need to be edited.

    If you decide to move the shipping policy text to another part of your product page, then you may have to modify your page template to display that text. You could also move the shipping policy text to an image, a custom field, or another store field.

  • If there are not that many items, you can ignore the error or filter those items out with exclusion criteria.
  • If you need a quicker solution, you can upgrade to an Advanced feed and we can customize your data feed to remove the policy text. We may charge a small programming fee to set up the filtering rules specific to your store.
Can I add tracking codes to my product URLs?

Our system allows you to customize the product URLs in the data feed so that you can track referrals or conversions from the shopping engine, or use an analytics package such as Google Analytics.

In order to do this, you simply modify the Display Url property to include your domain name, a placeholder for the product ID, and then any tracking codes.

For example, you might specify:

       your store domain      placeholder         tracking codes        
URL: http://www.store.com/atensoft_product_id.html?utm_source=googlebase

See our support topic on the Display URL Setting for more information. Here are the steps to edit the Display URL setting:

  • Go to "Manage Feed".
  • Under Settings, click "Define Fields".
  • Click "Edit" in the right hand column for the Product URL field.
Can I integrate MySQL inventory into the quantity attribute?

Some larger Yahoo Stores track their inventory status in a MySQL database, which stores the product code and inventory count for each product. For these stores, we have the capability to read that data and include it in your data feed as the 'quantity' attribute. This allows you to appropriately mark out-of-stock items in your data feed to Google. Google may disapprove a data feed that includes out of stock items without quantity set to zero.

This feature requires an Advanced data feed, and you may need to install a simple PHP script on your Yahoo Hosting site. We may charge a small setup fee to install and configure this for you. Please contact us for more information.

Benefits of Submitting to Google Product Search

How will I benefit from being listed in Google Product Search?
Google Product Search is an extension of the Google search engine that millions of people around the globe use daily to research products before they purchase. Listing your product in Google Product Search is a free way to extend the reach of your marketing efforts to millions of new customers. From Google Product Search's Information for Merchants.
Some or all of my products already appear in Google Product Search, what benefit is there from submitting directly?
Google Product Search can pick up your store if you enable store export. However, Google encourages Yahoo! store owners to submit data feeds directly, because you will have more control over what is submitted and how often it is updated.
Does submitting a feed affect my placement in the search results?
Yes and No. Submitted products appear in the "confirmed" results, which appear before the "unconfirmed" results from the general Web. Beyond this benefit, submitting a feed has no effect on placement in the search results.
How I can optimize my data feed to create more traffic to my website and boost sales?
We do not offer any search engine optimization services. However, we have organized all of our optimization suggestions on the following page: Optimizing Your Data Feed.

Bing Shopping Data Feed

What are the advantages of Bing Shopping?

Yahoo Store owners can get excited about the new Bing Shopping program by Microsoft. It is free to submit your product listings to them. Bing Shopping has gone through numerous incarnations, including Jellyfish, MSN Live ProductUpload, and Bing Cashback. It should become a major shopping venue as Microsoft aggressively promotes it.

What are the links for Bing Shopping?
How do I set up a data feed for Bing Shopping?
  1. Sign up for Bing Shopping by submitting the Bing Shopping Merchant Application Form
  2. Wait 3-5 business days for your "Onboarding Email".
  3. Log into Bing Merchant Center and configure all your company information.
  4. Log into our site and click "My Account > Add Feed".
  5. Enter your Store Name, select the Bing Shopping Template, and click "Create Feed".
  6. Continue to "Modify Settings", and enter the Objinfo and/or Catalog export URLs for your Yahoo Store.
  7. Enter the FTP Username and FTP Password from the "Onboarding Email" you received from Microsoft. Set the submission frequency to 'Daily'. Click "Update" to save the settings.
  8. Run a submission task to perform your first upload.
  9. Allow 48 hours for Bing to process the data feed (longer for the initial submission).
How do I set the Bing top-level Category?
  1. Go to "My Account > Manage Feed > Define Fields" on our site.
  2. Click "Edit" next to the BingCategory field.
  3. Enter the appropriate category from the table below into the "Default Value" box.
  4. Click "Update" to save the settings.
  5. Resubmit the feed from the "Tasks > Submit a Task" menu item.

Alternatively, you can add a custom field to your Yahoo Store catalog called "bingcategory", and fill in the appropriate top-level category there. Note, you should only enter the top-level category, and not any other sub-category information into this field.

Arts & Crafts Baby & Nursery Beauty & Fragrance
Books & Magazines Cameras & Optics Car & Garage
Clothing & Shoes Collectibles & Memorabilia Computing
Electronics Flowers Gourmet Food & Chocolate
Health & Wellness Home Furnishings Jewelry & Watches
Kitchen & Housewares Lawn & Garden Miscellaneous
Movies Music Musical Instruments
Office Products Pet Supplies Software
Sports & Outdoors Tools & Hardware Toys
Travel Vehicles Video Games

Data Feed Files

What is a data feed file?
The data feed file is simply a text file containing your product data, in a format suitable for upload to a comparison shopping engine. A data feed file may also be referred to as a product feed, data feed, bulk upload, or file.
Where is my data feed file?
Our system automatically creates and uploads your data feed file by FTP. You never have to work with spreadsheets, or download/upload manually.
Can I download my data feed file?
Yes, you can easily download the entire data feed file generated by our system. You can generate a file from your account anytime and as often as you wish. The file will be available for download for 30 days. Your latest store data will be retrieved (if necessary) before creating the file. A new file will be generated every time, even if data in your store is unchanged.
How do I download my data feed file?
  1. Go to "Manage > Download Data Feed File"
  2. Click the "Download" button

You can also view the file in your browser by opening the "File URL" in your web browser.

If the file doesn't exist, follow these instructions:

  1. Go to "Manage > Submit a Processing Request"
  2. Alternatively, "Manage > Download Data Feed File > Generate" takes you to the same place.
  3. Click the "Data Feed File" button.
  4. When the task completes, click the "Download Feed File" link.
How do I schedule my data feed file to be refreshed automatically?

The data feed file can be hosted on our server so that a shopping engine can fetch it by HTTP. A few shopping engines require this method of submitting your listings. The URL of the file can be found on the "Manage Feed > Download Data Feed File" page.

In order to have the data feed file regenerated automatically, you must enable the 'Regenerate File' update method as described below.

  • Go to "Manage Feed > Advanced Settings".
  • Set 'Update by FTP' to 'Disabled', and 'Regenerate File' to 'Enabled'.
  • Click 'Update' to save the settings.

You can enable or disable either or both of the update methods. The 'Update Frequency' setting applies to both update methods. There are no extra charges for these features.

Data Feed Optimization for Google Product Search

Do you offer search engine optimization for Google Product Search?

We offer one-on-one consulting to optimize your data feed. While we can help you optimize your feed, we do not offer content optimization services at this time. However, we have collected the best advice we can find below, and can assist you in following that advice. By simply following these tips, you can dramatically increase your ranking in Google Product Search.

What is the recommended frequency to submit my data feed?

We strongly recommend to set your Google data feed to update Daily with Auto-skip Disabled. Submissions are free, so there is no additional cost to make this change. Google recommends daily submission as a best practice that will improve your ranking. This is recommended even if your listings do not change often.

To change the setting, simply log into your Aten Software account. Go to the "Manage Feed > Modify Settings" page. Set the "Update Frequency" to "Daily", the "Auto-Skip" setting to "Disabled", and then save the settings.

What Google Merchant Center account settings will help my store?

Completely entering your settings may help your store's visibility. Log into your Google Merchant Center account and go through each section of the Setting tab. Enter as much information as you can. Direct links to the important ones are below:

How do I populate recommended or required attributes?

Google require a condition value of 'New', 'Used', or 'Refurbished' for each product. They also strongly recommend Brand and Product Type values.

You have two choices for populating these fields. One is to supply a default value that applies to all items, and the other is to supply a field name from your Yahoo Store Catalog. Go to the “Manage Feed > Define Fields” page. Click ‘Edit’ for the field, and then enter the default value and/or catalog field.

If you do not have a catalog field, then we suggest you provide default values as follows:

  • Brand Default - Enter your store name, e.g. Acme Art Supply, Foo Widgets, Bar Electronics, various, etc.
  • Condition Default - Enter 'New', 'Used', or 'Refurbished'
  • Product Type Default - Look up an appropriate category on the Product Type Attribute page
How do I configure the product_type or product type attribute?

Use the instructions below to add a default product type value for your Google Product Search feed. Setting this field is recommended by Google, and can improve your ranking.

  1. Go to the “Manage Feed > Define Fields” page.
  2. Click ‘Edit’ for the ‘product_type’ field.
  3. Look up the appropriate category on the Product Type Attribute page.
    1. Scroll down to the "Browse The Taxonomy" section.
    2. Expand categories and click on the category name. Select the most generic product type that applies to all your products.
    3. From the box just above the category list, copy the category value that appear next to the "Text:" label. Do not use the "XML:" version.
    4. You can also use the Search box to search the taxonomy.
  4. Enter the category in the "Default Value" box without double-quotes, and click the 'Update' button.
    • Note: You can enter multiple categories separated by a comma, with each category enclosed in double-quotes.
  5. Resubmit your data feed.

If you want product type to vary by item, follow these steps.

  1. Add a custom field in your Yahoo Store Catalog called 'google-product-type'. If you do not know how, follow the Yahoo instructions here.
  2. Populate the values for the field.
  3. Go to the “Manage Feed > Define Fields” page.
  4. Click ‘Edit’ for the ‘product_type’ field.
  5. Enter 'google-product-type' in the 'Catalog Field Name' setting, and click the 'Update' button.
  6. Resubmit your data feed.
What are the ways to submit custom attributes in my Google feed?

If you have more fields in your Yahoo Store catalog, you can output them to your data feed by adding Catalog Fields. You can also add Static Value fields, which will supply the same value for each product. The name of the field in the output file can be almost anything--see the Google Product Search Attribute List and Defining your Custom Attributes for details.

The values in the above field types are passed through directly without any changes. If you need special handling, consider upgrading to an ‘Advanced’ data feed. We have customizable field types that can do things such as remove HTML tags, remove boilerplate text, and re-categorize products.

How do I add custom fields to my Yahoo Store?

You can easily add custom fields to your Yahoo Store catalog in order populate item-specific values by following the link below. Please contact Yahoo Store technical support for further assistance.

After adding the custom fields, use the Yahoo links below for instructions on how populate the data using Excel or Calc.

How do I add attributes to my data feed?

These instructions describe how to add attributes such as brand, MPN, UPC, and ISBN to your data feed. This assumes that you have the appropriate field added and populated in your Yahoo Store Catalog. If that has not been completed, please refer to How do I add custom fields to my Yahoo Store?. If you have a legacy store, please refer to How do I add custom attributes to a legacy Yahoo store?.

  1. Go to "Manage Feed > Define Fields".
  2. Select 'Public | Catalog Field' in the drop-down at the bottom of the page, and click 'Add'.
  3. In the 'Name' box, enter the name of the Google attribute in lowercase. Here are some examples: brand, manufacturer, mpn, upc, isbn, ean.
  4. Leave the 'Enabled', 'Position', and 'Default Value' settings at their defaults.
  5. In the 'Catalog Field Name', enter the name of the matching custom field from your Yahoo Store Catalog in lowercase, and then click 'Add'.

After completing the above steps, run a Retrieval task from the "Manage Feed > Submit a Task" page, then go to the "Manage Feed > View Random Product" to see a sample item listing. If the listing looks good, run a Submission task to update your listings.

How can I find out what attributes I should add to my data feed?

You can use the Google Base Competitor Analysis Tool to find appropriate attributes to submit with your products. Enter keywords your customers use to find your products, and you can see the standard and custom attributes being submitted by your competitors.

Ho do I optimize my keywords for Google Product Search?

Because Google’s search algorithms are secret, there is no guaranteed way to improve your visibility and ranking in the search results. Furthermore, as the algorithms change over time, your visibility and ranking will also change over time. The following are only general techniques to improve your search engine ranking for Google Product Search.

The closer your product descriptions and titles match the keywords that people are typing into the search box, the higher the resulting listing. Keyword order and spelling are important. Matches in titles rank higher than matches in descriptions. On your site’s product pages, text size, placement, and contrast affect the importance of the keywords. (Hidden text in meta tags is generally ignored.) These guidelines are not absolute.

Be sure to read through the Google Merchant Center Editorial Guidelines.

We also highly recommend the Yahoo Store Webinars.

Will Checkout badges improve my ranking in Google Product Search?

Google Product Search is an unbiased product search engine, and therefore, usage of Google Checkout or Adwords does not affect your ranking. However, your store will be more prominently featured by having the Checkout badge next to your items. This is one avenue you may wish to investigate further. We currently do not offer any services in this regard.

How do I enable Google Checkout Badges on my product listings?

We currently do not have specific instructions on enabling Google Checkout Badges for your items submitted to Google Merchant Center. However, you may find the following links helpful.

How important is the title length?

According to Google's Product Feed Specifications, the 'title' attribute has a suggested maximum length of 70 characters. Therefore, products with long titles will not be prohibited. However, since Google results only display about 70 characters of data, and products with long titles are not as user-friendly, it stands to reason that products with longer titles may be demoted in the ranking. Furthermore, the words after 70 characters may not be considered as relevant. Some SEO experts also recommend keeping page titles under 70 chars. Therefore, our opinion is that while an appropriate title length is important, it is not strictly necessary for every product.

Note that we have no direct knowledge of Google's algorithms, so the above suggestions represent an opinion only.

Google Product Search

How long does it take for my products to be listed?

This service allows you to submit your products immediately. Google Base will process the submission within twenty-four to forty-eight hours. The steps are are listed below:

  • Submission - Our server uploads your data feed file to Google's server (via FTP file transfer)
  • Pick-up - "Data Feeds" tab shows "Processing..." and time of upload.
  • Processing complete - "Data Feeds" tab shows number of items inserted or an error message
  • Items Inactive - Items will listed in the "Inactive Items" tab as "Published... searchable soon"
  • Items Active - Items will be listed in the "Active Items" tab as "Published and searchable"
  • Statistics and Quality - Available in "Data Quality" and "Performance" tabs (always delayed one to two days)
  • Image Thumbnails - thumbnail images will appear as image not available until Google’s server fetches them
How does this service categorize my products?
This service leaves the product categories exactly as they are defined in your Yahoo! store. You can define a default category for uncategorized products. Google Product Search will map your categories onto their own categories. You can also specify a value for the product type attribute.
Will my images be submitted to Google Product Search?
Yes. The image link for each product is correctly parsed out of the XML data and submitted.
How often can I submit my feed?
You can schedule your feed to submit daily, weekly, bi-weekly, tri-weekly, monthly, or never. The submissions are executed in the early morning hours.
How are item options submitted?
Product options are automatically recognized and submitted. They are added as a custom attribute for Google Base feeds in a readable format, e.g. "Smily Face T-Shirt - Options: Size: S, M, L - Color: White, Black". More keywords in the description help your search result rankings for longer, multi-term queries. Longer queries tend to have higher conversion rates.
Is additional information for books, music, or videos submitted?
Yes, you can add the information as attributes of your data feed.
Is there support for extended information, such as availability, shipping cost, or quantity pricing?
Yes, you can add any number of attributes to your data feeds.
Is the service available for non-US stores or in alternate currencies?
No. This feature is not yet available.
Why don't product sections, products with zero price, or items marked non-orderable show up in the product list?

The following types of listings are filtered out automatically by our feed system, and will not appear in the product list.

  • Product listings with zero price or no price
  • Product listings where Orderable is 'No'
  • Section or category pages

Google, and most other shopping engines, require item listings to have a purchasable product on them with a minimum price of $0.01.

How much additional traffic (or clickthroughs, leads, sales) will my store attract if it is listed in Google?
You may or may not receive additional traffic. It depends on many factors including your product mix, pricing, Google's search algorithms, and buyer tastes. This service only manages data submission, and does not guarantee that your products will be accepted by Google, or that you will see a traffic increase. Please see the Terms of Service for details.
I run multiple Yahoo! stores, can I set up multiple feeds?
Yes, you can set up any number of Yahoo! stores from your account. For Google Product Search data feeds, you can request a multi-client account from them.
I run multiple Yahoo! stores, but some products appear in more than one store. Is this a problem?
No. Our service offers an exclusive automatic duplicate exclusion feature. You can set a priority for each store, and then products in multiple stores will only be submitted in the highest priority store. This ensures that all your products are submitted, and each is only submitted once.
What should be my data feed settings in Google Merchant Center?

When you create your data feed, select 'Products' as the type, 'googlebase' as the format, and enter a file name ending in '.txt'. The default settings will work with our system, but if you need to verify them, follow these instructions:

  1. Go to your Google Merchant Center > Data Feeds tab
  2. Click "Edit" next to the data feed file name
  3. Verify the settings below:
    • Filename: anything ending in .txt
    • Feed format: googlebase
    • File format: Autodetect
    • Encoding: Autodetect
    • Delimiter: Autodetect
    • Use quoted fields: No
    • Save any changes and resubmit from our site if necessary.
  1. Log into your Aten Software account
  2. Go to "My Account > Manage Feed > Advanced Settings".
  3. Set the the "File Enclosure" setting to "None" and click 'Update'

Disabling quoted fields is the default and recommended setting.

Note that attributes that consist of multiple sub-attributes, such as 'tax', 'shipping', and 'compatible with', do not work if enclosed in quotations. Therefore, we recommend to set this to "No".

What is the difference between Google Base, Merchant Center, and Product Search?
Google Product Search is Google's shopping search engine for end-users. Google Merchant Center is the site for merchants to upload their product listings. Google Base is the site for uploading other types of listings to Google, such as real estate and job postings.
I want to submit my feed to another product search engine, do you support it?
Yes! We now support a multitude of different shopping engines.
Is it possible to change my product descriptions before they are sent to Google Product Search?
This is not possible. Our system passes your Yahoo store product description exactly to Google Product Search, after stripping HTML tags. Google Product Search requires that the description submitted match the description displayed on your site. In order to make changes, you must edit the product descriptions or store templates of your Yahoo store.
My product listings now appear in Google Product Search, but not all of my images.
Images thumbnails are shown after the products are listed. It can take days for their system to process all your product images into thumbnails.
How can I get higher ranking in the search results?

Google has been giving higher ranking to more optimized item listings. In order to maintain and enhance ranking, merchants need to be proactive with their data feeds, and follow the Google's Best Practices for Product Search.

We offer a one-time data feed optimization service for a flat fee. We would go through and add relevant attributes to your feed, and then offer you tailored suggestions for additional improvement. In some cases, it can make a big improvement in your ranking, although this is not guaranteed. See our Data Feed Optimization page for details, or submit an optimization request.

You also have the option of optimizing the feed on your own by following our Data Feed Optimization Tips for Google Product Search.

If you have a legacy store, you can add attribute data to your product captions. Our Advanced feeds have the capability to extract that information and submit the attributes to Google. See our instructions for legacy stores for more information.

How do I get my store reviews or ratings to appear in Google Shopping?

Unfortunately, there is currently no way to control any aspect of your reviews in Google Product Search. Google does not provide any technical support for this, and they do not explain how reviews are gathered.

Changes are coming soon though. They are now accepting reviews from Bazaarvoice, and they hope to add additional partners, as well as a self-submission model. See the links below.

What price is submitted for items with a minimum purchase quantity?

Google requires the following convention, according to Requirements for the "price" attribute.

If your items are sold in bulk, you must list the total price for the minimum purchasable quantity. For example, if a user must purchase a minimum quantity of ten items, you should include the total price for ten items (the minimum purchasable quantity).

Our system always submits the lowest sale price for your item. If the minimum purchasable quantity is always one, then submitting the sale price works fine. If it is greater than one, then we can program a workaround for this with an Advanced feed if the minimum quantity is available in your catalog.

What are the requirements for Electronics, Books, and Media?

For items in the Electronics category, you must supply at least two of the following three identifiers in your data feed: UPC, Brand, and MPN. Listings of Media items (music, movies, video games) require UPC, and Books require ISBN.

If you do not supply the above attributes, your listings in those categories may be demoted or excluded from the search results. Please refer to the articles below for help on adding these fields to your data feeds.

References:

Google Product Search Setup Guide

Step 1: How to create a Google Merchant Center account
  1. Go to google.com/merchants and create a Google Merchant Center account.
  2. If you have multiple stores, request a multi-client account so you can manage them all from a single Google account.
  3. From the Settings > General tab, enter the Website URL of your store.
  4. You will need to verify and claim the Website Url. Please see our Website Url Verification Tutorial for instructions.
  5. From the Data Feeds tab, click the New Data Feed button. Use the following settings:
    • Target country: USA
    • Data feed type: googlebase
    • Data feed filename: Make up a file name ending in .txt, e.g. googlebase.txt
  6. From the FTP Settings tab, create your own FTP username and password. It may take 15 minutes before Google's FTP server recognizes a new FTP username/password.
  7. Do not set up a schedule for the data feed (or leave it paused).
Step 2: How to Enable Yahoo Store Export
  1. Log in to your Yahoo Store Manager, and click the Search Engines link.
  2. Scroll down to the Enable Store Contents Export section, and select "Enabled" (or "Enable, but do not syndicate") for both export formats. Note the URLs labeled "Download:". These end in catalog.xml and objinfo.xml (not .dtd).
  3. If your exports were disabled, then republish your store.
Step 3: Add a Data Feed for Google Product Search
  1. Click the Register link above to create an account on Aten Software.
  2. From My Account, click the Add Feed button.
  3. Enter a store name, and create a new ‘Basic’ feed using the ‘Google Product Search’ template.
  4. After the feed is created, continue on to the Modify Settings page.
  5. On this page, enter the objinfo.xml (and optional catalog.xml) URL, file name, and FTP settings you configured in the previous steps.
  6. (Optional) After saving those settings, go to "Manage > Define Fields". Review the Data Feed Optimization for Google Base page for setup tips.
Step 4: Test your Google Feed Settings
  1. Log into Aten Software and click Manage for your Google feed.
  2. Use the Test Feed Settings link to test your URLs and FTP settings. NOTE: It may take several hours before Google's FTP server recognizes a new FTP username/password.
  3. Under Submit a Processing Request, choose a Retrieval task, which is free.
  4. Go to the Product List, and review some product details to ensure that everything imported correctly.
Step 5: Submit your Google Feed
  1. Under Submit a Task, choose the Submission task.
  2. Log into Google Base and check the status of the data feed. NOTE: It may take several hours before your Google Base account shows a recent upload.
  3. There is substantial lag, up to several days, between when Google first receives your file, when they process it, and when your products become searchable in Google Product Search. There is additional lag time before image thumbnails appear.
  4. First-time submissions require approval from Google prior to the products being listed. You will receive an email from Google when the data feed is approved, usually within a few business days.
Step 6: Schedule your Google Feed
  1. Go to the Modify Feed page for your Google feed, and select a desired update frequency. We also recommend to disable Auto-Skip, because Google demotes listings that are not updated frequently.
  2. You can optionally configure an alert from the Manage Alerts page.
  3. Add funds to your account from the Purchase Credit page to ensure continuous service.

Image Hosting Service

What is the image hosting service for Yahoo Stores?

Our image hosting service solves the problem of missing images caused by out-of-date image URLs. As you may know, Yahoo Stores change the image URL every time your store is published. With daily feed updates, this is generally not a problem.

For those who publish very frequently or have other special feed requirements, image hosting provides a stable, unchanging image URL for each product. This URL redirects to the latest, up-to-date image on your Yahoo Store.

Copies of your images are not stored on our servers. For this reason, our image hosting service can not function as a backup service. However, by using redirects, our service leverages Yahoo's high-availability, load-balanced, unlimited bandwidth image servers. The refresh rate is also faster because the images are never copied to our servers. Best of all, since we do not have to maintain image hosting resources, we can offer this service for no extra charge.

How does image hosting work?

The system maintains static image URLs for each product with the following format:

http://ih.atensoftware.com/FeedId/OfferId.jpg

Our system actually ignores the file extension, so ending the URL with .gif, .png, etc will still redirect to the same image hosted at Yahoo. Image hosting data is refreshed every half an hour, ensuring that your new images will be accessible at the static URLs within half an hour after you republish your store.

How do I enable image hosting for my data feed?

Image hosting can be enabled from "Manage Feed > Advanced Settings", and is independent of update frequency. It may take up to half an hour for the hosted image URLs to become active. You can enable or disable image hosting on a per-feed basis.

How much does image hosting cost?

Image hosting services are provided for no extra charge.

PriceGrabber Setup Guide

How do I add a PriceGrabber data feed?
Click My Account > Add Feed and select the PriceGrabber template. On the Modify Feed page, enter the Export URLs and FTP Username/Password. You can leave the FTP Server and File Name the same. The FTP UserName/Password is the same as your PriceGrabber registration username and password.
How do I configure and optimize my PriceGrabber data feed?

Go to the Manage > Define Fields page. The most important field to define is 'Categorization'. At a minimum, enter a default value. Look in the PriceGrabber General Feed Requirements for instructions on how to set the value. Their rate card contains the full list of possible categories.

If you want to specify item-specific categories, add a custom field to your Yahoo store. For further optimization, supply default values and/or catalog field names for the other fields of your data feed.

How do I set up my PriceGrabber merchant account?

These are only the instructions to set up the data feed aspect of your account.

  1. Generate and download a data feed file from our system.
  2. If your feed file is large, open it in a text editor and remove lines from the end to make the file less than 8Mb.
  3. Log into your PriceGrabber merchant account.
  4. Go to "Your Account > Feed Format" and make the following selections:
  5. Do you have a product feed - Yes
  6. Is the feed visible from a website / URL - No
  7. Is your complete feed larger than 8Mb - Yes/Maybe
  8. Enter the file name as it is set up on the Modify Feed page.
  9. Browse to the feed file you downloaded and click the upload button.
  10. You may see "We couldn't identify this data". If so, then select MSRP for column 18 and leave the others undefined.
  11. Click Save Changes
  12. Contact your account representative to let them know you have modified your feed settings.

Product Count Alerts

What is the product count alert service?
The product count alert service notifies you when a search in Google Base returns a particular number of results. You can customize the search terms, product count threshold, and check frequency.
What can the product count alert service be used for?
This is useful for Yahoo stores to monitor their product count in Google Base. A store could set up an alert to notify when the product count of their store goes below a certain number.
 
Another use is to notify when a search for a particular product name returns more than zero results. This can be used to monitor competition in the search results for that product.
What is the cost of the product count alert service?
The alert service costs $0.05 for each check. It can be scheduled to run daily, tri-weekly, weekly, or monthly.
Can I set up an alert for other Google Base item types besides products, such as jobs?
Currently, only searches on products are supported. Please contact us if you would like to search other Google Base item types.
Can I download alert results?
Yes, you can download alert results going back up to three years in comma-separated values (CSV) format.

Resolving Google Merchant Center Errors

Why do my product titles contain the category name prefixed to the title?
You need to turn off the compound-name variable in your Yahoo Store's Store Properties.
Resolving the error: This website URL is already in use by another Google Merchant Center account

You need to enter your full, correct, Website URL in Google Merchant Center Settings tab, otherwise your feed may be disapproved.

  • http://www.walmart.com - CORRECT
  • http://walmart.com - INCORRECT
  • http://www.walmart.com/info.html - INCORRECT

If you see a "Website URL In Use by another account" error message, then the other account is usually the one that holds the automatic feed from Yahoo to Google. Google will remove your Website Url from that account after you follow the steps below:

  1. Submit Google's URL in use Contact Form. (You can find your Account ID on top-left of your Google Dashboard.)
  2. Google will reply to you in two to three days with the following email:
    Subject:  Re:[#123456789] URL in use
    
    Thank you for your email. It appears the items from your website are
    currently being submitted by Yahoo!. If you are unable to view your items,
    please contact Yahoo! directly.
    
    Alternatively, if you'd like Yahoo! to stop submitting your items so that
    you can submit your items directly, please reply to this email.
  3. Reply to Google's email with the following message:
    Please disable the automatic feed from Yahoo so that 
    I can submit my items directly.
  4. Google will reply as follows:
    Thank you for your email. I've resolved the issue that was preventing you
    from registering your domain name. Please know this change can take up to
    an hour to take effect.
  5. Go to Google Merchant Center General Settings and enter the Website URL.
  6. Resubmit your feed from our system.

More information: What does "This website URL is already in use by another Google Merchant Center account" mean?

How do I contact Google Merchant Center?

You must use the online forms to contact Google Merchant Center, or reply to an existing support email. Be sure to search for answers online before contacting them, as their response time can be slow.

  1. Contact Policy - ways to get help
  2. Support - help articles and documentation
  3. Contact Forms
I submitted my feed through your system, now what?
Check the status in your Google Base account. If it says "success", then they have successfully processed the feed.
I submitted my feed, but the status doesn't appear in Google Merchant Center.
It can take 24-72 hours for processing status to appear in Google Merchant Center. Click here for more information.
Google Merchant Center status says "invalid file name", how do I fix this?
Set the filename property in your feed settings, and make sure this exactly matches the filename configured in your Google Merchant Center account.
I emailed Google Product Search Support, but have not heard from them.
Google Product Search technical support always replies, but it can take up to two weeks to receive a reply.
What does beta mean?
As of November 2009, Google Base and Product Search are still beta services. This means they have been made more widely available, but more problems and changes can be expected than from officially released services.
I'm getting errors even though my feed was previously working fine and the settings are correct.
Please check our system status page. You can also check your Google Base account, contact Google Base support, or contact us.
How do I view the status of my data feed in Google Merchant Center?

The steps below will show you the detailed, line-by-line error messages for your data feed.

  1. Log in to Google Merchant Center and go to your Data Feeds Status page
  2. Check the Status column for number of items inserted or current processing state. Click on the message for error details.

To resolve item errors, use the 'Manage Feed > Search by Item Number' page to look up product details by item number. Once you find the problem, correct the product information in your Yahoo Store, and then resubmit your feed.

How do I resolve an "Error: Missing Attributes" message from Google Base?

You may see one of the following errors from Google Base, which may cause some or all of your products to not be processed.

  • The item is missing a required attribute.
  • We were unable to match the attributes in this dsv (delimiter separated values) data feed line to the corresponding attributes in the header (first) row.
  • You must enter an item title. *Title* is a required attribute.
  • Product name missing
  • We didn't understand the header (first) row of your file. Please make sure you're using valid attribute names.

To resolve these errors, please check the settings in your Google Base account as described in this support question.

How do I resolve: "This expiration date is too far in the future?"
This message is just a warning and can be safely ignored. Our system will set the expiration date to a little more than 30 days in the future just to be safe.
How do I resolve: "Warning: Missing recommended attribute: weight?"

This message is just a warning and can be safely ignored. Items missing recommended attributes will process successfully. However, Google Base recommends including relevant attributes if they are available.

We have added this attribute to all the Google Feeds. You can configure a default value from the 'Manage Feed > Define Fields' page. You can also supply the name of a 'Catalog Field' from your Yahoo Store catalog, which is usually named 'ship-weight'.

What do I do if there is no status (or 'None') in Google Merchant Center?

You may encounter a problem where our system shows a successful submission, but you do not see any items uploaded in your Google Merchant Center account. It may say "None" under the "Last upload date & status" column in your Google Merchant Center account. If you see "Success" on our site, it only means that our system successfully uploaded the data feed file to them, not that they have processed the file.

To resolve this, check that the file name is exactly the same in both our site and in Google. The file name must end in .txt and it is case-sensitive. Also, remember that Google may take 24-72 hours to display the status of a recently uploaded file. If more than that time period elapses, you can contact Google.

What do I do if there I get an email saying "Data feed upload failure"?

You may occasionally receive an email from Google Base with subject, Google Base data feed file status on "file.txt": Data feed upload failure. You receive it even though you have not changed any feed settings and your feed has been working correctly. In your Google Base dashboard, you will see the following status message:

Outcome: Data feed upload failed. No items are live.   help
Number of items processed:              0
Number of inserted items:               0
Uploaded at:  Oct 19, 2008 1:40 am PDT
Processed at: Oct 19, 2008 10:11 am PDT

There would be no further details on the error message, and our system would show 'success' in the task history. This problem is usually due to a system error at Google Base. To resolve the issue, you simply have to resubmit your feed from your account.

For further information, you can view the following post in the 'Google Groups - Submitting Data Forum': Data Feed Upload Failure.

What do I do if I can't find my products in my Google Merchant Center account?
Please check the status of your data feed in your Google Merchant Center account first. It would be most helpful if you can send us a screen shot or the detailed, line-by-line error messages.
How do I resolve "No items inserted" or "Internal error, feed was not fully processed" emails?

Google may send you an email saying "No Items Inserted" or "Internal error, feed was not fully processed" for your data feed. This error is usually spurious and can be ignored. You have several options:

You can also check the Google Merchant Center Forum to see if others are experiencing the same problem. If you continue to receive the same error email multiple times, contact us and we can check on your feed.

----- Sample Message ---- From: googlebase-noreply@google.com To: info@store.yahoo.com Sent: Thu, November 10, 2009 8:02:31 AM Subject: Google Merchant Center data feed file status on "googlebase.txt": 0 of 1999 items inserted or Internal error, feed not fully processed or No items inserted 0 of 1999 items inserted or Internal error, feed not fully processed or No items inserted Uploaded at: November 10, 2009 2:28:42 AM PST Processed at: November 10, 2009 3:52:36 AM PST For more details on the status of your data feed, go to http://www.google.com/merchants/showfeedsummary?fid=111111 This is a computer-generated email. Please do not reply. You can change your notification settings at http://www.google.com/merchants/basicsettings
Recreate or rename your data feed file in Google Merchant Center.

Below is the procedure to recreate your data feed file in your Google Merchant Center account. You may need to do this if you are experiencing strange errors in your Google account, especially if your data feed file was registered a long time ago. This does not resolve all issues, and it is best to contact Google regarding the error in addition to attempting this procedure.

  1. Go to the Data Feeds tab in your Google Merchant Center account.
  2. Click the "New Data Feed" button. Leave the default settings, enter a different file name ending in ".txt", and click "Save Changes".
  3. Log into our site and go to "Manage > Modify Settings" for your feed.
  4. Update the file name to the new file name, then click "Update".
  5. Click on "Manage > Submit a Processing Request".
  6. Click the "Submission" button to submit the feed manually.
  7. After the submission completes, refresh the Data Feeds tab in your Google account. It should show a status of 'processing...' within an hour or so.
  8. Once you see the items processed successfully, then check the box next to old data feed file, then click the "Delete selected" button.
Problem: Submission is successful, but Google doesn't recognize feed

You can view your task results on the "Manage Feed > View Results" page for each data feed. If the task shows a successful submission, that means our server was able to upload the file via FTP to Google's FTP server. It does not mean Google has processed, or will ever process, the file.

If your Google Merchant Center Data Feeds page does not show that the feed is processing within an hour or so, check the following settings:

  1. Check that the file name you have specified on the "Manage Feed > Modify Settings" page exactly matches the file name on the Google Merchant Center Data Feeds page. The file name is case-sensitive.
  2. Check that the FTP Username and Password you have specified on the "Manage Feed > Modify Settings" page exactly matches what you have set on the Google Merchant Center FTP Settings page. Both username and password are also case-sensitive.
  3. Make sure you are logged into the correct Google account. Also, if you have a multi-client account with Google, make sure you are checking the settings for the correct sub-account.
  4. Check if Google is having any known feed processing issues on their Announcements and Known Issues forum.
Can you help if my feed was disapproved by Google?

If Google disapproves your data feed, you will see "Disapproved" as the status in your Google Merchant Center on Data Feeds tab. When you expand the details, it will say, "Your data feed has been disapproved because some or all of your items are not complying with our Program Policies."

Unfortunately, we can not provide any support for disapproved feeds. This issue is between the merchant and Google, and there is nothing we can do about it. We do not have any knowledge of, and can not advise on a workaround. Creating a new Google account and resubmitting does not work, and is not recommended. The only assistance we can offer is to provide the self-help links below.

Shareasale Data Feed

How do I set up a Share-A-Sale data feed?
  1. From "My Account > Add Feed", create a Share-A-Sale feed for your Yahoo Store and configure the settings. Leave the FTP Username, Password, and Server at their default values for now.
  2. From "Manage > Define Fields", edit the Merchant ID field and enter your ShareASale Merchant ID in the "Value" box. You can obtain your Merchant ID by logging into your ShareASale account and looking in the header of the page.
  3. Next, edit the Category and Sub-category fields (not Merchant Category). Look up the appropriate number from the ShareASale data feed file format specification, and enter it in the "Default Value" box. You must supply both the category number and sub-category number.
    For example:
    Category: DefaultValue = 6, CatalogField = blank
    Subcategory: DefaultValue = 47, CatalogField = blank
  4. If you have multiple categories of products, add a custom field to your Yahoo Store Catalog Manager and populate it with the category numbers. Enter the name of this custom field in the "Catalog Field" box.
How do I set up my Share-A-Sale merchant account?
  1. Once you have configured your data feed in our system, generate the data feed file from the "Manage > Download Data Feed File" page.
  2. Download the file and upload it manually via your ShareASale account's "Product Database Management" menu option. (You only have to do this the first time.)
  3. Once that is done, you need to email ShareASale the following message:
    I have uploaded my first data feed file for your review. I would like to receive instructions on uploading the file via FTP upload. The server from which the file will be uploaded has an IP address of 76.75.210.45.
  4. You will receive an email with an FTP Username and Password. Enter those and set an update frequency in the "Manage > Modify Settings" page of our site. ShareASale now support up to Daily submissions.
  5. Go to "Manage > Advanced Settings" and set the FTP Initial Directory to the directory emailed to you by ShareASale. Note that Image Hosting is enabled, and is highly recommended for ShareASale data feeds.
  6. Run a Submission to test that the settings are working correctly.

Shopping.com Data Feed

Shopping.com can read my product listings directly. What is the advantage of using your feed service?
  • You can exclude low-margin products from submission to save on unwanted clicks.
  • Our system can properly map your Yahoo Store catalog data to Shopping.com's extensive attribute list. Properly submitting the recommended data may result in improved ranking.
  • Use our Advanced feeds to customize the output from your Yahoo Store.
  • You can rely on our technical support in case of any problems.
How do I set up my Shopping.com merchant account?
  1. Open a merchant account at Shopping.com
  2. Select "Auto Upload method" under CPC Program > Product Info, and then obtain FTP information
  3. Enter your feed settings in our system and perform your first submission
  4. Obtain feedback from Shopping.com technicians on any further data requirements
How do I optimize my Shopping.com data feed?

Make sure your products are properly categorized by following our instructions on setting the Category ID (in this topic).

To keep CPC costs low, you can use the Product Exclusion Criteria to filter out non-performing items, or items under a certain price. As an example, you can filter out a product if it does not yield any sales within 50 clicks.

Review the Shopping.com data feed specifications, and submit any additional attributes as recommended by them.


Recommended Attributes for Optimization, Source: Shopping.com

How do I set the Category ID for my Shopping.com data feed?

For Shopping.com categorization, we recommend that you add a field to your Yahoo Store called "shopping-category-id". Then, populate it with the appropriate category from the Shopping.com Taxonomy. You should select the single Category ID of the most specific category that applies to the product. For example, you would enter "419" for a telephone, which would place it in the "Electronics > Communications > Phones" sub-category.

Our shopping.com template is already configured to map this field from your Yahoo Store, otherwise, you can change the field name by going to "Manage > Define Fields". The automatic/manual categorization provided in your Shopping.com merchant account is usually not as reliable as this method.

Why don't my prices or shipping costs display correctly on Shopping.com?

Shopping.com displays prices based on the location that is entered by the user browsing the site (signed-in or not). In some states, the price may include sales tax, and shipping may be calculated based on the user's location.

How to I remap my feed in Shopping.com?

After adding or removing fields in you Shopping.com data feed, you must remap the columns in your Shopping.com Merchant Account in order for them to recognize the changes. This is very simple to do. Just follow the step-by-step instructions below.

  1. Log into our system and resubmit your feed.
  2. Log into your Shopping.com Merchant Account
  3. Navigate to the CPC Program tab
  4. Click on the Product Info sub-tab
  5. Click on Add or Update Products
  6. Click the Continue button on the bottom-right of the page
  7. Review the field mapping and click the Continue button on the bottom of the page
  8. You should see a message saying Your changes have been saved. This completes the procedure.

Reference: How do I map my column headers? in Shopping.com Merchant Support.

Shopzilla.com Data Feed

Does your system support Shopzilla data feeds for Yahoo Stores?
We now support Shopzilla data feeds, which allow you to fully control and customize the data being submitted.
Do I need your service to upload my data feed to Shopzilla?
No, Shopzilla has an option to import your Yahoo Store directly, but you may obtain better results by using our system.
How do I set the Shopzilla Category ID?
  1. Log into your Shopzilla Merchant Account.
  2. Open the "Shopzilla Shopping Categories" under "Manage Listings > Specifications & Guidelines"
  3. Note the Category ID that applies to your products.
  4. Log into our system and go to "My Account"
  5. Go to "Manage > Define Fields"
  6. Click "Edit" next to the "Category ID" field.
  7. Enter your Category ID in the "Default Value" box, and click "Update".
  8. Run a Submission and check your Shopzilla account.

To set up product-specific category IDs, look for instructions on adding custom fields in our online help.

System Questions

How reliable is this service?

Our submission technology has been running continuously since early 2003, just after Froogle's inception in late 2002. Our secure, dedicated hosting is provided by Pair Networks. We process millions of listings daily.

Does your system support any shopping cart/e-commerce platforms besides Yahoo Store?
We have the capability to add new platforms much more easily now. Please contact us to request other platforms.
What shopping price comparison engines does your system submit to?
We now support a multitude of engines and can easily support more. Please see Comparison Shopping Engine Data Feeds Available for a list of supported engines.
Does your system support legacy Yahoo stores?
Yes, we fully support legacy stores. Just supply the objinfo.xml URL and leave the catalog.xml field blank when you set up your feed. Our system even supports a workaround so that you can create custom attributes for your legacy store.
How do I set up my NexTag merchant account?
  1. Login to your NexTag Merchant Account.
  2. Under "Product Listings", select one of the following:
    • "Edit Submit Product Options" and click "Continue" to use the product file upload method.
    • Otherwise, "Set Listing Options" if you had previously selected the product file upload method.
  3. Select "NexTag" as the file format.
  4. Select "Upload a Product File to NexTag's server"
  5. You may see a message indicating that you have to contact NexTag Seller Support to obtain the upload instructions. Please do so.
  6. Click "Convert" or "Update" to save the settings.
  7. Enter the FTP username/password into the Modify Settings page for your data feed.
  8. You may need to enter the FTP Initial Directory, usually like "/private/clientid", in the Advanced Settings page. First try leaving it blank, and if you get permission denied errors, then add the setting.
  9. Run a submission from our system and check the "Nextag > Product Listings > Product File Quality" page for the status in 24 to 48 hours.
Can you submit my eBay listings to Google Product Search?
Google no longer accepts eBay product listings directly from eBay sellers. You must rely on the automatic data feed provided by eBay, which you can sign up for with the eBay export listings program.
Do you support Amazon data feeds?

We do support data feeds to Amazon. Please be aware that Amazon has three different programs through which you may submit your item listings:

  • Amazon Product Ads - Allows you to post your product listings as pay-per-click ads on Amazon's main website.
  • Selling on Amazon - Allows you to sell your items directly on Amazon's main website.
  • Amazon WebStore - Allows you to create a full e-commerce store with your own domain name, akin to a Yahoo Store.

We provide a Basic data feed for Amazon Product ads. This is easy to set up and works like all of our other data feeds.

For Amazon's other merchant programs (Selling on Amazon and WebStore), we can provide you a quote to create an Advanced data feed for your store. Please keep in mind the following caveats:

  • Amazon's data feed requirements are much more complex, and generally require a custom-developed data feed specific to your product category.
  • Amazon generally requires UPC code and/or ASIN codes for every product.
  • Amazon does not accept data feeds via FTP upload. Therefore, you would have to generate the data feed file on our site and upload it manually to Amazon. (This may be automated in the future.)
How do I set up Amazon Product Ads?
  • Log into Amazon Seller Central
  • Go to Products > Use FTP
  • Generate Credentials if necessary
  • Copy the FTP username/password to the feed settings in our system
  • Submit the feed from our site.
  • Check the Products > Download Product Report page for the status of the upload.

If you need information about or assistance with Amazon Product Ads, please contact:

Tino Romero
Account Executive
Channel Sales Business Development
Amazon Services LLC - An Amazon.com Company 
Phone: 206-266-4434
E-mail: tromero@amazon.com
Why am I receiving Low Credit Notice emails?

Once your credit balance goes below the notice threshold in your profile (default $5.00), our system emails you periodically to add credit to your account. Once you add credit, the notices will stop being sent.

If you would like to stop receiving reminders without adding credit, change your account status to "Inactive" from the change account status page. You can reactivate your account from the same page in the future.

Accounts are automatically deactivated after 180 days.

To change your low balance notice threshold, simply edit your profile.

Do you support automated monthly billing?

Unfortunately, at this time, we do not support automated monthly billing. Instead, our system will email you Low Credit Notices once your balance becomes low. Just click the link in the email to add funds to your account. You can configure the low credit notice threshold from your profile.

How do I set up feeds to the shopping engines?

Below is an overview of the steps required to set up data feeds to the various shopping engines.

  1. Check our Supported Feeds page to see if we support the shopping engine.
  2. Click the 'Merchants' link there, and sign up for a merchant account with the shopping engine. (Please contact us if we do not support a particular site.)
  3. You may have to make a minimum purchase or meet other requirements of the shopping engine.
  4. Once your merchant account is approved, check our Support page for feed setup instructions for the engine, if available.
  5. Add the feed to your Aten account from 'My Account > Add Feed', configure any fields as needed, and then run your first submission.
  6. Contact the shopping engine or check your merchant account dashboard to see if the feed was processed correctly.

If you get stuck on any step, feel free to contact us. If you would like optimization/set-up assistance, you can submit an Express Setup Request, and we take care of the feed setup. You would still be responsible for obtaining the merchant account, configuring your merchant account, managing bids, etc.

How do I setup my Become.com Merchant account?
  1. Login to your Become.com Merchant Account and go to the Product Listings tab.
  2. Select ‘Option1 : Feed upload’.
  3. Specify the IP address as: 76.75.210.45
  4. Click the ‘Save Changes’ button at the bottom.
  5. Note the FTP username and password.
  1. Login to our site and add a feed using the Become.com template.
  2. Copy the FTP username/password into the settings.
  3. From the Define Fields page, enter the appropriate category for your products from the Become.com CPC Rate Card.
  4. Define any other fields as needed.
  5. Submit your feed.
How do I set up a GoShopping data feed?
  1. Visit GoShopping.com and register for a Merchant account.
  2. Wait for GoShopping to approve your account.
  3. Login to your GoShopping Merchant account and use the provided code to add a logo to your Yahoo Store home page.
  1. Login to our site and add a feed using the GoShopping template.
  2. Enter the objinfo.xml URL and optionally, the catalog.xml URL.
  3. Click 'Update' to save the settings.
  4. Go to "Manage Feed > Download Data Feed File".
  5. Select the "File URL" setting and copy it for later use.
  6. Use the link to generate a data feed file if it does not exist.
  7. Login to your GoShopping Merchant account and go to the "Your Products > Add Products" page.
  8. Paste the File URL in the "Enter your feed file URL" box, and click "Add Products". Do not select a platform.
  1. After a day or two, log back into your GoShopping Merchant account
  2. Go to the "Your Products > Add Products" page.
  3. Check the "Products Status" section to see if the products are approved.
How do I set up a Commission Junction (CJ.com) data feed?
  1. To set up your Commission Junction feed, you will first need to gather the following three numeric identifiers from your Commission Junction publisher account.
    CID - Account number (ID - CID) with Commission Junction
    In the top-right corner of your CJ account, next to the "Account:" label.
    SUBID - Subscription ID for transfer
    Go to the "Account > Services" page of your CJ account. Look for the "Import" service of type "Product Catalog", and find the ID number in the "Name (ID)" column.
    AID - Product Catalog Ad ID number
    Go to the "Manage Links > Links" page of your CJ account. Look in the "Link ID" column of the "Product Catalog" type link.
  2. Go to "My Account > Add Feed"
  3. Enter your store name, select the Commission Junction Template, and click 'Create Feed'
  4. Continue to "Manage Feed > Modify Settings"
  5. Enter your store export URLs and the CJ FTP username and password.
  6. Click "Update" to save your settings.
  7. Go to "Manage Feed > Advanced Settings"
  8. In the "Extra Header" box, replace the three "12345" numbers with the actual identifiers from your Commission Junction account. Do not change anything else in the header.
  9. Click "Update" to save your settings.
  10. Run a Submission task from "Manage Feed > Submit a Task"
  11. Check your e-mail in 1-6 hours to see if cj.com processed all the items.
How do I set up a TheFind data feed?

TheFind is a comparison shopping engine with about five million unique visitors per month, on par with Shopping.com and Shopzilla. The best part is that just like Google, there is no charge for their merchant program. This is a great way to promote your Yahoo Store products for free.

  1. Create your TheFind merchant account.
    1. Go to TheFind Merchant Center and follow the instructions to create a Merchant Account.
    2. Make sure to follow the instructions to 'Verify' your store.
  2. Create your product feed settings.
    1. Log into your TheFind Merchant Account.
    2. Click on the store name to go to the dashboard for that store.
    3. Click on the 'Product Feed Upload' menu item.
    4. Enter the following settings and click 'Save'.
      • "Feed Format" = TheFind
      • "File Type" = .zip
      • "Email Me" = Always (You can change this to 'Only with Error' once it is working.)
      • "Email Address" = your email address
      • "Upload Method" = FTP Settings
  3. Set up FTP settings.
    1. Click on the 'Product Feed Upload' menu item again.
    2. Click on the "FTP Settings >" button at the bottom.
    3. Enter an FTP password and click 'Setup My FTP'. Here is a random password for your convenience: qfomsb4
  4. Add a feed in your Aten account.
    1. Go to 'My Account > Add Feed'
    2. Enter your store name, choose the 'TheFind' template, and click the 'Create Feed' button.
    3. Configure the feed settings from 'Manage Feed > Modify Settings'
    4. Enter export Urls and enter the FTP username/password you created in section III, and click 'Update'.
    5. Go to the 'Tasks > Submit a Tasks' menu and click the 'Submission' button.
  5. Check your TheFind merchant account in three business days to see if they successfully processed the file. Note that they do not guarantee that any or all of your products will be listed.

For more information on TheFind, you may find the links below helpful.

Can I downgrade an Advanced feed to a Basic feed?

It is not possible to directly downgrade Advanced feeds due to the possible customizations they may have. However, you can simply add a new, Basic feed for that store and shopping engine. Configure this new feed based on the Advanced feed. Once you are done, you can delete the Advanced feed.

Can I backup or download all my store images?

Please use the following instructions to download all your Yahoo Store images to your computer. These instructions are preliminary and subject to change.

First, configure your data feed.

  1. From 'Manage > Advanced Settings', set Image Hosting to Enabled.
  2. Wait approximately one hour for your image hosting data to be loaded.

Next, prepare a folder and download the images.

  1. Create a new folder on your computer, e.g. 'images'.
  2. Open the URL http://ih.atensoftware.com/12345/download-images.bat in your web browser. Replace '12345' with your FeedId, which can be found in your browser's address bar when you click on the Manage Feed page.
  3. Use your browser's File > Save As function to save the file to your images folder.
  4. Download wget.exe and save this file also in the images folder. This program is a free download tool for Windows.
  5. Double-click the "download-images.bat" file, and the images will begin downloading.
  6. If you receive a "security warning", just click "Run".

Below are some notes about how this works.

  • You must be using a computer with the Windows operating system.
  • The batch file and wget.exe must be in the same directory. You can also copy wget.exe to your c:\windows\command folder, to make it globally available on your computer.
  • If you need to get your latest images, just get the latest 'download-images.bat' file and run that one
  • You can stop and restart the batch file, and it will pick up where it left off. It will not re-download images if they already exist and they are up to date.
How do I set up a WholesaleCentral.com data feed?

We offer a WholesaleCentral.com data feed for your Yahoo Store. We recommend that you configure this feed to be uploaded daily to WholesaleCentral. Currently, WholesaleCentral requires you to log into their site and click a button for the feed to be processed. You will have to do this periodically, so we recommend that you bookmark the Submit Feed Page.

  1. Sign into your WholesaleCentral Seller Account.
  2. Click on the EZFeed link.
  3. Click on "Register your store", select "Use non-Wholesalecentral.com store", and enter your store details.
  4. Go back to the EZFeed page, click "FTP Account", and create an FTP username/password.
  5. After you submit your first feed from our system, go to the EZFeed page again, click the Submit New Data Feed link, and click the "SUBMIT DATA FEED" button.
  1. In our site, add a feed using the WholesaleCentral.com template.
  2. Enter the necessary settings, including the FTP settings you defined above.
  3. Run a submission from our site.
  4. Check your Wholesalecentral account's 'Submit New Data Feed' page for the status of the submissions.
  5. You must click the "SUBMIT DATA FEED" button on that page for the listings to go live.
What is the IP address of the server?

The IP address of our server is 76.75.210.45. This is the origin IP from which data feed files are be uploaded. A few shopping engines, such as ShareASale, require this IP address for restricting access to upload to their FTP server.

How is quantity pricing or minimum order quantity handled?

"If your items are sold in bulk, you must list the total price for the minimum purchasable quantity. For example, if a user must purchase a minimum quantity of ten items, you should include the total price for ten items (the minimum purchasable quantity)." Source: Google Merchant Center, Requirements for the "price" attribute.

Our system always submits the single item sale price for the lowest order quantity. The minimum purchase quantity is usually one, and for this scenario, submitting the sale price works fine. If it is greater than one, then we can usually program a workaround for this too.

How do I set up a Facebook Shoptab Data Feed?

Facebook ShopTab can accept a Google Base data feed file. However, you need to enable Image Hosting in order for it to work. Image hosting service is provided at no extra cost.

Enable image hosting from "Manage Feed > Advanced Settings". Wait about half an hour and resubmit your feed to ShopTab. Image hosting will rewrite the URLs so that they all end in JPG. The URLs will be on ih.atensoftware.com, and will redirect to the actual images on your site. That will be sufficient for ShopTab.

How do I define categories for Unbound Commerce feeds?

To set up your categories for UnboundCommerce mobile commerce data feeds, please use the examples below.

DESCRIPTION                     :   SAMPLE CATEGORY
Top-Level Category              :   Nike Shoes
Category and Sub-category       :   Shoes > Nike
Category and Sub-categories     :   Shoes > Nike > Slip-on
Multiple Categories             :   Nike Shoes|Running Shoes
Multiple Categories (example 2) :   Shoes by Brand > Nike|Shoes by Type > Running

Tips

  • Use the '>' greater-than character to separate category levels.
  • Use the '|' pipe character to separate multiple categories.
  • Keep category names short to conserve space on the mobile screen.

Legacy Stores

If you have a legacy store, you can embed the category information in an HTML comment inside the Caption field of each product. Add the code shown below to the bottom of every Caption, and change the category as appropriate.

<!--
<uc-category>Shoes by Brand &gt; Nike|Shoes by Type &gt; Running</uc-category>
-->

Remember to replace the '>' greater-than character with '&gt;' to ensure that the HTML code remains valid. For more information, see How do I add custom attributes to a legacy Yahoo store?

Why do I see the message, "Store information no longer available"?

Sometimes, you may see the message, 'Store information no longer available', for one or more tasks in the "View Tasks" page. You will see this message when you have recently deleted a feed from your account. Deleting the feed deletes all the feed settings and results, but the task history will be preserved in your account. The tasks and messages will drop off the page after seven days.

Website Url Verification Tutorial

Introduction to Google Url Verification

Verification has two steps, verification and claiming. Verification proves that you have control over the URL, and claiming lets Google know in which Google account you want to use the URL. You can only claim the URL in one Google account, but you can verify it in many of them.

Verification must be done first via Google Webmaster Tools. Claiming is done on the Google Merchant Center Basic Settings Page. Both steps must be completed in order for your product listings to be accepted by Google.

We recommend that you verify and claim the root or parent domain of your website, without any prefixes. For instance, use "walmart.com" rather than "www.walmart.com". Verifying the former automatically verifies the latter, as well as any other sub-domains.

Step 1: Log into Google Webmaster Tools

This topic covers how to claim and verify your Yahoo Store Website Url for use with Google Merchant Center. Google requires you to verify and claim your Website URL by May 18, 2010, otherwise, your listing will be disapproved. There are a lot of steps, but the process is very simple and should only take 5-10 minutes.

First, go to Google Webmaster Tools and log in with your Google Login.

Google Webmaster Tools Login

After you log in, your screen will appear something like below. If your domain already appears as verified on this screen, then skip down to Step 7.

Add a site to webmaster tools

Step 2: Add your Site to Webmaster Tools

Click the "Add a Site" button, and enter your website domain name beginning with 'http' and, if applicable, without the 'www.' prefix.

You can specify either 'https' or 'http', but we advise 'http' to avoid SSL issues.

Leaving off the 'www.' prefix is advisable because then you will also be claiming all sub-domains of your domain.

Add a site to webmaster tools
Step 3: Verify Ownership of your Url in Google Webmaster Tools

After you add your site, you will be redirected to the 'Verify Ownership' page. On this page, select 'Upload an HTML file' as the 'Verification method'.

Copy the file name that you see to your clipboard, e.g. google99b9d12cd333da44.html

Verify Site Ownership
Step 4: Specify Sitemap Verification File in your Yahoo Store
  1. Open a new browser window.
  2. Log into your Yahoo Store Manager
  3. Go to the 'Search Engines' page, under the 'Promotion' section.
  4. In the box labeled "Google Sitemap Verification File", paste the file name that you copied from the Verify Your Site page.
  5. Click 'Done' to save the settings.
  6. Publish your Order Settings.

Google Sitemaps Verification File setting in Yahoo Store Manager

Reference: Verifying Site Ownership with Google

Step 5: Confirm Upload of Verification File

Go back to the 'Verify Ownership' page in Google Webmaster tools.

Verify Site Ownership

Click the link in step 3, where it says to 'Confirm successful upload by visiting ...'. A new window or tab should open, and it should look something like the screen shot below. If this doesn't happen, check again that you followed the prior instructions.

google-site-verification html file
Step 6: Click Verify Ownership Button

From the 'Verify Ownership' page in Google Webmaster tools, simply click the 'Verify' button.

Verify Site Ownership

If it is successful, you will be redirected to the Dashboard and your domain will be shown on the top left corner of the page, as shown below.

Google webmaster tools Dashboard
Step 7: Log into your Google Merchant Center Account

Go to Google Merchant Center and log in with your Google Login.

Google Merchant Center Login

Step 8: Add Website Url to Google Merchant Center
  1. Click the 'Settings > General' tab from the left column.
  2. In the Website URL input box, enter the Website URL you entered before. If it is already entered, skip down to #5.
  3. Click 'Save Changes' at the bottom of the page.

Add Website Url in Google Merchant Center

  1. If you receive an error like 'Internal Error' after clicking 'Save Changes', then please try again later.
  2. After the changes are saved, scroll down to the Website Url setting again and click the 'Claim this URL' link.

Claim Website Url in Google Merchant Center

  1. Your website URL should now be verified and claimed. This completes the tutorial.

Website Url Claimed and Verified in Google Merchant Center

Alternate: Google Sitemap Verification via META tags for Yahoo Store

If you enter the Google Sitemaps Verification File in your Yahoo Store, but it appears blank when you view it in your browser, you can try the META tag method instead.

  1. Select the META tag Verification Method in Google Webmaster Central.
  2. Copy the META tag code to your clipboard.
  3. Log into your Yahoo Store and open Store Editor.
  4. Go to 'Variables > Page Properties > Head-tags'.
  5. Copy the META tag code into the box, click the Update button, and then publish your store. The meta tag code should look something like:
    <meta name="google-site-verification" content="L5xRoKd-x3q321bcTz5l2LJjLqJvtcKIqmH0BGlIEO" />
  6. After your store is published, go back to Google Webmaster Central and click the Verify button.

Yahoo Store Help

How do I bulk delete items via the Yahoo Store Catalog Manager?

If you do not have that many items to delete, you can delete them from Catalog Manager directly. See How do I delete an item in Catalog Manager?.

Otherwise, download your catalog CSV file from Yahoo, then change the Path of the items you want to delete to a path like 'TODELETE'. Then, upload the file and commit. Now, you can just navigate to the 'TODELETE' section in the Store Editor, and delete it. All the items in that section will also be deleted. See Uploading and Downloading Items via Catalog Manager for more information.

See this page for more information on deleting sections and all the items in them: Deleting a Page in the Store Editor.

For additional support on this topic, please contact Yahoo Store Merchant Support directly.

Do you offer or recommend any Yahoo Store Design services?

We do not currently offer any Yahoo Store design services or RTML template development. However, we have had clients who have worked with the following companies. You could use this list as a starting point.

You can also consult the Yahoo Store Developer Network website, which has a listing of many design companies. (That website is scheduled to be revamped soon.)