'Smart' product category selection for product_type

Problem: Multiple merchant categories assigned to items

Google and other channels require a product_type to specify the merchant's category for each product.

Google recommends only one product_type be specified, so what happens when you have multiple categories assigned to an item?

To solve this problem, our optimized feeds calculate a field called 'aten_smart_product_category' based on your categories.

Solution: 'aten_smart_product_category' picks the best category

When an item is classified under multiple categories in your store, our system automatically selects the most appropriate category for use as the product_type.

If available for your store platform, the field will be named 'aten_smart_product_category' or something similar.

'aten_smart_product_category' will be mapped to 'product_type' on the Define Fields page.

(We can also map 'google_product_category' to these smart categories as part of our Categorization Service.)

How does it work?

The algorithm assigns a score to each merchant category based on the following criteria:

• How many 'levels' are the path? (higher is better)
• How many characters long is the category? (higher is better)
• Several other proprietary checks reduce the score.

It then picks the highest scoring category.

Next, it applies a clean-up rule to remove text from the category that is irrelevant to product type, such as 'All', 'Sale', "Holiday', etc.

This proprietary scoring algorithm has been hand-crafted and refined over many years, and works well for almost all merchants. It does not use any artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms.

Can I see what categories are being selected?

Yes. On the Manage Feed > Categories > Smart Category page in your account, you can find every unique Merchant Category Set and the Smart Category assigned to it. At the bottom of the page, you can find a summary list of all the Smart Categories used in the feed.

Can I change what categories are being selected with a Standard feed?

Not directly, but you can contact us and we can demote specific merchant categories in order for preferred categories to be selected instead. We can also add clean-up rules to remove unwanted prefixes, for example.

Can I change what categories are being selected with a Custom feed?

Yes, these feeds are fully customizable and you can contact us for ideas on the most efficient approach and a quote.