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Prepare and set up catalogs for Advantage+ catalog ads / Prepare the data feed file

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Introduction to catalogs for Advantage+ catalog ads

Prepare the data feed file

By Meta Blueprint 5m Beginner (1) Report

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This lesson will show you how to set up a data feed file, determine a data feed file
generation schedule according to your business needs and plan how to generate a
feed from an ecommerce website.

This lesson prepares you to:

 Set up a data feed file according to catalog technical requirements 1

Determine a data feed file generation schedule

Prepare and Plan
set uphow to generate
catalogs yourcatalog
for Advantage+ feed dynamically from
ads / Prepare the datayour
feed ecommerce
file website.

What is a data feed file?

A data feed file is a plaintext or spreadsheet file that represents the items in your business in a structured way. It also
enables you to bulk upload items to your catalog.

Google_product
ID Title Description Product_type Link Condition Availability Price
_category

Solid plastic
Bowls & Dining >
Dog bowl dog bowl in Animals & Pet http://wwwexample.com/bowls/db-
DB_1 Food & Water New In stock 19.99GBP
in blue marine blue supplies 1.html
Bowls
color

GREAT Bowls & Dining >

Dog bowl Animals & Pet http://wwwexample.com/bowls/db-
DB_2 BOWL FOR Food & Water New In stock 9.99GBP
in yellow supplies 2.html
SALE! Bowls

Supported file formats

When you want to populate your catalog, the most common approach is to list all of your items and attributes in a flat
file using a supported format, such as a CSV, TSV, RSS XML or ATOM XML file, and upload it as a catalog feed.

Flat file CSV, TSV, RSS, XML, ATOM XXL

Compressed XML or CSV ZIP, GZIP, BZ2 compressed
Web link Google Sheets

ZIP, GZIP and BZ2 compressed XML or CSV files are also acceptable. You can compress the feed, but this is optional.
Compression has several benefits. For example, it can help save space in your storage where you host the file.

File size limits

The size limit for a one-time file upload is 100 megabytes.

If you choose to schedule feed uploads from a file hosting website, the size limit is eight gigabytes.

Compressed files in ZIP and GZIP formats have a size limit of 30 gigabytes as long as they're in a CSV, TSV or XML
format when they’re uncompressed.
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
Prepare and set up catalogs for Advantage+ catalog ads / Prepare the data feed file

Scheduled feed Compressed files One-time file upload

uploads

Supported fields for products in Advantage+ catalog ads

Each column in your data feed file represents information about your items, such as description and price. Some
fields are required and others are optional. To avoid item errors, include all of the required fields exactly as they appear
in our specifications.

ID Time Description Availability Condition Price Link Image link Brand

Unique ID
Brand
same as Specific Short Cost and
Availability Condition URL of product page URL of main image of name,
Description content ID title of description currency
of item of item where buy item item MPN or
reported by item of item of item
GTIN
pixel

Blue A crewneck
Facebook made from https://www.fb.com/t- https://www.fb.com/t-
Example FB_tshirt_001 In stock New 9.99 USD Facebook
t-shirt 100% shirt shirt.jpg
(unisex) cotton

The following fields are required for Advantage+ catalog ads for each item:

Item ID: To be able to run Advantage+ catalog ads, the ID for each item must match its ID in the catalog data feed
and its content ID reported from your pixel.
 Title: A specific, relevant title for the item. 1

Description: A short relevant description of the item. Include specific or unique product features, such as
Prepare and material or color.
set up catalogs for Advantage+ catalog ads / Prepare the data feed file
Availability: Indicate whether an item is in stock, available for order, out of stock or discontinued.
Condition: Indicate whether an item is new, refurbished or used.
Price: The cost and currency of the item.
Link: The URL of the specific product where people can buy the item or your Facebook page if you don’t have a
URL.
Image link: The URL for the main image of your item. The image size limit is 8 megabytes.
Brand, mpn or gtin: The brand name, unique manufacturer part number (MPN), or Global Trade Item Number
(GTIN) of the item.

Optional fields for Advantage+ catalog ads

You can also include the following optional fields:

Item group id: This field accounts for product variants (size and color) when there are parent and child SKUs. Use this
field so content_ids and content_type parameters in the pixel match items in your feed.
Google product category: This predefined taxonomy helps you properly categorize items or create product sets for
more specific groupings.
Sale price / sale price effective date: This field enables you to create dynamic overlays that indicate sale price and
ensure people see the latest prices when products go on sale.
Custom label [0-4]: This field enables you to add categorization or labels for items. You can add any text to the field
and segment it to create custom product sets.
Video[0].url: This field enables you to add product level video creatives for items.

Here are some image specifications.

For carousel ads, collection ads and Shops:

The product images display in a square 1:1 format.

The minimum resolution is 500 x 500 pixels.
The recommended size for best quality is 1024 x 1024 pixels.

Disclaimer: Wind & Wool is a fictitious business designed by Meta. Any similarities to content produced by real-life businesses aren't intentional. This example is
for illustrative purposes only. The UI may change as the product evolves.
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Prepare and set up catalogs for Advantage+ catalog ads / Prepare the data feed file

 

In addition to images, the latest feature in Advantage+ catalog ads enables you to upload product level video creative to
your catalog.

Tips for dynamic file generation

 Here are some tips for dynamic file generation. 1

Prepare and Generate thefor

set up catalogs file daily to ensure
Advantage+ that
catalog ads you have
/ Prepare thethe
datalatest
feed fileproduct information.
Generate the feed on an hourly schedule if your inventory changes often.
Use the marketing API in the rare case that you need to update items more than once an hour.

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Knowledge check

Download and use these two files for the activities in this lesson.
Data feed file (CSV)
Solution file (CSV)

Review the solution file after you answer the question below.
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Download files

Prepare and set up catalogs for Advantage+ catalog ads / Prepare the data feed file
The owner of Jasper’s Market shares a sample of their data feed file, which has items from their new line of dog
food and bowls that they carry at the store. They ask you to verify that the file is valid.

Disclaimer: Jasper's Market is a fictitious business designed by Meta. Any similarities to content produced by real-life businesses aren't intentional. This
example is for illustrative purposes only.

Your task:
1. Inspect the provided data feed file (CSV).
2. Use any tools necessary to determine if the file is valid and identify any potential issues with it.
3. Determine recommendations to correct the issue.

Select all the issues (if any) that you found in the data feed file.

Choose two answers.

 Incorrect field(s) heading / name  HTML format isn’t supported

 Missing field(s)  Universal IDs are missing

 No issues  Field can’t be all uppercase letters

Submit

​Key takeaways​

A data feed file is a plaintext or spreadsheet file that represents the items in your business in a structured way. It
also enables you to bulk upload items to your catalog.

The most common approach to populate a catalog is to list all items and attributes in a flat file and upload it as a
catalog feed. Supported file formats include, CSV, TSV, RSS XML, ATOM XM, ZIP, GZIP and BZ2 compressed
XM.

Required fields for Advantage+ catalog items include, content ID, title, description, availability, condition, price,
link, image link, brand and mpn or gtin.

Tips for dynamic field generation include:

Generate the file daily to ensure that you have the latest product information.
Generate the feed hourly if your inventory changes often.
 Use the marketing API if you need to update items more than once an hour. 1

Prepare and set up catalogs for Advantage+ catalog ads / Prepare the data feed file

Keep learning

Import a data feed file to Google Sheets

Catalog batch API
Example CSV and XML feeds
Supported feed formats

Next Activity
Prepare the assets