Google Merchant Center Updates: What’s Changing in 2025?

Google has announced important changes to its Merchant Center policies that will impact all online sellers who list products in Google Shopping and free listings. The updates will roll out in two phases: April 8 and July 1, 2025. The changes affect how installment payments, member pricing, energy labels, and sales tax information for the U.S. will be handled.

Phase 1: Changes Effective April 8, 2025

1. New Installment Pricing Rules Google will no longer allow the [price] attribute to be used for deposits on installment products. What you need to do:

• Use the [downpayment] sub-attribute within the [installment] attribute to show the initial payment.
• The [price] attribute should reflect the full price of the product when paid upfront. This update allows for clearer separation between the full price and installment options, helping customers better understand the offer.

2. Updated Energy Labels For EU countries, Google is replacing the old energy efficiency class attributes with the broader [certification] attribute.

• This supports both new and old EU energy labels, ensuring compliance with the latest European regulations.
• In Norway, Switzerland, and the UK, the old energy class attributes will still be used.

3. Improved Delivery Options Google has added more delivery details at the product level, including new attributes such as:

• [carrier_shipping] to specify the carrier.
• Options to indicate handling and transit business days. These updates help provide more accurate delivery times in ads and listings.

Phase 2: Changes Effective July 1, 2025

1. Member Pricing Updates Google will no longer allow member prices to be listed in the [price] or [sale_price] attributes for loyalty program items (both paid and free programs). What you need to do:

• Use the [loyalty_program] attribute for member discounts.
• Products that do not comply with this rule may be disapproved after July 1.

2. U.S. Sales Tax Requirement Removed Starting July 1, Google will no longer require U.S. sellers to provide sales tax information via the [tax] and [tax_category] attributes or Merchant Center settings. This means:

• Simplified feed preparation.
• Products previously disapproved for missing tax information may now appear in results, affecting your ad spend.
• U.S. sellers must still submit tax information until July 1.

What These Changes Mean for Online Sellers

These updates require reviewing your product feeds to avoid errors and disapproved items.

• Installment Payments: You can now clearly show full prices and installment options, making it easier for customers to understand the terms of purchase.
• Energy Labels: The new [certification] attribute simplifies compliance with EU regulations.
• Member Pricing: Most sellers will need to switch to the [loyalty_program] attribute or risk losing visibility for their products.
• U.S. Sales Tax: This change will simplify tax-related feed issues, and previously rejected products may now show up in search results.

How to Prepare Your Merchant Center for These Changes

• Check your feeds for outdated attributes
• Implement the new installment payment rules immediately
• EU sellers: update energy labels to the new certification attribute
• Adjust member pricing before July 1
• Expect improved performance for products previously disapproved due to tax issues

Google notes: “Thanks to these changes, offers that are currently disapproved for missing tax information may begin to receive traffic.”

Conclusion

These updates to Google Merchant Center are designed to improve the quality and accuracy of product listings. Sellers who adapt quickly to these changes will avoid disruptions in their ads and gain a competitive advantage through better product data and delivery information.

If you don’t want to handle all these updates yourself, we’re here to help! Our expert specialists will set up everything you need to ensure your product listings meet the new requirements and perform at their best.

For more information or assistance with setting up your Google Merchant Center, feel free to contact us!