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GoneFunky



Posts: 1331

PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 7:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

FoxAndFish You made some very good points which I hadn't really thought about. I sell lots of luggage and larger items which ship FedEx. I let customers know I use FedEx because it simply doesn't work well in some parts of the US. I also ask that they provide a day time address for signature confirmation.

I wonder if this is considered promotional or nonsense in Googles eyes? Crying or Very sad
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FoxAndFish



Posts: 1585

PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 8:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

frillypad wrote:
I wonder if this is considered promotional or nonsense in Googles eyes?


Dunno. Which is why I asked about it months ago. And now it's not just in Google's eyes but also in eCrater's eyes. As I mentioned the other day, my latest Google feed went thru fine...with the shipping information intact. But I don't know how long that will last. It would be too much to hope for or even expect that a human is reviewing the listings and can differentiate your providing information about FedEx for your luggage items from someone who just slaps boilerplate shipping policy in every listing...as opposed to software that kicks out the word "shipping" regardless of context.

And that's just the shipping problem (for some sellers). There's also a bigger "promotional" problem b/c eCrater is a marketplace setup where buyers are directed from Google Shopping into the main site, and not the individual sellers' stores...something that they may not even be aware of. So some sellers, self incl, put information about the store in the product description. This is also now verboten according to the TOS. (This problem could be solved, at least from the seller's perspective, by directing buyers from Google Shopping to the individual stores, as it had been for a few months earlier this yr.)

As Poopsheet said, this is really a deal-breaker.
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thelivesandlovesofmaggiethecat



Posts: 10158

PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Okay, I was getting no satisfaction here re what was now practice and what was preference and future plans.

I wrote to Google and just got a response. Here it is. Don't waste your time clicking on the link in the email. It didn't compliment the answer. It is about shipping options.

Thank you for your email. I understand that items from your store are
submitted to Google Merchant Center directly by Ecrater. It appears that
your data feed is including promotional text. Please know that our
policies prohibit the inclusion of promotional text in item content. For
example, any text which
describes your shipping prices,
billing information,
promotions,
stock information, or
your store's policies
is considered promotional text and should be removed from the "title" and
"description" fields in your feed. If you'd like to specify shipping
information for your items, please see http://google.com/support/merchants/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=160162 for instructions. Please know that some feeds or items including promotional text may no longer be processed by our system.


Judging from the way they wiped my 5 stores from the map, I would change that last MAY NO LONGER to DEFINITELY WON'T. Every day fewer of them show up.

Have any of you started editing yet? It takes hours and hours just to go through a single category....and it is brain dead work. We will all be babbling idiots by the time we finish if we make it that far.
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SheilaDeesPostcards
moderator


Posts: 4614

PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 10:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

We REALLY, REALLY need another text box on each item page that would not be fed to Google Market where we could put our promotional text and item specific shipping information. If you agree and haven't added a comment on the topic in the suggestion section, Need more than one text box for Item Description please go add your voice to the topic. Maybe if enough sellers make a request and explain how they personally need the feature, it would be considered.
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vintagecornerstore



Posts: 151

PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 11:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I thought that the feeds only read the first 250 characters of the description. If that still holds true, I should think any information past that point wouldn't be "read," and should be okay.

Maggie, did your "promo" stuff hit within that 250 character range? I'd be real interested to know.
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thelivesandlovesofmaggiethecat



Posts: 10158

PostPosted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 12:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some did and some didn't. I can't tell which items were deleted and which weren't. At this point most in this store are missing. My boiler plates were for the most part one or two lines no matter where they were located.
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victorianrose



Posts: 28

PostPosted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 2:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't know, but after reading this thread. It just makes me want to slap myself or go out and get Drunk (and I don't even drink). No way can I edit that many listings. I don't have that kind of time on earth. HA! HA!
What will tomorrow's news from Google Be? Oh forget it Laughing
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maggiethehousecat



Posts: 2457

PostPosted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 3:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

In just one category, I have 202 items listed and all but 51 have been rejected by Google. I just finished editing 52 items. It took an hour and a half. Only 3548 to go.
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lastade-designs
moderator


Posts: 2903

PostPosted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 3:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Instead of the word shipping, I have the words mailing cost. None of my listings were rejected. I am starting to edit, just to be on the safe side. I hate to do this because I consider the information in my listings important, especially the so-called promotional information. I do not only sell patterns, I sell the fact that I am an expert at what I do. I have the fact that I can help people if they have a questions about knitting or other crafts on my listing page. I know people are not always going to check the about me info. I think that this information has helped me establish a following and has added a personal touch to my store.
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SheilaDeesPostcards
moderator


Posts: 4614

PostPosted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

vintagecornerstore wrote:
I thought that the feeds only read the first 250 characters of the description. If that still holds true, I should think any information past that point wouldn't be "read," and should be okay.
Even if it didn't get deleted from Google, it would still violate eCraters new TOS. Crying or Very sad
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wtcollectibles



Posts: 2728

PostPosted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
For
example, any text which
describes ...
stock information, ... is considered promotional text and should be removed from the "title" and
"description" fields in your feed.

Can anybody translate "stock information" for me? Is it "stock" as in stock phrases, i.e., the dreaded "boilerplate" information, or is it "stock" as in my stock, my inventory, as in my "stock number"/item number/SKU number? Which is unfortunately in my titles to help me retrieve the items quickly without having to open up my whole inventory list.
Good grief.
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YardSaleBargains



Posts: 612

PostPosted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just noticed in thelivesandlovesofmaggiethecat response from Google that we are also NOT ALLOWED to add stock information.

Since there is no location on our pages to indicate how many of a particular item is available for sale, I currently mention I have 5 available for sale for instance for items that I have more than 1 of.

If mentioning stock information is also not allowed how are we suppose to let the buyers know that we have more than 1 available?

Yard Sale Bargains
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wtcollectibles



Posts: 2728

PostPosted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think we were posting at the same time! Laughing

So you take it to mean my latter suggestion, stock = inventory? I think I still have some of my oldest items that say "4 available" or whatever (and need to be changed anyway, Google or not). But I was more worried about "stock number" which I actually put in the title and which is what I do now on my most recent items.

Everything submitted got inserted in the 10/11 feed, so I guess I'll just have to watch for the next feed and see how much it goes down. Sad
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TyreeTrading



Posts: 1608

PostPosted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 7:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was going to make changes anyway. Now it looks like it will be mandatory.

Drone work ahead...6,000 listings in 4 stores to change.

This will delay the start of store number 5.
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YourRainyDayBookStore



Posts: 764

PostPosted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Perhaps this email I received from the eCrater team, in response to my questions, will also be of help to you:


Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 8:55 AM

Thank you for your email regarding the 3.3 Content requirements.

**Boilerplate is any text that is or can be reused repeatedly without being changed much from the original text. A phrase or body of text repeated in different documents and on eCRATER in item descriptions.

**Texts related to shipping or store policies should not be included in product descriptions or titles. Shipping and store policies should be entered in the FAQ section and/or Terms sections of the store.

**Promotional text is when words like "Free Shipping", "brand new", and exclamation marks at the end of the title, etc.

If the same or almost the same text is being added to listings, then it would be considered boilerplate text. All text in the description should directly describe the product and not store policies or shipping.
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