Google Merchant

How to Populate gender for Google Merchant from an Explicit Source Value

2026-06-21
Task

Convert an explicit source gender value into a supported Google value without guessing from a category name.

Short answer

Clear the target gender column and add a separate Equals rule for each known source value.

How to Do It in Eofferix

  1. Add or open the target gender column in the table editor.

    Opening the gender column rules in Eofferix
    Open the rules for the target gender column.
  2. Keep the first clearing rule. For source column gender_raw, add exact mappings: menmale, womenfemale, and unisexunisex.

    Exact rules mapping source gender values to male female and unisex
    Each known value is mapped separately; an unknown value stays blank.
  3. Apply the rules. A row without a known marker must remain blank; do not assign unisex automatically. Treat that blank as a review stop.

  4. Before export, resolve every blank value in scenarios where Google requires gender. Then export the feed and inspect the item variants in Merchant Center.

Important. The name gender_raw and the source values shown here are examples. Select your actual column and list the supplier’s real values. If you only have a category name, first create a controlled mapping for known categories and leave unknown cases blank for review.

Expected Result

Source valueFeed resultWhy
menmaleThe explicit value maps to a supported Google value.
womenfemaleThe complete value is compared exactly.
unisexunisexunisex is written only when explicitly supplied.
blank / unknownblankThe value is not guessed.

Checks Before Export

  • The output contains only the English values male, female, and unisex.
  • Every rule uses Equals, so overlapping words cannot cause a partial match.
  • Every blank is resolved before export when gender is required for the selected destination, category, and country.

Google Merchant Requirements

Google supports exactly three gender values: male, female, and unisex.

For free listings, gender is required for products in Apparel & Accessories (Google product category ID 166). For Shopping ads, it is required for products in that category targeting Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Google separately lists Apparel & Accessories subcategories for which the attribute is optional; check the current list in the official documentation below.

The attribute is not repeatable. Where it is required, a blank is not a finished result: review and correct the row before export.

Official Google Merchant documentation.

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