In today's digital landscape, personalized advertising drives results. Dynamic Ads are at the forefront, tailoring content to individual user interests and significantly boosting engagement. The product feed is the crucial backbone of these powerful ads. This guide will walk you through everything you need to effectively understand and leverage your product feed for Dynamic Ads, from core concepts and preparation to strategies and troubleshooting.
What is a Product Feed?
A product feed is a digital catalog of your inventory (e.g., TXT, CSV, XML file). Each row represents a product with attributes like ID, title, description, price, image URL, and product page URL. This information populates dynamic ad creatives.
If you already have a product feed we can most likely use it. Here are some third party providers that produce feeds:
- Shopify
- GoDataFeed
- Channel Advisor
- Amazon
- Bing Shopping
- Google Merchant Center
Prerequisites for Your Product Feed
Your product feed must meet these requirements:
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Accepted File Formats
- Commonly accepted formats include TXT (tab-delimited or pipe-delimited), CSV, and XML.2 Tab-delimited TXT is often preferred.
- Examples:
TXT tab delimited
CSV comma separated value
XML - example
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Product IDs and Pixel Implementation
- Each product in your feed needs a unique Product ID. This same unique Product ID must be captured on your product pages by the AdRoll’s pixel (via adroll_custom_data). Exact matching of these IDs is crucial for linking user activity to your product data. If the pixel-captured ID doesn't match an ID in the feed, personalization fails.
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Required and Recommended Data Fields in Your Feed
- Some fields are mandatory, others enhance ad richness.
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Maintaining an Up-to-Date Feed
- Your product feed must accurately reflect current inventory and pricing. It should be product-level (one unique entry per distinct product). Ensure product availability, pricing, and general info are current and match your product pages. Plan for regular feed updates.
Product Feed Specifications Summary
| Field Name | Action | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| product_id | Required | Unique identifier for the product. Must exactly match the ID passed by the website pixel. | SKU12345 (Case-sensitive) |
| title | Required | Product name. | Men's Classic Cotton T-Shirt |
| description | Recommended | Brief product summary. | Soft, breathable 100% cotton t-shirt. |
| link | Required | Direct URL to the product's landing page. | https://www.example.com/products/mens-classic-cotton-tshirt |
| image_link | Required | URL of the main product image. | https://www.example.com/images/mens-tshirt-blue.jpg |
| price | Required | Current product price. | 19.99 USD |
| sale_price | Recommended | Discounted price, if applicable. | 14.99 USD |
| availability | Recommended | Current stock status. | in stock, out of stock |
| google_product_category | Recommended | Google's standardized product category. | Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Shirts & Tops |
| brand | Recommended | Brand name. | ExampleBrand |
Connecting Your Product Feed to the Platform
Connect your prepared feed to the advertising platform.
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Providing Your Feed
- Typically, you'll contact support at support@adroll.com or Account Manager and share the link to your product feed (TXT, CSV, XML, or a hosted feed link).
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Accessibility for Hosted Feeds (If you host your own feed file)
- If you self-host, ensure the AdRoll team can access it. This may require allowlisting the platform's IP address and User Agent. For AdRoll, these are:
- IP Address: 54.69.18.100
- User Agent: AdRoll Dynamic Creative Feed Parser bot (delight@adroll.com) Provide any necessary access credentials (username/password).
- If you self-host, ensure the AdRoll team can access it. This may require allowlisting the platform's IP address and User Agent. For AdRoll, these are:
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Important Considerations for Your Feed
- Single File Requirement: Generally, your entire product catalog for Dynamic Ads should be in one feed file.
- Avoid Unauthorized Structure Changes: Inform the AdRoll support before making any structural changes to an integrated feed (rearranging columns, changing file type) to prevent ad performance issues.
Creating Your Dynamic Ads
Once your product feed is ready, you're all set to design and launch powerful Dynamic Ads. This guide will walk you through the entire process, covering ad creation, management, available types, formats, components, themes, custom ad options, and essential best practices.
Advanced Product Feed Management
Handle complex scenarios like product exclusions.
How to Exclude Specific Products (Product Blacklisting)
Prevent certain products from appearing in Dynamic Ads.
- Reasons for Blacklisting: Out-of-stock, discontinued, seasonal, or low-margin items.
- Information Needed: To request blacklisting, provide your Advertiser EID, a precise list of unique Product IDs (matching the feed), and a brief reason for exclusion.
- Implications: Blacklisted products won't appear in dynamic ads, potentially impacting retargeting for users who viewed those items.
- Alternative for Temporary Unavailability: For temporarily out-of-stock items, it's better to update the availability attribute in your product feed (e.g., to 'out of stock') rather than blacklisting.
- Automatic feed setups are updated weekly and may reverse manual blacklisting if items are still marked as available in the source data.
- How to Manage Exclusions: Contact support with your list of Product IDs.
Troubleshooting Common Product Feed Issues
Address common problems to maintain effective campaigns.
Common Product Feed Issues & Solutions
| Issue | Common Symptoms | Key User Actions to Resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Feed Parsing Failed | 0 products imported; "Feed Failed" status; 0% product match rate. Critical impact. |
1. Verify Feed URL: Ensure it's live, correct, and publicly accessible (if not password-protected). 2. Check Allowlisting (if self-hosted): Confirm platform's IP (e.g., AdRoll's 54.69.18.100) and User Agent (e.g., AdRoll's AdRoll Dynamic Creative Feed Parser bot (delight@adroll.com)) are allowlisted. 3. Validate Feed Format & Encoding: Ensure accepted format (TXT, CSV, XML) and UTF-8 encoding. |
| Troubled Products (Individual Item Errors) | Incorrect ad info (price, image); Specific products not appearing. |
1. Inspect Data in Source Feed: For problematic Product IDs, check accuracy of title, price, image URL, landing page URL in your feed file. 2. Validate Image & Landing Page URLs: Ensure they are correct and accessible. 3. Check Availability Status: Confirm availability is correct. 4. Correct and Re-sync: Update your source feed and re-upload or wait for the next sync. |
| Low Product ID Match Rate (<40%) | Underperforming ads; Irrelevant ads; Low match rate in dashboard. |
1. CRUCIAL - Verify Product ID Consistency: a. On your product pages, use browser developer console (type adroll_custom_data or equivalent) to see the product_id captured by the pixel. b. Compare this exactly (case-sensitive, no extra spaces) with the id in your product feed for the same product. 2. Check Pixel Firing: Confirm tracking pixel fires correctly on product pages and captures a Product ID. 3. Align Product IDs: Ensure Product IDs from the pixel perfectly match those in the feed. This may require developer help. |
If issues persist after these checks, contact platform support with specific details of your findings.
Best Practices
Product ID Accuracy
Ensure consistent product IDs across your feed, website, and pixel for precise tracking and retargeting.
Fresh Feed Data
Keep price, availability, and key product info automatically current for accuracy and to prevent ad disapprovals.
Regular Monitoring
Consistently check feed diagnostics and campaign performance dashboards to quickly address issues and optimize.
Comprehensive Data
Populate all relevant product attributes like titles, descriptions, images, and categories for better visibility and ad relevance.
Optimize Audience Segments
Refine targeting based on user engagement.
Analyze Performance Reports
Dive into data to identify top and bottom performers, use these insights to refine your feed and marketing strategies.
Landing Page Experience
Ensure linked landing pages load fast, are responsive, and accurately match feed information to prevent wasted ad spend.
Compliance is Key
Strictly adhere to creative guidelines to avoid disapprovals and maintain uninterrupted ad campaigns.
Find Further Help
For unresolved or account-specific issues, contact AdRoll’s support team.