Product Descriptions for Feeds vs. for Shoppers
Why your Shopify product description field often needs a separate, attribute-rich version for Google's feed.
Written by Mantas Jurgutis — Founder, Adsify — builds the Google & Meta automation merchants use daily
Editorially reviewed by Adsify Editorial on April 7, 2026 — Reviewed against Shopify, Google Ads and Meta official documentation.
One field, two very different jobs
Shopify's Description field (the rich-text body on each product page) is written to persuade a human who has already clicked through — tone, storytelling, and formatting matter. Google's description attribute in the feed is read by a matching algorithm looking for specific, literal keywords: material, dimensions, use case, compatibility. A description optimized purely for on-site conversion often under-serves the feed because it skips exactly the specific nouns Google needs to match against search queries.
What Google's description attribute actually wants
Google's guidance for the description attribute asks for accurate, specific information about the product — material, features, size, intended use — written in plain text, not marketing copy, and explicitly discourages promotional text, all-caps, or HTML formatting. A description reading 'You'll love how this bag feels' contains zero attributes an algorithm can match, while 'Full-grain leather tote bag with 15-inch laptop compartment, adjustable strap, 12H x 14W x 5D inches' contains six matchable specifics in one sentence.
Default behavior in Shopify feed apps
Most feed apps, including the native Google & YouTube channel, default to pulling Shopify's Description field verbatim (with HTML stripped) into the feed's description attribute. This means unless you override it, your Shopify site copy and your Google feed copy are identical — fine for simple catalogs, but a missed opportunity for categories where on-page copy is heavily stylistic.
Building a separate feed description
For product types where you want different copy, use a metafield (Settings > Custom data > Products > Add definition, type single-line or multi-line text) to store a feed-specific description, then configure your feed app to pull from that metafield instead of the default Description field. This lets your on-site copy stay conversion-focused while the feed copy stays attribute-dense, without editing the same field twice for two audiences.
A worked example
Take a candle product. On-site: 'Fill your evenings with the warm, comforting scent of vanilla and driftwood — hand-poured in small batches.' For the feed, a better description reads: 'Vanilla driftwood scented soy wax candle, 8 oz, 45-hour burn time, cotton wick, hand-poured.' Both are accurate; only the second gives Google's matching system usable, specific terms like scent name, wax type, size, and burn time that map to real search queries.
Length and formatting limits
Google allows description text up to 5,000 characters but only the first several hundred characters carry the most weight for matching, so front-load the most specific attributes rather than opening with a brand story. Avoid special characters, emojis, or ALL CAPS words, since Google's policy on promotional text can flag descriptions that read as ad copy rather than product information.