Most people are familiar with the core required attributes in Google Merchant Center. However, there are a few that remain that are seldom talked about.  Excluded Destinations is one of those such products. Excluded destination, or [excluded_destination] as it is defined in the Product Data Feed Specification, actively controls which specific channels you’d like your products to appear in.  Managers can pause products from certain channels without deleting the item or losing organic visibility and performance history.

Supported Values for excluded_destination attribute

Within this Product Feed attribute, there lies six supported values.

• Shopping_ads: Prevents product offers from displaying in paid Shopping ads.
• Free_listings: Prevents items from displaying in free organic Google Shopping listings.
• Display_ads: Blocks offers from dynamic remarketing campaigns.
• Local_inventory_ads & Free_local_listings: Excludes items from local store ads or organic local listings.
• YouTube_affiliate & YouTube_merchandise: Prevents products from appearing on partnered YouTube affiliate channels or store feeds.
• Cloud_retail & Local_cloud_retail: Controls data flow to Cloud Retail API projects.

Use Cases for excluded_destination

There are many reasons why an account manager would want to exclude products from a certain channel.

• Low-Margin / Unprofitable SKUs: Many advertisers use this to stop ad spend on slim-margin items by excluding shopping ads, while keeping them on free listings included for zero-cost traffic.
• Pre-Sale & Long Lead-Time Products: Temporarily pause paid ads for items with long backorders/presale dates to avoid high return rates or policy flags, while retaining item ID history.
• Channel-Specific Restrictions: Exclude dropshipped or non-local items from local inventory programs without affecting standard online Shopping campaigns.
• As an Alternative to Deleting Products: Removing SKUs from the feed entirely hurts long-term tracking and organic reach compared to targeted destination exclusions.

How to add excluded_destination to your product data feed in Google Merchant Center

If you aren’t currently utilizing excluded destinations, there are many ways to go about adding it to your feed. Hardcoding this attribute within the Primary Feed is the preferred method, but if you cannot do that, you can create a supplemental feed mapping your ID to excluded_destination.  Depending on how you import your feed into Google Merchant Center, some Feed Management Tools will allow you to set Feed Rules based on custom labels, inventory levels or margin thresholds.  Remember to always use comma-separated values when using more than one of the supported values.

Reporting Available

As with any Google tool, it’s important to regularly audit your feed and excluded products.  Regularly review your data feed and feed rules to ensure that they are functioning correctly and check your excluded listings frequently in case stock status or advertising needs change.  Be sure to keep track of item ID performance metrics after removing exclusions.

Conclusion

Using the excluded destination attribute in Google Merchant Center provides a powerful way to manage your channel mix without sacrificing your item performance history or organic reach. By selectively pausing products from specific paid or promotional programs, advertisers can protect margins on low-profit SKUs, streamline inventory during lead-time delays, and avoid policy issues.

‍

To get started, perform a quick audit of your feed to identify low-margin, pre-order, or channel-specific SKUs that could benefit from destination exclusions. Whether you implement these updates directly via primary feed attributes, feed rules, or supplemental feeds, establishing a routine review process will help ensure your product data stays aligned with your marketing goals and profit margins.

‍

‍