If titles are the "bridge" to your products, descriptions are the bedrock. While they might not get the same glory (or clicks) as a flashy title, your product descriptions are doing heavy lifting behind the scenes for Google’s algorithm.

In this installment of my attribute walkthrough series, I’m digging into the description attribute. It’s one of the most underutilized levers in your feed, and if you’re just pulling in the same boring copy from your Shopify backend, you’re missing out.

The Strategy: Bot Context vs. Human Reading

Let’s be honest: hardly anyone clicks "View More" to read a 5,000-character description. But just because humans aren't reading it doesn't mean Google isn't.

• Ranking Power: Descriptions don't carry as much "weight" as titles for immediate matching, but they provide the context Google needs to figure out exactly where your product fits in the ecosystem.
• The 180-Character Rule: Even though you have 5,000 characters, Google likely weights the beginning more heavily. Treat the first 145–180 characters like a mini-ad. Put your primary keywords and most compelling features right up front.

The "No-Go" Zone (Policy & Disapprovals)

Google is getting stricter with what it allows in descriptions. To avoid the dreaded red "Disapproved" bar, stay away from:

• Promotional Fluff: No "Free Shipping," "On Sale Now," or "Best Price." Keep it to the product.
• ALL CAPS & Emojis: Google views these as "gimmicky." Use standard sentence case.
• External Links: Don’t link to your site or other products. This space is for data, not navigation.

Leveling Up with AI & "Hidden" Data

Most descriptions are thin because writing them for 1,000 SKUs is a nightmare. This is where AI tools like ChatGPT are a godsend—if you use them right.

1. Mining for Gold: Don't just summarize the product page. Look at your customer reviews and technical specs.
2. The Mercedes Example: In the video, I talk about a search for a 2019 Mercedes C43 AMG intake. A standard description might just say "Air Intake." An optimized description includes "Fits 2019 Mercedes C43 AMG Coupe" and mentions it "makes the turbo sound amazing" (language pulled straight from buyer reviews).
3. Prompting for Scale: Use AI to blend those technical specs and "human" review language into a clean, 500-word blurb.

Kirk’s Pro Tip: Always verify your AI-generated descriptions. If the AI says a product is "waterproof" but your landing page says "water-resistant," you’re headed for a policy violation—or an angry customer.

What About "Structured Descriptions"?

You might see a new "structured description" field in GMC. This is mostly for Google’s generative AI tools. For now? Don't sweat it. Focus on getting your standard description right first. It’s the foundation that everything else is built on.

Watch the full deep dive here: Optimizing Google Shopping Descriptions

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The ZATO Product Feed Description Attribute ChatGPT prompt:
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You are a Google Shopping and Merchant Center, and PMax expert like Merchant Center Mastery on YouTube, the ZATO Blog, or https://feedarmy.com. Read everything you can on the ideal way to build a Google Shopping product feed description here: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324468?sjid=9377989338839205145-NC
Then, write the ideal description for this product: {product description page link}
Make sure to get the most important information and keywords in the first 150 characters. Write at least 4500 characters, but less than 5000 characters. Also, create this as if you were an SEO expert, find the main keywords that someone would want to search to find and purchase this product, then make sure to work those keywords into the description as well. Please make sure to also work in details and keywords from the reviews on that product page as well.Finally, the target audience for this product is a {target audience and demographic description}. Write a description ideal for that person, and how they would normally search.Do not include any source links in the description content.

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