The two jobs of a description
A Shopping description must keep the product eligible (a couple of real sentences about the product itself — material, size, fit, purpose) and make it matchable (the vocabulary shoppers search with: the category words, the use case, the distinguishing attributes). A missing description fails the first job and the product is rejected. A one-liner passes eligibility and fails matching — live, but invisible.
Why supplier copy fails
Supplier descriptions are duplicated across every retailer stocking the product, so Google has already seen the text dozens of times — your listing adds nothing new to match on. Thin copy (a single sentence or a bare spec list) has the same problem at smaller scale: not enough content to confidently match the product to buyer queries. Stores that write unique descriptions win twice — eligibility plus relevance nobody else can claim.
The rewrite pattern
Two to four sentences, in this order: what it is (product + category words), what distinguishes it (material, size, fit, key attribute), what it is for (use case in shopper vocabulary). Example: a supplier line reading “Blue vase, large” becomes “Large 30cm ceramic vase in glazed cobalt blue. Hand-thrown stoneware with a narrow neck for tall stems; watertight glaze, wipes clean. A statement centrepiece for dining tables and entryways.” Same facts, matchable vocabulary, unique text.
The description should complement the title, not repeat it. If the title carries brand and attributes, spend description sentences on material, use and fit.
What never belongs here
- Shipping and returns policy. Google treats policy text in the description as unrelated content. Policies belong in Merchant Center and on policy pages.
- HTML that renders empty. A description of only markup counts as missing — strip tags and confirm real text remains.
- Promotional boilerplate. “Best price guaranteed, buy now” triggers the same promotional-text rules as titles.
Related error guides: missing description · promotional text
Shipwork reads every product description in your public catalogue and flags anything missing, under 50 characters, or duplicated boilerplate. Free, no account, no signup — paste your store address.
Check my descriptionsQuestions
- How long should a Google Shopping description be?
- At least two real sentences about the product itself. There is no hard maximum — relevance beats length — but every sentence should add matchable vocabulary.
- Can I use the supplier description?
- You can, but dozens of stores share it, so it adds no unique matching signal. Rewrite the top sellers first; that is where uniqueness pays.
- Does the description affect ranking or just approval?
- Both. A missing description means rejection; a thin one means eligibility without relevance — live, but rarely shown.
- Should the description repeat the title?
- No. The title already carries brand and identifiers. Spend description sentences on material, fit and use case.
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