Hi everyone, it’s Emmanuel from FeedArmy. Today, I want to walk you through a big update from GMC: the introduction of physical goods subscriptions and what it means for your feed, your business model, and your product data.
📢 UPDATE — March 2026
Since this article was first published, Google has released further clarifications and changes to the subscription model in Google Merchant Center. Here’s what’s new:
- Supported billing periods are now strictly defined. Only standard periods of 1 week, 1 month, or 1 year are supported. Variable periods such as 3-month or 6-month recurring plans are not supported at this time. If you’re selling supplements or similar products with 3- or 6-month plans on your site, those cannot be submitted as subscription options in GMC.
- One subscription per product still applies. As a reminder, you can only submit one subscription model per product. This is also the reason why multiple billing period options cannot be submitted simultaneously.
- Period length clarification. If your offer is “cancel anytime,” you should enter a value of 1 for the
period_lengthsub-attribute. - New eligible categories added. In addition to the categories listed below, Google has now added alcohol beverages and medicine & drugs as supported categories for subscription models.
- Rounding rule removed. Google has removed the clause that previously stated they may round subscription amounts up to the nearest whole unit of local currency. This is a welcome change for pricing transparency.
- VAT must be included. Just like with standard prices and sale prices, VAT must be included in your subscription pricing, excluding the US and Canada.
- New examples added. Google has updated its documentation with examples for physical prescription drugs and medical consultations with a subscription plan.
What’s Changed?
In October 2025, Google announced that physical goods subscriptions will be available to all eligible Shopping Ad merchants in the U.S. This means that, instead of just one-off purchases, businesses can now sell physical items recurring via Shopping ads. The official help document says:
“This update allows you to sell physical goods on a recurring basis, giving you more flexibility in your business models and offering your customers more convenient ways to shop.”
And it lists explicitly the eligible categories: apparel & accessories; coffee; health care (non-prescription); home & garden; personal care; pet supplies; prepared foods; and toys.
Why This Matters
Suppose you’re a merchant who offers replenishable or recurring-need physical goods (think pet supplies, coffee, personal-care consumables, subscription boxes of apparel/accessories, etc). In that case, this opens an important new ad channel with GMC. It means:
- You can encourage repeat purchases by offering subscriptions instead of one-time sales.
- You gain improved customer lifetime value (LTV) potential because you’re locking in recurring revenue.
- You may position your brand as a “set-and-forget” solution for customers, giving them convenience (which they like).
- On the other hand, you’ll need to make sure your feed is structured and compliant, because yes, Google has new requirements tied to this update.
New Feed/Attribute Requirements
Here are the key things you’ll need to add or update:
- Use the new attribute subscription_cost. That’s required for items you wish to sell on a subscription basis.
- Within subscription_cost, you must include its three sub-attributes: period (week, month or year)
- period_length (an integer number of those periods)
- amount (in ISO 4217 currency format)
- Make sure your product feed also has the appropriate Google_product_category value and that you are in one of the supported categories listed above. If your category is wrong, you risk disapproval.
- Significant limitations: Google currently supports only one subscription price per landing page. Sales or discounts on subscriptions are not yet supported. So you can’t offer tiered subscription pricing or promotional discounts at launch.
Things to Watch (and Pitfalls)
- Ensure your landing-page messaging is clear: when a user submits a subscription product, the plan they choose must match what they see on the site. If you list “month:12:50 USD” then your page must reflect that exact pricing and period.
- Don’t try to list multiple subscription price options (e.g., “two for one”, “five-pack subscription”) on the same landing page, Google won’t support that yet.
- This update is strictly for physical goods in the U.S. and in the eligible categories, not for digital subscriptions or services. If you’re offering software subscriptions, apps, digital downloads, etc, this particular policy doesn’t apply.
- As of now, this feature applies to U.S. Shopping-ad merchants only. If you’re outside the U.S., you’ll want to keep an eye out for expansions.
- Because the feature is new, your feed setup may trigger errors if the attributes aren’t correct or if your page doesn’t match. Monitor your Merchant Center account for alerts or disapprovals.
- From the feed specification side: if you’re also using installment or other payment-plan attributes, make sure they align, the subscription_cost attribute has specific requirements.
Implementation Checklist
Here’s a quick checklist you can run through:
- Identify physical goods SKUs that make sense for a subscription model (e.g., consumables, recurring purchases).
- Confirm the SKU falls into one of the supported categories (apparel/accessories, coffee, home & garden, etc.).
- Update your feed to include the subscription_cost attribute with sub-attributes (period, period_length, amount).
- Ensure your landing page clearly shows the subscription price and the term (e.g., “billed monthly for 12 months at $X”).
- Avoid offering multiple pricing tiers on that landing page (stick to one subscription price).
- Make sure your google_product_category attribute is accurate and corresponds with the correct taxonomy.
- Monitor your Merchant Center account post-upload for any disapprovals or alerts.
- Adjust your ad and feed strategy to promote the subscription option (e.g., highlight convenience, savings, auto-replenishment).
Final Thoughts
I’m genuinely excited about this change, it’s a strong step by Google to support subscription commerce in the shopping-ads ecosystem. For merchants, it means you can move beyond one-time sales and build recurring business through the same channel. For shoppers, it means more convenience and fewer points of friction.
If you’re thinking of testing this model, now’s a great time. And if you find yourself needing help setting it up (feed spec, landing-page design, choosing SKUs, etc), feel free to drop a comment or reach out, I’d be happy to help.
Reference: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16655415
Stay tuned for more updates, and I’ll see you in the next blog!