Data tip: Location values

Tuesday, January 31, 2006 at 9:50 AM

by Steven De La O, Google Base Operations

One formatting issue we've often come across when processing bulk uploads is the presence of invalid "location" values. Our bulk upload specifications mention that a valid location value is formatted as follows:

Street, city, state, postal code, and country

We understand complete addresses are not always available or applicable for certain items, so we accept partial addresses as well. So how can you find out if your location values will be accepted? Here's a tip you can use to check your values:

Before you submit your bulk upload file, try entering a few of your location values at http://local.google.com/. Your location is considered valid if it returns a hit on the Google Local map. If you don't get a hit, try modifying your location according to the suggestions Google Local makes. If you still can't get a hit, read the information in this Google Local help article.

We also use Google Local resources to help determine if location values in a file are valid. If your address works there, it should work in Google Base as well.

Join the Group

Thursday, January 19, 2006 at 3:53 PM

by Steven De La O, Google Base Operations

One mark of a strong community is the ability to help each other out, and that's one reason we have launched the Google Base Help Discussion group. If you have questions about Google Base, there's a pretty good chance someone else has encountered something similar, so please consider this an alternative source of support. Tap into a knowledge network of providers and their insights and experiences to resolve questions and problems.

From time to time, the Google Base team will post messages here, and we encourage all members to share thoughts and ideas and to interact with each other. Don't delay - why not join the group right now. The "join this group" link can be found just below the group title at http://groups.google.com/group/base-help-discussion. And before you start, remember to read the group charter.

Bulk uploads and subdomains

Wednesday, January 04, 2006 at 2:33 PM

By Steven De La O, Google Base Operations

One major sticking point for folks attempting to submit data to Google Base via bulk uploads has been fixed in our latest update.

Registering a URL in account settings is a requirement for submitting bulk upload files. Till recently, many people were prohibited from registering URLs that included subdomains. One example of a subdomain is http://groups.google.com/. If you registered http://groups.google.com/base-help-discussion/, nobody else could register a URL that included that subdomain. For example, http://groups.google.com/Froogle-Merchants/ could not be registered for another account even though it points to a different page.

This was a major hitch that ultimately prevented many people from submitting their files, including those who have online stores with the same subdomains. This should no longer be a problem, and we are looking forward to receiving data that may have been affected by this issue till now.