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Overview
This section provides details about the feed files required to transmit inventory data to Google. The contents of your feeds define the services that you provide and the services that are available to consumers.
You need to create the following feed files and upload them to the Actions Center in both sandbox and production environments.
The following diagram shows how service, restaurant, and action entities represent a single restaurant.
Implement real time updates (Optional)
RTUs are primarily intended for updates that are not predictable, such as emergency closures or metadata that changes periodically (such as ETAs).
If your change doesn't need to be reflected immediately, you can use batch feed ingestion instead. Real-time updates are processed within five minutes.
For more information, see Real time update.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-05-20 UTC."],[[["You need to create Merchant feeds (and optionally Services feeds, though not recommended) to transmit your inventory data to Google."],["Feeds must be in JSON or Protocol Buffer 3 format, uploaded to your Google SFTP Dropbox, and uniquely named, ideally with a timestamp."],["Google evaluates the feeds for quality, completeness, and adherence to specifications, including required fields and matching with Google Maps locations."],["Each merchant must have at least one `action_link` or one service with at least `action_link` defined within the feeds for successful processing."],["Pre-evaluation of your feeds before submission is strongly recommended to ensure a smooth integration process."]]],["Generate a Merchant feed containing merchant data like ID, name, geo-location, telephone, category, and action links; a Services feed is optional and not recommended. Export feeds using protocol buffer 3 syntax or JSON format, preferably. Upload feeds to Google's SFTP dropbox, ensuring unique file names and file sizes under 200MB (compressed). A complete Merchant feed, and Service if applicable, must be provided daily. Google then evaluates the uploaded feeds for specification adherence, required fields, action links, and Google Maps data matching.\n"]]