Google Now Requires GTINs In Shopping Product Data Feeds

Global Trade Item Number

[engine]

Google is tightening up its requirements for Shopping feeds and now wants many countries, detailed below, to use the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) to help identify products. This starts September 15, 2015, so if you are late top the party, you'd better get a move on.

Starting September 15, we’ll require Google Shopping feeds targeting Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom or the United States to submit valid ‘gtin’ and ‘brand’ for all products when the ‘brand’ is a designated brand [https://goo.gl/LDvzlL] and the ‘condition’ is ‘new’. At that time, we’ll disapprove offers that do not meet this requirement or are submitted with invalid GTINs. Google Now Requires GTINs In Shopping Product Data Feeds [plus.google.com]

[Leosghost]

Let the gnashing of teeth and the wailing commence..

[RhinoFish]

For now, it's just these 50 brands:
[support.google.com...]

It has always been better to add them where you have them, what they're saying is, for big brands, where G knows the GTINs exist, now you've got to have them.
If you sell custom goods that don't have them, you're fine.
If you sell non-custom goods, and it's not among these 50 brands, the clock is ticking, G's going to grow that list of brands that are "GTIN Mandatory Brands".