Celebird Items Control App

The Celebird Items Control Application (BETA) allows merchants using the Google Merchant Center or Google Base to gain more control over certain aspects of their submitted items.

Currently under beta release, the application allows users to search items using Google's query facility, and sort retrieved items by a variety of attributes and statistics -- including impressions, clicks, title, and price.

The items-app has a view facility that displays various views of the retrieved data such as an "Abridged" view offering statistical highlights and an "Expanded" view showing attributes such as price and product_type.

Celebird-Items-App also has a filter feature utilizing Google's slightly more restrictive filtered-rows construct.  The filter can be used to restrict what's viewed; such as items within a range of exact prices between 250 to 550.

Notes on using the application --

First, you must grant access to your feed data -- This is done using the 'Grant Access' button; There is no modification of any data but this access does allow the display of the item's statistical information and to items that have not yet fully processed.

Second, a copy of your uploaded feed items must be retrieved from Google'e cloud using the application's "Get Items" button.

Only the search query feature and "Get Items" button operate on data within Google's cloud. All other information is displayed, and operated on, within your browser window.

That is, all data and graphs seen within the application is a subset of your feed items.

If the search-query is blank, the Get Items feature simply attempts to retrieve the next (max-results) set of submitted items into the application for further sorting and filtering.

A few browser caveats --

The number of items that can be retrieved and manipulated is limited by your browser.  So, make use of the query feature whenever possible -- especially with large numbers of items.  Since the data is limited to your browser, the application will warn that you must retrieve the items again if you migrate away from the application.

Also, Microsoft's Internet Explorer requires a Google Plug-In for the application to function. Otherwise, you might want to try the application using another browser first -- such as FireFox or Google's Chrome.

Celebird Items Control App may be launched here --

https://celebird-cloud.appspot.com/app/celebird-items-app/

Comments and feedback may be given by posting a comment to this blog post --
Please do not use Google's help forums for comments or feedback.

Celebird's Seven Laws of Quality Attributes

Information within a Google Merchant Center feed
is meant to describe each physical product item.

Describing an item within a data-feed (file) should be done
using valid, accurate, factual, clear, appropriate, and most
importantly, relevant, information without promotion.

Information about a product is described using attributes.

An attribute is a specific characteristic of an object --
in our case, the object is the product item for sale --
the item in your physical in stock inventory.

The attributes you select should be appropriate and proper
and should describe the characteristics of the physical item.

One technique is to imagine your customer has never seen your product --
you must describe your product over-the-phone to your potential customer,
without an image of the product.

Then, when your product is shipped and your customer opens the package,
there should be no surprises -- the item should look, feel, sound, smell,
or taste, exactly as you've described over the phone (or in your feed).

A feed's quality might be improved by applying
Celebird's Seven Laws of Attribute Quality to
your product being sold.

There are negative (-) attributes and negative values
that if used, may dilute a specific item's relevance --
in this context, negative means lower quality.

There are also positive (+) attributes and positive values
that if used, may enhance a specific item's relevance --
in this context, positive means higher quality.

Removing negative attributes or values,
and adding positive attributes and values
are key aspects of Celebird's Laws of Quality.

In the following example illustrating the Seven Laws --
first, try to intuit what your product is, based only
on the negative (low-quality) attributes and values;
then, try to intuit what your product is, based only
on the positive (high-quality) attributes and values.

Celebird's Seven Laws of Attribute Quality are:

1. attributes must be relevant.
        - <g:pattern>solid</g:pattern>
        + <g:size>10 x 3.5 x 0.5 inches</g:size>

2. attributes must be valid.
        - <g:shipping_weight>0pounds 7oz</g:shipping_weight>
        + <g:shipping_weight>7 oz</g:shipping_weight>

3. attributes must be accurate.
        - <g:shipping_weight>7 oz</g:shipping_weight>
        + <g:shipping_weight>7.25 oz</g:shipping_weight>

4. attributes must be factual.
        - <g:description>the best known nail pounder</g:description>
        + <g:description>Our claw hammer is made with a single-piece of forged, heat-treated, steel head and an aged cherry-wood handle. Weighing 7.5 ounces, the wooden handle is smooth to the touch and is just the right size for small nail or light pounding jobs around the house or yard.</g:description>

5. attributes must be clear.
        - <title>thing to hit nails<title>
        + <title>Claw hammer with aged cherry wood handle.<title>

6. attributes must be appropriate.
        - <g:color>please go to our website for details</g:color>
        + <g:color>brown/stainless steel</g:color>

7. attributes cannot promote.
        - <title>***BEAUTIFUL*** **HITS THINGS** Limited Stock!!! We are a great company in business for a long time and this is a great product. FREE SHIPPING!!!!!!</title>
        + <title>Claw hammer with cherry wood handle.</title>

In this example, your product is a hammer.