One Feed or Two? Structuring Arabic and English Product Data for Google and Meta

Meta lets you store localized fields for up to 350 language and country pairs per catalog item, and Google asks that the majority of your product data match the language of the data source it sits in. Those two rules point in different directions, and a store selling in both Arabic and English in the UAE or Saudi Arabia has to satisfy both. This guide is for feed managers and agencies running Arabic and English catalogs for Google Shopping and Meta. By the end you will be able to choose between three structures (one bilingual feed, one data source per language, or a main feed with override feeds), set the identifiers that keep them from colliding, and test the result before it reaches a campaign.

The short answer: which structure fits which catalog

For Google, use one data source per language and keep the same product ID in both. For Meta, use one main feed plus a language override feed. Do not put Arabic and English in the same title field unless you accept the policy and display risk described below. The rest of this guide explains why, and where this breaks down.

What Google and Meta each say about language

The two platforms model language differently, which is the root of most mistakes.

• Google ties language to the data source. Language is chosen when a data source is created, and Google states that once it exists you cannot modify its language or feed label (Merchant Center Help: feed labels). If a new country uses a different primary language, Google says to create a separate data source with the product data translated into that language (Merchant Center Help: multiple countries of sale).
• Google expects the content to match. Landing pages should be in the same language as the product data, and if the majority of the product data does not match the data source language, products may be disapproved (Supported languages and currencies). Arabic is a supported language, and the AED and SAR currencies are supported for the UAE and Saudi Arabia on the same page.
• Meta ties language to the viewer. A language is applied through an override feed whose override column carries an ISO language code, and display follows the shopper's app or phone language and location (Localized Catalog Setup, Localized Catalog for Instagram).

Three structures compared

We score each option against the criteria that cause real trouble. The table is our assessment, built on the sources above.

Why a bilingual title is the wrong shortcut

Google allows 150 characters in the title, truncates longer ones and sends a warning, and asks that the majority of your product data match the data source language (title attribute specification). A title that carries the same product name twice spends half of the 150 characters on the second language. Google's announcement log also records that, from December 2024, some product details in a language other than the designated feed language are allowed as long as most of the data matches (Merchant Center announcements). That is a tolerance for a Latin brand name or model number inside an Arabic title, not permission to publish two full titles in one field.

Step by step: setting up structure B for Google

1. Create two primary data sources, one with language English and one with language Arabic, both targeting your countries. Language cannot be edited afterwards, so decide first.
2. Give each a feed label. Feed labels allow uppercase A to Z, digits, hyphens and underscores, no spaces, maximum 20 characters, and need Advanced data source management enabled under Add-ons. We use AE-AR and AE-EN.
3. Keep the same id in both sources. Google says to use the same ID for the same product targeting different languages within the same country (id attribute specification). Use your SKU, 50 characters at most.
4. Point each source at its own language page. The Arabic source must link to the Arabic URL, and the English source to the English one.
5. Select one feed label per campaign. Google allows only one label per campaign, so you build one Performance Max or Shopping campaign per language.
6. If you use the Merchant API, set feedLabel and contentLanguage on the data source. Google notes that data sources do not namespace products, and that to stop uploads overwriting each other you should distinguish them with distinct feedLabel values or unique offerId values (Merchant API data sources). It also notes the data source feed label has no impact on targeted country, so target countries are set separately.

Step by step: setting up structure C for Meta

1. Build the main feed in your most common language and currency. Fewer overrides are needed when the main feed uses the most common values (scandiweb).
2. Add a language feed with the columns id; override; title; description. The override value is an ISO language code, and the id must match an id in your main feed.
3. Add a country feed for price, sale_price, availability and link. Meta states that these price and availability fields must be provided only in a country feed, not a language feed.
4. Combine language and country when the URL differs, using a pipe, for example fr_XX|CA in Meta's own example.
5. Check the limits. The cap is 350 language and country pairs per item, and Meta says catalogs over 100,000 items must use one data feed per language or country.
6. Preview in Commerce Manager before the catalog goes into a campaign.

Meta's documentation shows language codes such as fr_XX and en_XX. We could not confirm an Arabic example in the page we read, so the ar_XX value in the example below follows that pattern and is illustrative. Confirm the Arabic value in the template Commerce Manager generates for your catalog.

A worked example: one kettle, three feeds

The rows below are illustrative, not client data. The product is a fictitious kettle sold in the UAE.

Google, English source (AE-EN):

id: KT-1700-SS
title: Lumo Stainless Steel Electric Kettle 1.7 L
link: https://example.com/en/kt-1700-ss
price: 199.00 AED

Google, Arabic source (AE-AR):

id: KT-1700-SS
title: لومو غلاية كهربائية من الفولاذ المقاوم للصدأ سعة 1.7 لتر
link: https://example.com/ar/kt-1700-ss
price: 199.00 AED

Meta, language feed with the same ID:

id; override; title; delete
KT-1700-SS; ar_XX; لومو غلاية كهربائية من الفولاذ المقاوم للصدأ سعة 1.7 لتر; false

The ID is identical in all three. The brand (Lumo), the model code and the numeral 1.7 stay as they are, while the descriptive words are translated. We keep numerals in Western digits in structured fields as our own convention, because a price or size that a parser cannot read costs more than a stylistic mismatch. For price formatting rules specific to AED, SAR and TRY, see our guide to VAT-inclusive prices and currency formatting.

A scoring checklist before you launch

Score each line 0 (fails), 1 (partly) or 2 (passes) for a sample of at least 50 products per language. Under 12 out of 16, fix before going live.

If you also generate ad creative from the same rows, test the Arabic text direction and fit separately, as in our creative template rubric for Turkish and Arabic text.

Where to do the translation work

Translation is the expensive step and the place errors enter. Machine translation of titles is fast but can produce literal product names, so we treat Arabic titles from AI as drafts to review on the top sellers first. The transformation rules that split a title into brand, product type and attributes are the part you can automate; in a feed tool that supports it, feed rules can build each language's title from the same fields. If your store runs on a MENA platform, check what its native export offers first, as our Salla integration page describes for Arabic and English catalogs.

What this guide doesn't cover, and where it breaks down

• We have no first-party performance data comparing structure A, B and C on ROAS. The comparison is based on platform documentation and our own judgement, not a test.
• Google does not document how it picks ad language for a shopper in a bilingual country. Our structure B assumes you control it through campaign and feed label, which is the control Google exposes.
• We did not cover Noon, Amazon.ae or other marketplaces, each of which has its own language and category rules.
• Small catalogs may not need a tool. For a few hundred SKUs, Meta's own template and a spreadsheet are enough. For large multi-language catalogs with per-channel templates, dedicated feed tools such as Channable, Productsup, DataFeedWatch or Feedonomics may fit better than a custom workflow, so compare their language-variant documentation against your catalog size.
• Policy text changes. The December 2024 relaxation on mixed-language details is the kind of rule that moves, so recheck the linked pages before a large rollout.

Frequently asked questions

Can I put Arabic and English in the same Google Shopping title?

You can, but we advise against it. Google asks that the majority of your product data match the data source language, and a doubled title uses up the 150-character limit. A Latin brand name or model number inside an Arabic title is fine.

Do I need two Merchant Center accounts for two languages?

No. Google's guidance is a separate data source per language inside the same account, with the product translated. Reusing IDs across accounts is also acceptable, but it is not needed here.

Should the product ID be different in Arabic and English?

No. Google says to use the same ID for the same product targeting different languages within the same country. A different ID would split the product's history into two products.

Can I change a data source's language later?

No. Google states that language and feed label cannot be modified after a data source is created. You would create a new source and move products across.

How many languages can a Meta catalog item carry?

Meta allows localized fields for up to 350 language and country pairs per catalog item. Catalogs above 100,000 items must use one data feed per language or country.

Which fields go in the Meta language feed and which in the country feed?

Title and description go in the language feed. Price, sale price, availability and link go in the country feed. Meta states that price and availability fields must be provided only in a country feed.

Why were my Arabic products disapproved after I translated them?

A likely cause is a mismatch: Arabic text in a data source set to English, or Arabic product data linking to an English landing page. Google may disapprove products when most of the data does not match the data source language.

Do feed labels set the target country?

No. In the Merchant API documentation, Google notes that the data source feed label has no impact on targeted country. Set the countries on the data source and match your Google Ads location targeting.

Check your own feed first

Run your current feed through our free product feed audit tool to see completeness, quality and technical issues before you split it by language.

Sources

• Google Merchant Center Help: Use feed labels
• Google Merchant Center Help: Show products in multiple countries of sale
• Google Merchant Center Help: Supported languages and currencies
• Google Merchant Center Help: Title attribute
• Google Merchant Center Help: ID attribute
• Google Merchant Center announcements
• Google Merchant API: Manage API data sources
• Meta: Localized Catalog Setup
• Meta: Localized Catalog for Instagram Product Tagging
• scandiweb: Catalog localization with Meta language and country feeds