Video link is the feed attribute that supplies a direct URL to a hosted product video, submitted to Google Merchant Center as the <g:video_link> tag. It's optional and newer than most feed fields, built to let a listing carry motion — a demo, a 360-degree turn, an unboxing — in addition to the standard photo set. Meta Catalog doesn't yet expose an equivalent standard column in its core product feed spec; video for Meta shopping surfaces is typically managed as a separate creative asset rather than a per-item feed attribute.

Why Video Link Matters

Static photos and even a full additional_image_link gallery can still leave a shopper unsure how a product actually looks in motion — how a fabric drapes, how a mechanism folds, how an appliance sounds when it runs. Google has been expanding where video-enabled listings can surface across Shopping ads and video-driven ad formats, and merchants who supply a valid video_link give Google the raw material to use there without needing a separate video-ad workflow. Because the field is still optional, a missing or broken video_link doesn't get an item disapproved the way a bad image_link would — but a malformed one that points at a dead link or an unsupported file wastes crawl attention and simply never gets used, so the practical risk is a missed opportunity rather than a policy strike.

How Video Link Works

The URL in <g:video_link> has to point directly at a hosted video file or a supported streaming resource — not a YouTube watch page or an embed wrapper — and Google's published Merchant Center specs set limits on format, duration, and file size that merchants need to check against their hosting setup before submitting. Only one video_link is accepted per item, unlike the repeatable additional_image_link field, so it's meant to carry a single representative video rather than a gallery. Video content is subject to the same content policies as images: no overlaid promotional text or branding beyond what a category allows, and the product shown has to match the listing it's attached to. Because Meta Catalog has no directly comparable feed column today, teams running the same catalog across both channels typically manage Google's video_link through the feed while handling Meta video creative through Advantage+ catalog ads or manual campaign assets instead.

Example

<item>
  <g:id>SKU-44107</g:id>
  <title>Stand Mixer - 5.5 Quart, Matte Black</title>
  <g:image_link>https://cdn.example-shop.com/img/mixer-black-main.jpg</g:image_link>
  <g:video_link>https://cdn.example-shop.com/video/mixer-black-demo.mp4</g:video_link>
</item>

Related Concepts

Video_link sits at the top of the same visual hierarchy as image_link and additional_image_link — all three exist to give a shopping platform enough visual context to rank and display a listing well, with video reserved for products where motion genuinely changes the buying decision. Because the file itself, not just the URL, has to be prepared correctly, teams rolling this out for the first time benefit from folding it into existing image optimization workflows rather than treating it as a one-off project. Our Google Shopping video_link Attribute: The Complete 2026 Implementation Guide walks through hosting, formatting, and submission in more detail for feeds preparing to add it.