Analytics & Tracking
Meta Product Catalogue Setup Perth
I'm Brad Farleigh, a Perth developer who builds and repairs the product data behind Meta ads. A catalogue that half works is worse than no catalogue: products get rejected, dynamic ads show the wrong item, and reporting stops making sense.
Email hello@bradfarleigh.com or use the live chat. I don't take phone calls, so everything is in writing from the start.
What a catalogue setup involves
- A product feed Meta can trust. Item IDs, titles, descriptions, prices, availability, links and images, in the fields Commerce Manager expects.
- Variants grouped correctly. Parent and child IDs, with the size, colour and style fields filled in, so one shirt does not become six unrelated products.
- A sync that keeps up. Scheduled fetch for slow catalogues, the API for price and stock that move during the day.
- Product IDs that match the pixel. Catalogue item IDs and the
content_idsin your events have to be the same values. This is the single most common reason catalogue reporting does not line up. - Diagnostics worked to zero. Rejections reviewed per product, not dismissed as a bulk warning.
Where catalogues usually break
Inherited identifiers. The store uses one SKU format, the feed plugin generates another, and the pixel sends a third. Three identifiers, one product, no matching.
Variants as separate products. Every size becomes a standalone item, so Meta cannot tell that they belong together and shows the wrong one.
Stock and price drift. The feed updates nightly and the stock runs out at lunchtime. Ads keep spending on a product nobody can buy.
Landing pages that do not match. The feed price is $89 and the page says $99. Meta disapproves the item, correctly.
A feed nobody owns. A plugin was installed years ago, the export still runs, and no one has looked at the diagnostics since.
Working with your pixel and server events
A catalogue is only half the match. Meta ties a purchase to a catalogue item through the product ID in the event, so the Meta Pixel and the Conversions API Gateway need to send the same IDs the feed uses.
I usually review all three together, because fixing the feed alone tends to move the problem rather than solve it.
One source of product data, two platforms
If you also sell through Google, the same product data feeds Google Shopping. The formats differ, but building one clean source and mapping it to each platform costs less than maintaining two exports that disagree.
What does it cost?
Every job starts with the diagnostic: the feed, the product data and the matching reviewed against your real orders, usually delivered within 3 business days. After that you get a fixed quote in dollars, not hours, and no GST is added. Work starts on a deposit.
There's more on how a job runs on Working With Me.
Why work with me
- 17+ years of web and analytics work, including product feeds, tracking and the platforms that generate the data.
- I can change the source. WooCommerce, Payload, Neto and custom builds, so the fix happens in the export rather than in a plugin's settings screen.
- I build both feeds. Meta and Google from one dataset, instead of two exports drifting apart.
- Diagnostic first. If a plugin already does what you need, you hear that before paying for custom work.
- Remote and in writing. No phone calls.
Ready to fix your catalogue?
Email hello@bradfarleigh.com or use the live chat, and tell me how many products you sell and where the feed comes from today. I'll book in the diagnostic.
FAQ
What is a Meta product catalogue?
A catalogue is the product list Meta reads to show your items in ads, shops and product tags. It holds the feed, the product IDs, prices, stock and images. Without one, Meta has no way to know what you sell.
Is a Meta catalogue the same as a Google Merchant Center feed?
No. The fields overlap but the specifications differ, and the same product data usually needs different formatting for each. One source of product data can feed both, which is how I prefer to build it.
Why are my products being rejected in Commerce Manager?
The common causes are missing or mismatched product IDs, prices that do not match the landing page, unavailable stock, images with overlays or text, and variant fields that do not match the parent product. The diagnostics tab names the reason per product.
Do I need a catalogue if I only run lead ads?
No. A catalogue is for selling products, not for collecting enquiries. If you later add product ads or a shop, it becomes necessary.
How should variants be handled?
Each variant needs its own item ID and a group ID shared with its parent, plus the size, colour or style fields Meta expects. Getting this wrong splits one product into unrelated items, and dynamic ads then show the wrong variant.
Why do catalogue sales not match my pixel purchases?
Usually the product IDs differ between the catalogue and the events. Meta matches a purchase to a catalogue item by ID, so `SKU-1042` and `1042` are two different products as far as it is concerned.
How often does the feed update?
A scheduled fetch is periodic, so price and stock can lag by hours. The API pushes changes as they happen. For fast-moving stock I use the API or a short fetch interval rather than waiting for the next crawl.
Do you run catalogue or dynamic ads?
No. I set up and repair the catalogue and the feed behind it. I do not manage campaigns or ad spend.
How long does a catalogue setup take?
A small catalogue with clean identifiers is quick. A large one with variants, missing IDs and a history of rejections takes longer. The diagnostic scopes it before any work is quoted.