Host a CSV feed on Google Drive

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With Google Sheets, you can create a data feed in CSV format in less than 10 minutes and use it to run feed-based campaigns.

You can try it out using this example feed.

You can also use it to host ids of products you want to generate videos for in Meta Catalog Product Video. Read more here. 

Before you start

Read the information on feed files in general and on CSV and TSV formats, including the limitations you need to be aware of.

Create a data feed source file in Google Sheets.

Use one of these options:

Caution With both options, the contents of your sheet become potentially accessible by third parties, if they get the URL to your file. If you have confidential or sensitive information in your feed, we recommend that you host the feed on your own servers and use authentication measures to restrict access to the file.

Option 1: Publish to the web

  1. In Google Sheets, go to File > Publish to the web.
  2. On the Link tab:
    1. Select the correct tab or choose 'Entire Document'.
    2. Select the format Comma-separated values (.csv). (If you repeat this step later, the format might be reset to a web page, so make sure to select the CSV format every time.)
  3. Click Publish.
  4. Double-check these settings:
    • Under Published content & settings, make sure to select Automatically republish when changes are made. This means that when you make changes to the spreadsheet, the changes also go to Smartly and your campaigns.
    • If you see the option Require viewers to sign in with their account, clear it.
      • If you're unable to clear this option, you may need to ask your company's Google admin to change this setting.
      • If you don't see this option, everything is OK.

Now save the feed URL that was generated, for example to a text editor. You need it when you connect the feed to Smartly.

The URL format should be similar to:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bqhyVgPwNSdWxHzqnpOY_7bGSCCSeqjuHvzt1vYOIS/export?format=csv&gid=1149095614

Note If you are using and publishing multiple separate tabs from the Google Sheets file as separate Smartly feeds, make sure either "Entire Document" or all desired tabs to be published, are selected in the "Published content & settings" selection.

Option 2: Export as CSV with link sharing

You can also export a CSV file from your Google sheet without publishing it to the web. To do this, manually edit the document URL.

Here's what the URL in your browser's address bar usually looks like:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/{KEY}/edit#gid={ID}

Change the end part of the URL as follows:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/{KEY}/export?format=csv&gid={ID}

In addition to changing the URL, you must enable link sharing for the Google Sheet:

  1. In Google Sheets, go to your feed source file.
  2. Click Share.
  3. Enable link sharing and set it to Anyone with the link can view.
  4. Click Done.
  5. Copy the URL of your Google Sheets file to the clipboard.
    • Example: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bqhyVgPwNS-dWxHzqnpOY_7bGSCCSeqjuHvzt1vYOIS/edit#gid=1149095614
  6. Paste the URL into any text editor and change the part after the last forward slash / to export?format=csv&gid={ID}
    • Example: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bqhyVgPwNS-dWxHzqnpOY_7bGSCCSeqjuHvzt1vYOIS/export?format=csv&gid=1149095614

Now you can use the resulting URL to connect the CSV feed to Smartly to use it in campaigns and Image and Video Templates.

You can connect it to catalogs to use in dynamic ads, connect it to Smartly as an automation feed.

See more about how to use data feeds in campaigns and templates.