Which shipping configuration takes precedence over website markup?

Definition: Google documents an order of precedence for shipping information when several configurations are available. From strongest to weakest, the order is Content API for Shopping account-level settings, Merchant Center or Search Console settings, product-level merchant listing markup, and Organization-level markup.

Key facts

• Google's merchant shipping policy documentation labels the order as “from strongest to weakest.”
• Google's merchant listing documentation describes shippingDetails as nested information about the shipping policy associated with an Offer.
• Schema.org defines OfferShippingDetails as information about shipping destinations and allows multiple entities for different shipping rates and destinations.

What is the documented order?

The ShippingService page was last updated on 8 September 2026. It lists Content API for Shopping account-level shipping settings first. Settings in Merchant Center or Search Console follow. Product-level merchant listing markup follows those account settings, and Organization-level markup is last.

Google gives a direct example of the precedence rule: when a site provides both shipping policy markup and shipping policy settings in Search Console, Google says it uses the information provided in Search Console. The same page says that Search Console account-level shipping policies are automatically added to Merchant Center.

How do the two markup levels differ?

ShippingService is the Google structured data type for a standard shipping policy that applies to most or all products. Google places it under Organization through hasShippingService. For a product with a different policy, the documentation says to place OfferShippingDetails under Offer through shippingDetails. The product-level form supports a smaller set of properties than the organization-level form.

Google's merchant listing documentation recommends a global policy under Organization. It reserves shippingDetails under Offer for products with specific shipping policies that override the global policy, or for a business without a standard policy. Schema.org describes the same property as shipping policy and option information associated with an Offer.

{
  "@type": "Offer",
  "shippingDetails": {
    "@type": "OfferShippingDetails",
    "shippingRate": {
      "@type": "MonetaryAmount",
      "value": 3.49,
      "currency": "USD"
    },
    "shippingDestination": {
      "@type": "DefinedRegion",
      "addressCountry": "US"
    }
  }
}

Google's product example describes this markup as a shipping rate of $3.49 for users in the US. The shippingDetails property describes the product offer's shipping data, while the precedence list determines whether this product-level data is used when stronger account settings are also present.

What happens inside a shipping policy?

The precedence list compares configuration sources. Google also documents how it chooses among multiple ShippingConditions within one ShippingService: it uses the lowest shipping cost for the given situation and displays that rate with the associated shipping speed. When the shipping cost is the same, it uses the information with the fastest shipping speed.

The documented source order does not specify how two different values within the same Merchant Center or Search Console tier are reconciled. The page does state that Search Console shipping policies are added to Merchant Center.

Related terms

• OfferShippingDetails structured data
• Where should shipping and return terms be supplied to Google?
• Google Merchant Center

FAQ

Does product markup override Merchant Center settings?

No. Google's order puts Merchant Center settings above product-level merchant listing markup. Product markup is above Organization-level markup.

Does product markup override Organization markup?

Yes, within the documented markup order. Google describes OfferShippingDetails as the product-level form for a shipping policy that differs from the standard policy under Organization.

Is Search Console below website markup?

No. Google says that when Search Console shipping settings and site shipping policy markup are both provided, it uses the Search Console information.

Sources

1. Google Search Central, "Merchant Shipping Policy Structured Data (ShippingService)", 2026-09-08
2. Google Search Central, "How To Add Merchant Listing Structured Data", 2026-09-08
3. Schema.org, "OfferShippingDetails", undated

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