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FEED • DATA QUALITY • MERCHANT CENTER

Merchant Center feed errors:
complete guide and checklist

A product feed is not just a file: it's a coherence contract between catalog, product page and Google Merchant Center. If the feed says A and the page says B — on price, stock, condition or images — disapprovals arrive. Here you'll find attributes, image requirements, shipping, variants and a "before push" checklist.

Reading ~7 min Updated March 2026 Technical level: base–intermediate
In this guide you'll find:
🏗️ Store prerequisites to verify before uploading any feed
📦 Core attributes and most common errors for each
🖼️ Images and variants: requirements, watermarks, group id
✅ "Before push" checklist with product sample
Key terms (glossary)
Product feedProduct Data SpecFeed errorsImage requirementsWatermarkBrandGTINMPNItem IDVariants

Before the feed: store prerequisites

Many disapprovals attributed to the feed actually originate from the store: missing trust signals, incomplete policies or incoherent product pages. Before uploading 10,000 products, ensure the "perimeter" is solid. Google checks the store independently from the feed — and both must tell the same story.

Required policies
Complete returns and refunds, easily accessible (footer, checkout). Shipping: costs, times and delivery areas consistent with the feed. Working contacts (email or verifiable phone).
Product page
Price and stock visible and consistent with the feed. Product Schema (if present) aligned with visible markup. Product condition clear (new, used, refurbished).
Rule of thumb: if a real user cannot understand shipping costs, returns or purchase conditions in under 30 seconds, Google likely has the same difficulty — and penalizes you for it.

Core attributes: what not to get wrong

Attributes divide into two groups: those that identify the product and those that describe the offer. Both must be consistent with the product page. An error in just one of these can block the entire item.

🪪 Product identity
  • item_id unique and stable (never change after first push)
  • item_group_id to group variants
  • title and description consistent with the page
  • brand + gtin / mpn (when applicable)
  • link and image_link valid and reachable
💰 Offer
  • price + currency consistent with the page
  • availability: in_stock / out_of_stock / preorder
  • condition: new / used / refurbished
  • sale_price + sale_price_effective_date (if using promos)
Attribute Typical error Consequence Fix
item_id Changed after first push Item treated as new, history lost Define stable IDs before launch
price Different from product page Disapproval for price mismatch Align price source (purge cache)
availability In stock in feed, out of stock on page Disapproval for stock mismatch Sync stock + webhook on depletion
gtin GTIN incorrect or invented Item rejection / low quality Use real GTIN or omit field
condition Missing on used/refurbished products Disapproval for ambiguous condition Always specify actual condition
If the condition attribute is refurbished or used, the product page must declare it explicitly and visibly — not in small print in the footer.

Images: requirements and common errors

Images are among the most underestimated causes of disapproval. It's not enough for the image to "be there": it must respect requirements for size, quality and content, and must match exactly the product (and variant) being sold.

📐
Insufficient dimensions
Minimum 100×100 px (recommended 800×800 or higher). Images too small get rejected or penalized in quality.
🚫
Watermarks and promotional text
"Free shipping", "30% off", heavy logos on the image. Explicitly prohibited by Product Data Spec.
🎨
Non-matching product
Red model image for blue variant, or accessories in photo not included in sale without explicit note.
🖼️
Placeholder or stock image
Generic images, "image not available" icons or stock photos not related to the specific product.
🔗
Image URL unreachable
Broken link, redirect to error page, or image protected by authentication. Google must access directly.
Use additional_image_link to add up to 10 additional images (different views, details, variants). Improves item quality and CTR in Shopping ads.

Shipping and taxes: consistency matters

One reason products "jump" is lack of consistency between what you declare in the feed (or Merchant Center settings) and what the user reads on the store. If the shipping page says one thing and the feed implies another, checks and blocks increase.

Correct approach
  • Times and costs explicit on shipping page and in feed
  • Tax strategy defined for target country (VAT included or excluded)
  • Shipping areas consistent between feed and checkout
Problematic patterns
  • "Calculated at checkout" without detail on page
  • Shipping costs in feed different from those shown on page
  • Shipping page absent or reachable only from checkout
If operating in multiple countries, define a VAT included/excluded pricing strategy before building the feed. Changing logic mid-operation means recalculating all prices and risking temporary mismatches.

Variants and duplicates: how to structure

Poorly managed variants generate duplicates, stock mismatches and wrong prices. Most common problem: multiple items for the same product without item_group_id, or URLs and stock not differentiated per variant.

01
Use item_group_id
Group all variants of the same parent product with the same item_group_id. This field allows Google to understand they are variants, not duplicates.
02
URL per variant
Each variant must have a link leading directly to the correct variant (URL with parameter or dedicated URL). Avoid sending all variants to the same generic URL.
03
Stock per variant
availability must reflect actual stock of that specific variant — not aggregated stock of all variants.
04
Avoid color duplicates
Don't create 20 identical items for color variants if the page doesn't distinguish variants. If the store doesn't separate them, the feed shouldn't either.

Titles and descriptions: compliance-first templates

The goal is not to "stuff keywords", but to remove ambiguity. An ambiguous title — without brand, without variant, without condition — creates uncertainty for Google and the user. A clear title reduces risk of disapprovals related to product/page inconsistency.

Title template
[Brand] [Model] [Key feature] — [Variant: color/memory/size] — [Condition if not new]
Correct examples:
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra — 256 GB Titanium Black — New
Nike Air Max 90 — Size 42 White/Red
MacBook Pro 14" M3 — 16 GB RAM 512 GB SSD — Refurbished Grade A
Description template
Essential technical specs (processor, RAM, dimensions, material…) + what's included in the box + warranty + condition notes (if refurbished/used: grade, tests performed, any defects).
If selling refurbished, make "refurbished" visible in the title: better transparency from the impression than an unqualified click followed by bounce. Ambiguous titles increase risk of disapproval for inconsistent condition.

Publication checklist (before push)

Use this checklist before every push to production — especially for first uploads or after significant catalog updates.

01
Store policies verified
Returns, shipping, contacts present and linked from footer and checkout. Reachable in 1 click.
02
Sample of 20 products
Select 20 representative products (variants, price ranges, different conditions) and compare feed vs product page.
03
Images: quality and compliance
Adequate dimensions, no promotional watermarks, correspondence with specific variant.
04
Condition and brand/GTIN
Every item has explicit condition. Brand and GTIN consistent with page.
05
Price, sale_price and currency
Prices consistent with page (including cache). If you have sale_price, verify validity date.
06
Stock and variants
Availability updated per variant. item_group_id consistent. Valid variant URLs.
07
Incremental push
First 100 items, then 1,000, then all (when possible). Allows catching systemic errors before impacting entire catalog.

Want to verify product page coherence + trust signals before working on the feed?

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