Google Merchant Center
Feed requirements, product data attributes, disapprovals, feed rules and everything else Merchant Center expects from your product data.
Merchant Center is where Google decides whether your products are allowed to show, and how well they'll show. These guides cover the product data spec, the policies that trigger disapprovals, and the advanced tooling (feed rules, supplemental feeds and promotions) that most merchants never touch but should.
Fundamentals
Feed delivery methods
The four ways to get product data into Merchant Center, scheduled fetch of a hosted feed URL, manual uploads, the Content API and Shopping app connections, with the pros, cons and right fit for each.
Read guide →GuideFree listings vs Shopping ads
The difference between free product listings and paid Shopping ads in Merchant Center, what each one needs, where each appears, and why both stand or fall on feed quality.
Read guide →How-toSetting up Google Merchant Center
A step-by-step walkthrough of creating a Google Merchant Center account, adding your business details, verifying and claiming your website, and getting to your first product upload.
Read guide →GuideHow Google Shopping listings work
How a product travels from your feed through catalog matching to the surfaces shoppers see, the Shopping tab, Shopping ads and free listings, and what decides which products actually show.
Read guide →How-toHow to add products to Google Shopping: the complete walkthrough
How to add products to Google Shopping start to finish, create a Merchant Center account, verify your site, submit product data, set shipping, and go live.
Read guide →ReferenceThe product data spec: an overview
A map of Google's product data specification, the required and recommended attribute groups (identity, price and availability, images, category, variants, shipping) and where to go deeper on each.
Read guide →How-toProducts not showing on Google Shopping? The full triage, in order
Why your products are not showing on Google Shopping, an ordered troubleshooting checklist from disapprovals and account issues to feed fetches and ad rank.
Read guide →Product data attributes
Google Shopping preorder and backorder: availability_date explained
How to sell preorder products on Google Shopping, the preorder and backorder availability values, the availability_date attribute, formats, and staying compliant.
Read guide →ReferenceGoogle Shopping bundles and multipacks: is_bundle and multipack
How to list Google Shopping bundles correctly, when to use is_bundle vs multipack, what happens to GTINs on bundled products, and the disapprovals each mistake causes.
Read guide →Referencecolour, size, gender and age_group
The Merchant Center apparel attributes, color, size, gender and age_group, accepted values, when they're required, and why consistent values drive filters and variant grouping.
Read guide →ReferenceThe Google Shopping condition attribute: new, refurbished and used
How the Google Shopping condition attribute works, the three accepted values, what each condition requires, and how to sell refurbished or used products compliantly.
Read guide →Referencecustom_label_0 to custom_label_4
The five custom_label attributes in Merchant Center, free-form buckets for tagging products by margin, price, season, lifecycle or bestseller status, and how they drive campaign segmentation in Google Ads.
Read guide →Referencegoogle_product_category vs product_type
The two category attributes in Merchant Center, Google's fixed taxonomy versus your own product_type, when each one matters, and why category specificity drives visibility.
Read guide →Referenceitem_group_id and variant attributes
How item_group_id groups the variants of one product in Merchant Center, which attributes must differ between variants, and how the grouping affects Shopping serving.
Read guide →Referenceprice, availability and sale_price
The Merchant Center pricing attributes, price and currency format, availability values, the sale_price + sale_price_effective_date pattern, and why they must match your landing page exactly.
Read guide →ReferenceThe description attribute
The Merchant Center description attribute spec, covering its purpose, the 5,000-character limit, what to include, what trips editorial policy, and how it affects matching.
Read guide →ReferenceThe product_detail attribute in Google Shopping (and product_highlight)
How the product_detail attribute and product_highlight work in Google Shopping, structured specs, benefit bullets, where each surfaces, and how to write them well.
Read guide →ReferenceGTIN, MPN and brand: product identifiers in Merchant Center
The complete guide to Google Shopping product identifiers, when GTIN is required, valid GTIN formats and check digits, MPN + brand fallback rules, and identifier_exists.
Read guide →ReferenceThe image attributes
The Merchant Center image attributes, image_link and additional_image_link, resolution and format rules, the no-text/no-watermark/no-promo policy, and the image disapprovals that hit most often.
Read guide →ReferenceThe title attribute
The Merchant Center title attribute spec, covering the 150-character limit, the ~70 characters shoppers actually see, attribute ordering, and the constructions that get titles truncated or disapproved.
Read guide →ReferenceShipping and tax attributes
How shipping and tax are set in Merchant Center, covering account-level settings versus feed-level shipping, when per-product overrides are needed, US tax basics, and the contradictions that disapprove.
Read guide →Referencesize_type and size_system in Google Shopping: apparel sizing done properly
How size_type and size_system work in Google Shopping, covering regular, petite, plus and big-and-tall cuts, US/UK/EU size systems, and why they cut returns and mismatches.
Read guide →Referenceunit_pricing_measure in Google Shopping: formats and when it's required
The unit_pricing_measure and unit_pricing_base_measure attributes explained, covering where EU law requires per-unit pricing, valid units, and worked examples.
Read guide →Disapprovals & policy
The disapproval taxonomy and Diagnostics
How to read Merchant Center Diagnostics properly: item-level vs account-level issues, data vs policy causes, and what severity, pending and preemptive states actually mean.
Read guide →How-toHow to fix Merchant Center feed processing errors
A step-by-step workflow for Merchant Center feed processing errors, fetch failures, encoding problems, malformed XML/CSV, column mapping and size limits.
Read guide →How-toHow to fix disapproved products in Merchant Center
A practical workflow for clearing product disapprovals in Google Merchant Center, reading Diagnostics properly, fixing the five most common causes, and requesting re-review.
Read guide →GuideGTIN and identifier disapprovals
How to clear GTIN and identifier disapprovals in Merchant Center, invalid check digits, reused GTINs, brand/GTIN mismatch, and "incorrect product identifier", by validating before you submit.
Read guide →GuideImage policy and image disapprovals
The image rules that get products disapproved in Merchant Center, promotional overlays, placeholders, low resolution, crawler blocks and generic shared images, and how to fix each.
Read guide →GuideGoogle Shopping landing page errors: crawl failures explained and fixed
Why Google Shopping flags landing page errors, desktop and mobile crawl failures, robots.txt blocks, timeouts, redirects, soft-404s and geo-blocking, and how to test each one.
Read guide →GuideLimited performance and other warnings
The non-blocking Merchant Center warnings, such as limited by missing identifiers or attributes, capped, and similar, that let products serve but quietly suppress their reach, and why to fix them.
Read guide →GuideMisrepresentation and account suspension
The most serious Merchant Center disapproval class, what triggers a misrepresentation flag or account suspension, the trust signals Google checks, the reinstatement path, and how to prevent it.
Read guide →GuidePrice and availability mismatch
Why price and availability mismatch is the most common and most dangerous disapproval, how Google's crawl compares to your feed, refresh cadence, structured data, and preemptive disapproval.
Read guide →GuideGoogle Merchant Center pending review: what it means and how long it takes
What "pending review" means in Google Merchant Center, normal review times, what actually speeds it up, and when a stuck pending state is a real problem.
Read guide →Error message lookup
Account suspended due to unauthorized credit card activity
What causes the "Account suspended due to unauthorized credit card activity" notice in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toAttribute has too few values
What causes the "Attribute has too few values" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toCheckout incomplete warning/suspension
What causes the "Checkout incomplete" warning or suspension in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toConflicting price attributes: price, price range
What causes the "Conflicting price attributes: price [price], price range [price_range]" error and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toCounterfeit products (account suspension)
What a Counterfeit products suspension in Google Merchant Center means, why it happens without warning, and the fix path if you believe it's a false positive.
Read guide →How-toDescription text too short: how to fix it
What causes the "Description text too short" error in Merchant Center and how to write a description that clears it.
Read guide →How-toExcessive capitalization: how to fix it
What triggers the "Excessive capitalization" error in Merchant Center and how to fix a title or description written in all caps.
Read guide →How-toGTIN not related to brand: how to fix it
What causes the "GTIN not related to brand" error in Merchant Center and how to check whether your barcode and brand actually match.
Read guide →How-toIdentical values: title, description: how to fix it
Why Merchant Center flags "Identical values: title [title], description [description]" and how to write a description that clears it.
Read guide →How-toImage not processed
What causes the "Image not processed" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toImage too big
What causes the "Image too big" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toImage too generic
What causes the "Image too generic" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toImage too small
What causes the "Image too small" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it, including Google's rising minimum resolution.
Read guide →How-toInaccurate prices
What the "Inaccurate prices" warning means in Merchant Center Diagnostics and how to fix a repeated price-mismatch pattern.
Read guide →How-toInaccurate shipping costs
What causes the "Inaccurate shipping costs" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toIncompatible shipping service for some orders
What causes the "Incompatible shipping service for some orders" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toInconsistent language between the feed and the website
What causes the "Inconsistent language between the feed and the website" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toIncorrect MPN: how to fix it
What causes the "Incorrect MPN" error in Merchant Center and how to find the real manufacturer part number.
Read guide →How-toIncorrect product identifier: how to fix it
What the catch-all "Incorrect product identifier" error means in Merchant Center and how to validate GTIN, MPN and brand together.
Read guide →How-toInvalid characters [title]: how to fix it
Why Merchant Center flags "Invalid characters [title]" and how to clean a title so it passes.
Read guide →How-toInvalid image format
What causes the "Invalid image format" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toInvalid product category
What causes the "Invalid product category" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toInvalid shipping region
What causes the "Invalid shipping region" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toInvalid UTF-8 encoding
What causes the "Invalid UTF-8 encoding" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toItem data is too large
What causes the "Item data is too large" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toLimited performance due to missing identifiers: how to fix it
What the "Limited performance due to missing identifiers: GTIN, MPN, brand" warning means in Merchant Center and how to clear it.
Read guide →How-toLow image quality
What causes the "Low image quality" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toMismatched product availability
What causes the "Mismatched product availability" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toMismatched product price
What triggers the "Mismatched product price" error in Merchant Center Diagnostics and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toMissing attribute
What causes the "Missing attribute" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toMissing brand: how to fix it
What causes the "Missing brand" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it across your catalogue.
Read guide →How-toMissing contact information on your online store
What causes the "Missing contact information on your online store" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toMissing or incorrect GTIN: how to fix it
What triggers the "Missing or incorrect GTIN" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it without inventing a barcode.
Read guide →How-toMissing product in primary feed
What causes the "Missing product in primary feed" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toMissing product price
What causes the "Missing product price" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toMissing product title: how to fix it
What triggers the "Missing product title" error in Merchant Center Diagnostics and how to fix it fast.
Read guide →How-toMissing shipping costs
What causes the "Missing shipping costs" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toMissing shipping weight
What causes the "Missing shipping weight" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toMissing value: size, color, gender, age group
What causes the "Missing value: size, color, gender, age group" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toMobile page not crawlable due to robots.txt
What Mobile page not crawlable due to robots.txt means in Google Merchant Center, why it hits mobile even when desktop passes, and how to fix your robots.txt rules.
Read guide →How-toNo products on website
What the No products on website error means in Google Merchant Center, why it happens even when your store is live, and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toPending initial review
What Pending initial review means in Google Merchant Center, why it isn't an error, and what to do while a new account or product waits.
Read guide →How-toProduct page unavailable
What the Product page unavailable error means in Google Merchant Center, why it happens, and how to fix a broken or missing landing page.
Read guide →How-toRestricted GTIN: how to fix it
What the "Restricted GTIN" error means in Merchant Center and how to tell a real retail barcode from a restricted one.
Read guide →How-toRestricted purchase
What causes the "Restricted purchase" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toSame brand and MPN but differing item group ID: how to fix it
What causes "Same brand and MPN but differing item group ID" in Merchant Center and how to fix variant grouping.
Read guide →How-toShipping cost value too high
What causes the "Shipping cost value too high" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toShipping weight value too high
What causes the "Shipping weight value too high" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toSuspended or disabled Business Profile
What causes the "Suspended or disabled Business Profile" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toText on image
What causes the "Text on image" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toText too long: how to fix it
What causes the "Text too long" error on titles and descriptions in Merchant Center and how to shorten them without losing what matters.
Read guide →How-toToo few column delimiters
What causes the "Too few column delimiters" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toUnable to check product pages
What Google Merchant Center's Unable to check product pages error means, why the crawler can't do quality and policy checks on your landing pages, and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toUnable to show image
What causes the "Unable to show image" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toUnrecognized attribute
What causes the "Unrecognized attribute" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →How-toUnsupported image type
What causes the "Unsupported image type" error in Merchant Center and how to fix it.
Read guide →Advanced
Automatic improvements settings in Merchant Center
What Merchant Center's automatic item updates and automatic image improvements do, the trade-offs, and when a clean feed is the better answer than letting Google patch it.
Read guide →ReferenceContent API basics for Merchant Center
What the Content API for Shopping is for, the products and inventory endpoints, real-time updates, and when a hosted feed URL is the simpler answer.
Read guide →GuideMerchant Center feed rules: the advanced guide
How to use Merchant Center feed rules to transform product data without touching your source feed, set operations, extractions, find & replace, conditions, and where rules break down.
Read guide →GuideLocal inventory ads: showing in-store stock on Google
How local inventory ads work for merchants with physical stores, local feeds, store pages, how in-store availability appears on Google, and when LIA is worth the setup.
Read guide →GuideWhat changed in Merchant Center Next
The practical differences merchants notice in Merchant Center Next, the consolidated UI, renamed sections, automatic behaviours, and what it means for how you manage feeds.
Read guide →ReferenceMulti-country and multi-language feeds
How target countries, languages, currency and feed labels combine in Merchant Center, when one feed covers many markets and when you genuinely need separate feeds.
Read guide →GuideGoogle Merchant Center price competitiveness and best sellers reports
How to use Merchant Center's price competitiveness and best sellers reports, benchmark prices, reading the data properly, and picking which products to push.
Read guide →GuideGoogle Shopping product ratings: getting stars on your listings
How star ratings appear on Google Shopping ads and listings, the product ratings programme, review feeds vs aggregators, minimum review counts, and product vs seller ratings.
Read guide →GuideMerchant promotions in Merchant Center
How Merchant Center promotions work, promotion feeds and annotations, promotion_id linking, eligibility rules, and a clean setup that survives review.
Read guide →ReferenceSupplemental feeds in Merchant Center
How supplemental feeds add and override attributes on top of a primary feed, keyed on id, when to use one, join order, and where an enrichment layer fits.
Read guide →