Google Merchant Center errors, and how to fix them for good
Every entry explains what Google is actually rejecting, why your platform produces the problem, the manual fix, and the IRONFEED rule that resolves it across the whole catalog.
Showing 12 of 12 errors
Missing value [gtin]
Google expects a global trade item number for products that carry a manufacturer barcode. When the attribute is absent, the offer loses its product match and is disapproved or heavily demoted.
Product disapproval in Google Shopping & Performance Max
Read the fixInvalid value [gtin]
The attribute is present but the value does not pass Google's structural validation: wrong length, failed check digit, a restricted prefix, or a code that belongs to another manufacturer.
Product disapproval and reduced trust signals across Shopping surfaces
Read the fixMissing value [brand]
Google requires the brand for any product that carries one. Without it the offer cannot be matched to a catalog entry and is disapproved.
Product disapproval and loss of brand-qualified search matches
Read the fixMissing value [google_product_category]
Google guesses the taxonomy node when the attribute is absent. A wrong guess changes which queries the product competes for and, in some verticals, makes the offer ineligible.
Wrong auto-categorisation, tax and shipping mismatches, weaker Shopping placement
Read the fixMismatched value [price]
Google's crawler compares the feed price against the price it reads on the landing page. A persistent difference is treated as misrepresentation, not as a data error.
Item disapproval and, if widespread, account suspension for misrepresentation
Read the fixMismatched value [availability]
The feed says in stock while the crawler reads a sold-out landing page, or the reverse. Google trusts the page and disapproves the offer.
Product disapproval and wasted spend on out-of-stock clicks
Read the fixImage too small [image_link]
Google requires at least 100 x 100 pixels for non-apparel and 250 x 250 for apparel, and recommends 800 x 800 or larger. Undersized images are rejected outright.
Product disapproval — offers without a valid image cannot serve
Read the fixPromotional overlay on image [image_link]
Google rejects product images that carry promotional text, badges, watermarks, borders or calls to action. Only the product itself may appear.
Product disapproval for image policy violation
Read the fixMissing value [shipping]
Some target countries require shipping cost either in account settings or per product. Without it the offer cannot show a total price and is filtered out.
Product ineligible to serve in countries where shipping data is mandatory
Read the fixMissing value [color] / [size] / [age_group] / [gender]
For apparel and accessories in most countries these four attributes are required. Missing any of them disapproves the variant and breaks the item_group_id relationship.
Apparel product disapproval and broken variant grouping
Read the fixInvalid value [custom_label_0-4]
Custom labels are free-form, but Google enforces a 100-character limit and a single value per label. Concatenated or high-cardinality values make the labels useless for bidding.
Broken campaign segmentation and unusable bidding buckets
Read the fixUnavailable desktop landing page [link]
Google could not load the landing page: a 404, a redirect chain, a soft 404, a geo-block or a robots rule stopped the crawler.
Immediate product disapproval — the destination cannot be verified
Read the fixFind every one of these errors in your own feed
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