Google Merchant CenterCriticalProduct disapproval for image policy violation

How to Fix “Promotional overlay on image” in Google Merchant Center

Google rejects product images that carry promotional text, badges, watermarks, borders or calls to action. Only the product itself may appear.

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Scan your feed for this error for free

Paste your product feed URL (XML, CSV or JSON). The audit checks Promotional overlay on image [image_link] along with 25+ other pre-channel rules.

Why this happens

Technical root cause

Marketing teams bake sale badges into the primary asset for the storefront, and the feed inherits whichever image is flagged as primary in the catalog.

Google Merchant Center reports it as Promotional overlay on image [image_link] and applies: Product disapproval for image policy violation.

Native CMS friction

  • Shopify

    Campaign images are uploaded as position-one assets during sales, so the feed automatically promotes the badged version.

  • VTEX

    Image labels used for site merchandising do not distinguish promotional creatives from clean product shots in exports.

  • WooCommerce

    The featured image doubles as the campaign banner and there is no separate feed image slot.

Fixing it manually

  1. 1

    Review the primary image of every disapproved item for text, badges, watermarks or borders.

  2. 2

    Upload a clean product-only version of the asset.

  3. 3

    Keep promotional creatives in a separate, clearly labelled image slot excluded from the feed.

  4. 4

    Use the promotions feed for discount messaging instead of image overlays.

  5. 5

    Request a re-review after replacing the images.

The IRONFEED automated solution

One rule, applied to every product on every export. No spreadsheets, no re-uploads.

Rule syntax
IF image_label CONTAINS 'promo' OR 'banner' OR 'sale'
  SET image_link = first(gallery WHERE label = 'clean')
  ELSE FLAG item in Feed Review for manual image replacement

Run automatic linter checks before Google Merchant Center crawls your feed. IRONFEED validates every export against the channel spec, so this error is caught in Feed Review instead of in your channel dashboard.

Start free trial See how mapping rules work

Attribute requirements

Google Merchant Center attribute requirements for Promotional overlay on image [image_link] and the matching IRONFEED transformation
AttributeGoogle Merchant Center requirementAccepted formatIRONFEED transformation
image_linkProduct only — no text, logos, watermarks or bordersHTTPS URL to a clean product shotLabel-driven image selection with a review flag when no clean asset exists
promotion_idCorrect channel for discount messagingAlphanumeric ID linked to a promotions feedMapped from the active campaign identifier

Frequently asked questions

A discreet manufacturer logo that is part of the product or packaging is fine. Added watermarks and overlay logos are not.

Use sale_price and a promotions feed. Those surface the offer natively without touching the image.

Related Feed Issues & Fixes

Other critical errors affecting catalog performance on Google, Meta, TikTok, and Mercado Libre.

Google Merchant CenterCritical

Image too small [image_link]

Feeds frequently export the thumbnail rendition instead of the master asset, because the thumbnail is the URL the storefront exposes first in its product payload.

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Unavailable desktop landing page [link]

Feed URLs are generated from handles or IDs that change when products are renamed, archived or moved between categories, and stale exports keep pointing at the old path.

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Meta AdsCritical

Invalid URL in link or mobile_link

Tracking parameters are appended by string concatenation, which produces double question marks, unencoded spaces or duplicate UTM keys. Some exports also emit a path without the domain.

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