Google Merchant Center Errors and How to Resolve Them

It can be a pain when you get disapprovals within the Merchant Center, especially if you don’t know how to resolve them. Our Senior Client Success Manager for Productcaster, Will, has compiled a list of the most common Merchant Center errors that the Productcaster team have seen within the Merchant Center over the past few months and more importantly, he’s given us his top tips on how to fix them.  

Unable to view shop on mobile device 

Why is this happening: The landing page (submitted via the mobile link [mobile_link] attribute) cannot be accessed by Google when they crawl the page. These products will stop showing in ads and free listings until Google can access the landing page. Google routinely crawl your landing pages to ensure that they work properly. 

Fix: Update your online shop so that it can be viewed from mobile devices. Sometimes something as simple as a refresh of the feed can fix this issue. 

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/12158056?hl=en-GB  

Unable to view shop on desktop 

Why is this happening: The desktop landing page (submitted via the link [link] attribute) cannot be accessed by Google when they crawl the page. These products will stop showing in ads and free listings until Google can access the landing page. Google routinely crawl your landing pages to ensure that they work properly. 

Fix: Update your online shop so that it can be viewed from desktop devices. Again, this could be a syncing error and a refresh of the feed could resolve this issue. 

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/12158123?hl=en-GB  

False or misleading health claims 

Why is this happening: You may need to apply for preauthorisation with Google before advertising healthcare-related content, depending on the country you are advertising in. Weight loss, over-the-counter medication, pregnancy and fertility-related products are common products that are flagged. 

Fix: Review those products that are making false or misleading health claims on sites.  

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6150151?hl=en-GB

Missing Value 

Why is this happening: One of the required fields that Google needs for each product is missing. 

Fix: Simply add the attribute to the feed or directly into the merchant center. This has been enhanced in Merchant Center Next. 

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/7052112?hl=en-GBb  

Mismatched Value 

Why is this happening: Google’s crawlers are flagging that the attribute on site does not match what is on the feed. Price and availability are common ones flagged in this instance. 

Fix: Ensure the data in your feed matches that on your website and turn on automatic updates for Price, Availability, and Condition. 

More information on value mismatch: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6098334   

Text on image 

Why is this happening: Some of your products have images with promotional text (retailer logos or calls to action) or watermarks, which can obstruct the view of your product. 

Fix: Upload a clear image with no promotional text, watermarks, roundels, call outs, awards. 

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/12158684?hl=en-GB  

Unsupported Image Type

Why is this happening: The URL provided for your image (submitted via image link [image_link]) doesn’t link to a valid image with a format that is accepted by Google; products with unsupported image types will not show in ads or in free listings until this issue is resolved.

Fix: Only upload an image in the accepted format: JPEG, PNG, or GIF

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/12159031

Image Too Small

Why is this happening: The URL provided for your image (submitted via image link [image_link]) links to an image that is below the minimum requirements; products will not show in ads or in free listings until this issue is resolved.

Fix: Use an image that’s at least 100 x 100 pixels for non-apparel and 250 x 250 pixels for apparel products.

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/12159030

Image Too Big

Why is this happening: The URL provided for your image (submitted via image link [image_link]) links to an image that is above the maximum requirements; products will not show in ads or in free listings until this issue is resolved.

Fix: Submit an image that has a resolution less than 64 megapixels and file size smaller than 16MB.

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/12473903

Invalid Image Format

Why is this happening: Your product images (submitted via image link [image_link]) aren’t encoded in a way that Google recognises; products will not show in ads or in free listings until this issue is resolved.

Fix: Check that the image format, image link and the server settings are correct.

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/12470638

Limited Performance Due to Missing GTIN 

Why is this happening: The GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) is missing from your product. A valid GTIN helps identify a product and makes it easier for a consumer to find. This also helps identification when using the price competitiveness report. Products submitted without any unique product identifiers are difficult to classify and may not be eligible for all Shopping programmes or features. 

Fix: Add a GTIN to your feed (but only if you are sure that it is correct). When in doubt, do not provide a GTIN (for example, do not guess or make up a value). 

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324461?hl=en-GB  

Invalid GTIN Format

Why is this happening: Your Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) that you submitted (via GTIN [gtin]) for your products aren’t formatted correctly.

Fix: Add an accurate GTIN and ensure it only contains numerals with 8,12, 13, 14 digits. You can check the validity of your barcode by submitting here: https://www.gs1.org/services/check-digit-calculator

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/12158484

Duplicate GTIN

Why is this happening: Two or more of the products in your product data use the same values for the GTIN [gtin], multipack [multipack] and condition [condition] attributes. This could be because you have one product listed twice in your product data or because you’re using the same GTIN for two different products.

Fix: Review your products and ensure that you’re not using the same values for the GTIN [gtin] attribute on multiple products.

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/12470642

Same GTIN but differing value

Why is this happening: Your product data is inconsistent; you’ve submitted the same value for the GTIN [gtin] attribute for multiple products, but have submitted differing values for other attributes, such as item group ID [item_group_id] attributes.

Fix: Submit the same value for all products with the same GTIN, or update the GTIN.

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/12473099

Local item not matching any catalogue or online item

Why is this happening: Your product data is inconsistent between your online inventory and your local inventory feeds.

Fix: LIA (Local Inventory Ads) error – provide all essential local attributes, or link an online item to the local item

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6224588

Additional or promotional information

Why is this happening: One or more of your attributes for your product contains promotional text or text that is irrelevant for that specific attribute; for example, you would be unable to include ‘lowest price guaranteed’ ’30-day money back guarantee’ in the title [title] or description [description] as they’d be considered promotional text.

Fix: Remove promotional text and only describe your product.

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/12470141

Unable to do quality & policy checks on product pages

Why is this happening: You’ve submitted an image (via image link [image link]) that cannot be crawled by Google because robots.txt forbids Google’s crawler to download the image; your affected products will remain disapproved until we are able to crawl their images.

Fix: Update your robots.txt file to include “Googlebot” and “Googlebot-Image” so that your products can show on Google; test if your UTL is indexable here: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9012289

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/12467444

Personal hardships in personalised advertising

Why is this happening: Your ads are deemed to be targeting shoppers in ways that exploit their personal situation (e.g. health content, negative financial status, relationship hardships, commission of a crime, abuse and trauma, imposing negativity).

Fix: Check your submitted attributes against Google’s policies as to not exploit shopper’s difficulties or struggles.

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/143465

Adult-oriented content (Sexually explicit content)

Why is this happening: Your products are adult oriented and promote sexually explicit content (e.g. adult merch, exposed skin or nudity).

Fix: Remove products from feed is a quick fix is an account disapproval is threatened, alternatively you can request a review of your account or appeal the decision taken on the issue in hand.

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6150138

Dangerous products (guns and parts)

Why is this happening: Your products that are integral to the operation of firearms; objects or mechanisms capable of being launched or fired at high speeds; or instructional material related to the creation, modification, or procurement of functional firearms or high-velocity devices.

Fix: Remove products from feed is a quick fix is an account disapproval is threatened, alternatively you can request a review of your account or appeal the decision taken on the issue in hand.

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6150004

Alcoholic drinks

Why is this happening: Products that contain alcohol are restricted for promotion in accordance with local regulations; the promotion of alcohol consumption as a benefit for various improvements is prohibited

Fix: Remove products from feed is a quick fix is an account disapproval is threatened, alternatively you can request a review of your account or appeal the decision taken on the issue in hand.

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6150139

Prescription and over the counter drugs

Why is this happening: Products that are healthcare-related and classified as prescription and behind-the-counter medications unless in the USA or Canada.

Fix: Remove products from feed is a quick fix is an account disapproval is threatened, alternatively you can request a review of your account or appeal the decision taken on the issue in hand. Be sure to review any country specific rules for those locations which your ads will appear.

More information: Online pharmacies promoting prescription medication must be accredited by LegitScript and certified by Google: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6150151

Offensive or inappropriate content (Capitalising on threatened or extinct species)

Why is this happening: Your products are deemed to promote cruelty or gratuitous violence towards animals or products that may be interpreted as trading in derived from threatened or extinct species.

Fix: Remove products from feed is a quick fix is an account disapproval is threatened, alternatively you can request a review of your account or appeal the decision taken on the issue in hand – be sure to review any country specific rules for those locations which your ads will appear.

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6149990

Missing value: size, colour, gender, and age group

Why is this happening: A value has not been provided in your product data for one or more attributes that are required for your product. For certain products featured in Shopping ads and free listings, specific sets of attributes are required.

gender [gender], age group [age_group] and colour [color] attributes are all required for clothing offers, and must be specified in order for these offers to trigger the PLA. For shoes specifically, all these attributes as well as the size [size] attribute are required.

Fix: To fix this issue, provide the missing attributes for your product in your feed or you can also add this in Merchant Center directly. You can add required attributes or only those that were specifically flagged for this error.

Always check that you’ve fixed the issue by making sure that it’s no longer listed on the ‘Needs attention’ page. It may take some time for your change to be reflected on the ‘Needs attention’ page so be patient.

More information: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/14916941

 

I hope the above fixes for these common errors are useful. Let us know what common errors you see on your accounts and if you need any support fixing these within your merchant center, get in touch with our Productcaster experts at info@productcaster.com. 

Written by Will Turner