Fixing the most common Google Merchant Center errors
A Merchant Center disapproval always shows a precise reason, product by product, never a generic one. Before re-exporting everything, I read that exact reason, work out whether it’s a feed error or a product page error, then fix things in an order that avoids doing the same work twice.
The situations I handle
- Products disapproved without understanding the exact reason
- A sudden drop in the number of active products in Merchant Center
- An "invalid GTIN" reason on a product that never had a barcode
- A price or availability that looks correct on the site but keeps flagging as an error
- A generic product category applied by default across the whole catalogue
- Images rejected without knowing whether resolution, a watermark or promotional text is the cause
How I diagnose a rejection
-
1. Reading the exact reason per product
I open the product diagnostics in Merchant Center and read the disapproval reason shown for each affected product, not just the total count of products in error. The exact wording (invalid GTIN, price mismatch, non-compliant image...) points directly to the fix needed.
-
2. Feed error or product page error?
I compare what the feed sends for that attribute with what’s actually shown on the product page. If both match and Google still flags a gap, the cause is often schema.org structured data on the page contradicting the visible content or the feed.
-
3. Fixing product identifiers
For a GTIN flagged invalid, I first check it’s genuinely the manufacturer’s code and not an internal reference. For a product with genuinely no standard identifier, I use identifier_exists=no rather than forcing a made-up code.
-
4. Fixing price and availability
I check consistency between the displayed price, the price sent in the feed and, if present, the page’s schema.org markup. Same check for availability: the feed needs to reflect the real stock at the time Google crawls the page, not a snapshot frozen at the last feed generation.
-
5. Category and image last
Once the core attributes are correct, I check the associated Google product category (no generic default) and image compliance: sufficient resolution, no watermark or promotional text overlay, no generic placeholder image.
Why this order
Fixing the image or category before price or product identifiers wastes time: a product with an invalid GTIN stays disapproved even with a perfect image. I deal first with attributes that fully block approval, then with the ones that degrade ranking without necessarily blocking the listing.
- Missing or invalid GTIN: not to be confused with a product that genuinely has no standard identifier, where identifier_exists=no is the correct answer.
- Price mismatch: between the feed, the displayed product page, and any contradictory schema.org markup on that same page.
- Wrong availability: the feed needs to match the real stock at the exact moment Google crawls the page, not an old snapshot.
- Missing or poorly chosen category: a generic category applied by default to the whole catalogue.
- Non-compliant image: insufficient resolution, watermark, promotional text overlay, or a placeholder image.
Related pages
-
Google Merchant Center feed from PrestaShop
Core attributes and the official module on PrestaShop.
-
Google Merchant Center feed from WooCommerce
Product variation and category specifics.
-
Sale prices, shipping and availability
The three attributes most often causing rejections.
-
Integrations and APIs
The hub for the technical integrations I build.
Describe your need in one minute
A few targeted questions so I can reply with an estimate rather than another questionnaire.