- A product disapproval stops one product showing. A suspension stops your whole account. Google says too many price or availability mismatches can turn the first into the second.
- Price and stock mismatches between your product data and your pages are the issues to fix first.
- Google renamed many issues in the new Merchant Center, so you may see either name. Both are listed here.
- After fixing, request a website check: Google says it can take up to 12 hours.
Find your issue
- Mismatched product priceMerchant Center
- Mismatched product availabilityMerchant Center
- Product page unavailableMerchant Center
- Preemptive item disapprovalMerchant Center
- Missing or incorrect GTINMerchant Center
- Limited performance due to missing value: brand [brand]Merchant Center
- Conflicting values (GTIN, brand)Merchant Center
- Image too smallMerchant Center
- Generic imageMerchant Center
- Promotional overlay on imageMerchant Center
- Missing shipping costsMerchant Center
- Excessive capitalizationMerchant Center
- Invalid value (Google product category)Merchant Center
- Missing value: gender, size, color or age groupMerchant Center
Open Products, then Needs attention, in Merchant Center to see each issue and how many products it affects. If your whole account is suspended rather than individual products, see Merchant Center suspended instead.
Price, stock and product page issues
These are the most serious product issues, because Google compares what you tell it with what shoppers see. Repeated mismatches can lead to an account suspension.
Mismatched product price
Older name: Mismatched value (page crawl) [price]What it means. The price Google read on your product page doesn't match the price in your product data. Google says a price mismatch can also lead to an account suspension, so fix it quickly.
Usual causes
- Prices changed on your website but your product data wasn't updated at the same time
- The hidden product data (structured data) on the page shows a different price from the one shoppers see
- The price is loaded by JavaScript after the page opens, so Google's crawler reads a different one
- A sale price with the wrong start or end date, or the wrong time zone
- A different currency, or VAT added or removed on one side only
Do this first
- Compare the price in your Merchant Center product data with the price on the page, in your target country's currency
- In Merchant Center, open Products, then Needs attention, filter for the issue and edit each product (or download the list as a CSV, fix it and re-upload)
- After fixing, request a website check from the product's page. Google says it can take up to 12 hours, and you can't send another request in that time
Mismatched product availability
Older name: Mismatched value (page crawl) [availability]What it means. Your product data says in stock (or out of stock) but the product page says otherwise. Google says too many products with incorrect availability can lead to an account suspension.
Usual causes
- Stock changed on your website but your product data hadn't updated yet
- Products set to out of stock in your feed just to hide them (Google suggests pausing them instead)
- The page's hidden product data says in stock while the page shows sold out, or the other way round
Do this first
- Make the availability in your product data match the product page
- If stock changes often, schedule your feed updates to match, or turn on automatic item updates
- After fixing, request a website check from the product's page. Google says it can take up to 12 hours, and you can't send another request in that time
Product page unavailable
Older names: Unavailable desktop landing page, Unavailable mobile landing pageWhat it means. Google couldn't open the product page you gave it, so it stops showing that product in ads and free listings until the page works.
Usual causes
- Page not found (404): the product was deleted, renamed or moved
- Too many redirects (Google allows up to 2)
- Couldn't connect or HTTP 5xx: the server failed, often a slow host or a firewall blocking Google
- Google can't reach your robots.txt file, or your domain's DNS is faulty
- Links in your product data that don't use your verified domain or https://
Do this first
- Open the link from your product data yourself on a phone and a computer
- Test it with Search Console's URL inspection tool, then fix the page or update the link in Merchant Center
- After fixing, request a website check from the product's page. Google says it can take up to 12 hours, and you can't send another request in that time
Preemptive item disapproval
What it means. Google has found price or availability mismatches and has disapproved items before they mislead shoppers. Fixing the underlying mismatch is what clears it.
Usual causes
- Repeated price mismatches between your product data and your pages
- Repeated availability mismatches
Do this first
- Fix the price and availability mismatches above for every affected product
- Turn on automatic item updates if your prices or stock change often
- Then request a review
Barcode and brand issues
These usually limit how often products show rather than disapproving them, but they're worth fixing: Google uses barcodes and brands to match your products to searches.
Missing or incorrect GTIN
Also shown as: Limited performance due to missing value [gtin], Invalid value [gtin], Incorrect identifier [gtin]What it means. A product's barcode number (GTIN) is missing or isn't recognised. Depending on the product and country this limits how often it shows, or stops it showing.
Usual causes
- Barcode left blank, or typed with spaces, letters or the wrong number of digits
- A barcode that belongs to a different product or brand
- Handmade, vintage or own-brand items that have no barcode at all
Do this first
- Add the manufacturer's barcode (GTIN), or a brand plus the manufacturer part number (MPN)
- For one-of-a-kind, vintage or custom items with no barcode, set identifier exists to false (Shopify: mark them as custom products)
- Never make up a barcode or reuse one from another product
Limited performance due to missing value: brand [brand]
What it means. Your products have no brand, so Google can't match them properly and shows them less often.
Usual causes
- The brand (Shopify: Vendor) field is empty or holds a placeholder
Do this first
- Enter the real brand: your shop's name for things you make, otherwise the manufacturer's
- Don't use your shop name for other brands' products
Conflicting values (GTIN, brand)
What it means. The barcode you gave isn't registered to the brand you named, so Google doesn't trust the pairing.
Usual causes
- A barcode copied from a similar product
- The brand spelled differently from the barcode owner's name
Do this first
- Check the barcode belongs to that brand (GS1's lookup tools can help)
- Correct the barcode or the brand so they match
Image issues
Image too small
What it means. The main product image is below Google's minimum size: 100 × 100 pixels, or 250 × 250 for clothing. Google says the minimum rises to 500 × 500 pixels for all products from 31 January 2027.
Usual causes
- Thumbnails used as the main image
- Small supplier photos
Do this first
- Upload a larger original photo, not a stretched small one
- Aim for at least 500 × 500 pixels now, ready for 2027
Generic image
What it means. The main image is a logo, an icon or a placeholder rather than a photo of the actual product.
Usual causes
- A "coming soon" or placeholder graphic
- Your logo used as the product image
Do this first
- Replace it with a clear photo of the product itself
Promotional overlay on image
What it means. The main image has text, a logo, a watermark or a promotional badge on top, such as "SALE" or "Free delivery".
Usual causes
- Sale badges or banners added to photos
- Watermarks or logos over the product
Do this first
- Use a clean product photo for the main image (extra images can show more)
- Or turn on Merchant Center's image improvements, which can remove some overlays automatically
Shipping and product data issues
Missing shipping costs
Older name: Missing value [shipping]What it means. Some products have no delivery cost, and Google won't show them until they do.
Usual causes
- No shipping policy set up in Merchant Center for the country you're advertising in
- Weight-based delivery rates, but products with no weight
Do this first
- In Merchant Center, open Shipping and returns and add a shipping policy for each country you sell to
- Make the costs and times match your website's delivery page
- Allow 24 to 72 hours for the change to show
Excessive capitalization
What it means. Product titles use capitals for effect, such as "AMAZING CRYSTAL SET".
Usual causes
- All-caps titles or words used for emphasis
Do this first
- Rewrite titles in normal sentence or title case. Brand names that are genuinely in capitals are fine
Invalid value (Google product category)
What it means. The Google product category you gave isn't one from Google's list.
Usual causes
- Your own category name used instead of Google's
- Only the last part of the category path given
Do this first
- Use the category's number, or its full path from Google's product taxonomy
Missing value: gender, size, color or age group
What it means. Clothing and accessories need extra details so Google can show the right sizes and fits.
Usual causes
- Gender, size, colour or age group left blank on clothing products
Do this first
- Add each value: gender (male, female or unisex), a consistent size, a single colour name and an age group
When a disapproval becomes a suspension
- Google says too many products with mismatched prices or availability can lead to an account suspension, not just disapproved products.
- Product data quality problems that stay unresolved after Google's warning period can also lead to a suspension. Google's help pages describe a 28-day warning for these.
- Account-level problems, such as misrepresentation or a website that needs improvement, are suspensions from the start. See Merchant Center suspended and website needs improvement.
The free scan reads your website the way Google's crawler does: it compares the price and stock in each product page's hidden product data with what shoppers see, and checks for missing product data, broken pages and a blocked crawler. It can't see your Merchant Center feed or settings, so feed-only issues such as image size or product category are for you to check in Merchant Center.
After you fix it
- 1
Fix every affected product
Merchant Center lets you download the list of affected products as a CSV. Fix them all, not just the first few, and fix the cause (for example, keep your feed in step with your website).
- 2
Request a website check
From the product's page, request a website check to speed up reapproval. Google says it can take up to 12 hours, and you can't send another request in that time. If you don't request one, Google reviews automatically later.
- 3
Disagree only if Google is wrong
If the issue is a mistake, choose "I disagree with the issue" and then Request review. Google says some accounts have a limit on review requests, so use it carefully.
- 4
Give it time to update
Google says changes can take 24 to 72 hours to show on the Needs attention page, and fixed issues usually clear within a couple of days.
Common questions
- Google Merchant Center: How to fix: Mismatched product price
- Google Merchant Center: How to fix: Mismatched product availability
- Google Merchant Center: How to fix: Product page unavailable
- Google Merchant Center: How to fix: Missing or incorrect GTIN
- Google Merchant Center: How to fix: Image too small
- Google Merchant Center: How to fix: Missing shipping costs
- Google Merchant Center: Fixing disapprovals for product data quality violations
Certanza is independent and not affiliated with Google. This guide is general information, not legal advice, and Google's policies can change.