Product disapprovals in Google Merchant Center stop your products from showing in Google Shopping and free listings. No impressions, no clicks, no sales. When a disapproval hits, you want it fixed fast — not three hours of searching through help articles.
This guide covers the most common Merchant Center disapprovals and warnings, what causes each one, and exactly how to fix it. Bookmark this page. Next time a disapproval appears, find it in the list below, follow the steps, and move on.
How to find your disapprovals: In Merchant Center, go to Products → Needs Attention. You'll see all current disapprovals and warnings. Click any error to see which specific products are affected. From a product's detail page, you can edit and then request a manual review once the fix is in place.
| # | Error / Warning | Type | Root Cause | Fix Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prohibited Pharmaceuticals & Supplements | Disapproval | Banned substances or triggering language in copy | 24–48 hrs |
| 2 | Unavailable Desktop Landing Page | Disapproval | Broken URL, crawl block, or page not live | 12–48 hrs |
| 3 | Invalid Image / Invalid Image URL | Disapproval | Wrong format, too large, or inaccessible URL | 24–48 hrs |
| 4 | Invalid GTIN | Disapproval | Incorrect, non-numeric, or unrecognised identifier | 24–48 hrs |
| 5 | Mismatched Product Price | Disapproval | Price in feed doesn't match landing page price | 24–48 hrs |
| 6 | Invalid Sales Price | Disapproval | Sale price in feed doesn't match website | 24–48 hrs |
| 7 | Image Too Small | Disapproval | Image below minimum pixel dimensions | 24–48 hrs |
| 8 | Text on Image (Promotional Text) | Disapproval | Overlay text, watermarks, or logos on product image | 24–48 hrs |
| 9 | Missing Color | Warning | Color attribute absent from apparel products | 24–48 hrs |
| 10 | Missing Age Group | Warning | Age group attribute absent from relevant products | 24–48 hrs |
Most Merchant Center disapprovals can be resolved within 24–48 hours — the key is knowing exactly what Google is looking for.
Why it happens: Google restricts advertising for many supplements and pharmaceuticals — including products containing melatonin, CBD, or body-shaping ingredients. You may also get this disapproval even if you don't sell supplements at all, because certain words in your product title or description trigger the policy filter.
Common triggering terms: "heal", "miracle cure", "guaranteed results", "body shaping", "fat burning", or ingredient names that overlap with restricted substances.
How to fix it:
If you manage your feed through a third-party tool (like DataFeedWatch), make the changes there — not directly in Merchant Center. Merchant Center changes override feed data, which can cause conflicts with your feed management tool.
Why it happens: Google can't access or load the product page your ad points to. Common causes: the product is out of stock and the page is hidden, the product was deleted or set to draft, there's a 301/302 redirect in the URL path, a plugin conflict is breaking the page, or Google's crawler (AdsBot) is blocked in your robots.txt file.
How to fix it — step by step:
Disallow rule blocking User-agent: AdsBot-Google.Pop-ups that appear on page load and login-gated pages will also trigger this error. Google's crawler can't interact with overlays or log in to view product pages — remove any friction from your product landing pages.
Product images are one of the most common sources of Merchant Center disapprovals — get the format, size, and content right from the start.
Why it happens: The image URL in your feed doesn't resolve to a valid image. This occurs when you've accidentally submitted a webpage URL instead of a direct image URL, when the image file exceeds Google's size limits, or when the image requires a login to access.
Google's image requirements:
How to fix it: In the product's edit view, remove the old image and upload a new one that meets all requirements. You can upload directly from your computer or provide a direct image URL. Alternatively, update the product images on your Shopify/WooCommerce store — the feed sync will pick up the new images automatically.
Why it happens: The GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) in your feed is incorrect, uses an unsupported format, contains letters or special characters, or fails the check digit validation. GTINs must be purely numeric and pass the GS1 check digit algorithm.
GTIN formats Google accepts:
How to fix it:
If you're selling branded products (e.g., Nike, Sony), always use the brand's actual name — not your store name — when submitting GTINs. Google cross-references GTINs against brand databases to verify accuracy.
Why it happens: Google crawls your landing pages and compares the price it finds there against the price in your feed. If they differ, you get this error. The most common culprit is a currency switcher app that adjusts prices based on the visitor's IP address — Google's crawler may see a different currency or amount than what's in your feed. Incorrect product variant URLs (where the URL in the feed sends to a different variant with a different price) also trigger this.
How to fix it:
Why it happens: The sale price in your feed doesn't match what appears on your product page, or the sale price is higher than the regular price (which would be logically invalid). Google's crawler checks both prices against your live site.
How to fix it: Find the product in your online store and ensure a sale price is set correctly in the pricing section. The sale price must be lower than the regular price, and both prices must be in the currency of your target country. Once updated, Google will crawl your page within 24–48 hours and remove the disapproval if prices are aligned.
Only submit sale prices for products that are actually on sale on your website. Don't use a "sale price" field to show your regular price — Google will compare both values and disapprove the listing if the sale price equals or exceeds the regular price.
Why it happens: The product image doesn't meet Google's minimum pixel dimensions. Google requires at least 250×250 pixels for apparel products and 100×100 pixels for all other products. While these are the technical minimums, small images perform significantly worse in Shopping — they appear smaller in results and tend to generate fewer clicks.
How to fix it: Replace the image with a higher resolution version. Either upload directly in Merchant Center (Product edit → Product Images → remove old image → upload new) or update the image on your online store and allow the feed to sync. Larger is better — aim for at least 800×800 pixels for a clean, competitive Shopping presence. Google recommends 1000×1000 or above for best results.
Your product image is the most visible element in a Shopping listing. A high-quality, well-lit product photo on a clean background consistently outperforms low-resolution or cluttered images — not just for compliance, but for click-through rate and conversion rate too.
Why it happens: Google doesn't allow promotional text overlays, logos, watermarks, or any text on product images in Shopping ads. The product photo must show only the product itself, ideally on a clean white or neutral background.
You have two options for fixing this:
Why it happens: For apparel products, the color attribute is required. Missing it won't necessarily stop your products showing, but it limits visibility and hurts performance — especially in filtered Shopping searches where users browse by colour.
Google's rules for the color attribute:
red/blueHow to fix it: Edit the product in Merchant Center, scroll to Apparel Product Details → Color, and add the correct value. Save and request review. If managing a large catalogue, update the colour attribute in your feed management tool or spreadsheet to apply the fix at scale across all affected products.
Why it happens: Products that vary by age — or apparel products in general — should have an age_group attribute. Without it, Google can't properly categorise your products in age-filtered searches, which limits visibility and performance.
Valid age group values Google recognises: newborn, infant, toddler, kids, teen, adult
How to fix it: Filter for this warning in Merchant Center by going to Needs Attention, clicking the filter icon, and selecting Issue Impact → Limits Visibility. For each affected product, edit → scroll to Apparel Product Details → Age Group → select the correct value → Save. For large catalogues, apply the fix via your feed spreadsheet or feed management tool to update all affected products at once.
The best disapproval is one that never occurs. A few practices that prevent the most common issues:
Fix disapproved products and account suspensions — Google Merchant Center Help
Product data specification — Google Merchant Center Help
GTIN requirements for Shopping — Google Merchant Center Help
GS1 Check Digit Calculator
How to Fix Every Google Merchant Center Product Disapproval — KeyCommerce (YouTube)
Common questions about Google Merchant Center product disapprovals.
Most fixes are reviewed within 24 to 48 hours once you've corrected the issue and requested a review. For landing page issues specifically, you can request a website recrawl through Merchant Center to speed up the process. For some errors like price mismatches, Google may automatically detect the fix on its next crawl without you needing to manually request a review.
A GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) is a standardised product identifier — it's the barcode number on physical product packaging. You can retrieve it from the product packaging itself, from the manufacturer, or from your supplier. Common formats include UPC (12 digits, used in North America), EAN (13 digits, used internationally), and ISBN (10 or 13 digits, for books). If you don't have a GTIN, you can use the MPN (Manufacturer Part Number) combined with the brand name instead.
Google crawls your landing pages and compares the price it finds there against what's in your product feed. If they differ — even slightly — you'll get a price mismatch disapproval. Common causes include currency switcher apps changing the displayed price based on the visitor's location, product variants sending traffic to the wrong URL, and a lag between when you update your store price and when your feed next syncs. Enabling Automatic Improvements in Merchant Center helps Google stay current with your actual prices.
Yes — promotional text is only restricted on Google Shopping ads. You can maintain separate images: keep the promotional version on your website storefront and upload a clean version directly into Merchant Center. Merchant Center will use the clean image for Shopping ads while your website retains the promotional version.
This is a common false positive. Google's system may flag products based on words in your product title or description that trigger the pharmaceuticals policy — terms like "heal", "miracle", "guaranteed cure", or even ingredient names that overlap with restricted supplements. Review your product titles and descriptions, remove any triggering language, then request a manual review through the Needs Attention section in Merchant Center.
Feed quality and product data are the foundation of Shopping performance. If you're managing a product catalogue and want to make sure it's set up for maximum visibility and ROAS, let's take a look.
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