Products disapproved in Merchant Center: what to do
Your products don't show in Google Shopping and Merchant Center is full of red statuses. Here are the most common reasons and how to fix them.
Where to find the reason
In Merchant Center open Products → Needs attention (or Diagnostics in the old interface). It shows how many products are disapproved and why. Click an issue and Google lists the affected products.
1. The price on the site doesn't match the feed
The most common reason. You changed the price on the site but the feed hasn't updated yet, or the other way round. Google may treat this as misleading the buyer.
What to do: check how often your feed updates and refresh it manually if needed. Sometimes the feed is fine but Google can't fetch it because the server doesn't respond. A manual fetch helps then.
2. Missing brand or barcode (GTIN)
For many products Google wants to see the brand and the barcode (GTIN). If the brand field in your store is empty, the feed will have no brand or something random.
What to do: fill in the brand for your products. If you make the product yourself and there's no barcode, you can mark that in the feed (identifier_exists) and Google won't require it.
3. Image problems
Watermarks, "Sale" text, borders, images that are too small, or a placeholder instead of a photo. Any of these can get a product disapproved.
What to do: make the main image clean, on a light background, without text, ideally at least 800×800 pixels.
4. Shipping or returns not set up
Google requires shipping and return conditions. Without them products may be limited or not shown at all.
What to do: in Merchant Center settings fill in shipping and returns exactly as on your site.
5. The product page doesn't open
The product was deleted, the link changed, or the page returns an error. Google checks the links and disapproves such products.
What to do: remove deleted products from the feed or fix the links.
6. Policy violations
Some categories are restricted: medicines, weapons, some adult products, and also misleading titles. Read exactly what Google says, and sometimes request a review.
New products don't appear in Google
A separate common case: the feed export includes only selected products. New products never get into such a feed by themselves. Check your export settings and include all products.
I set up Google Shopping, Google Ads and SEO for online stores and small businesses. I write in plain language, no fluff. If something from this article doesn't work for you, message me and I'll help.
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