Merchant Center and Commerce Manager errors, explained and fixed
Every entry below is the exact text a catalogue console shows: Google Merchant Center under Products → Needs attention, Meta Commerce Manager in a product’s Status and issues or a feed’s issue report. Each page says what the error means, why it happens, how to fix it in Shopify, in WooCommerce or in a feed file, and how long the console takes to clear it. 58 errors so far, each checked against Google’s own list of product issues or Meta’s help pages and the help page for that issue. Most of them the free check finds in your file before the console does. For the rule behind each field, the attribute reference has one page per attribute.
Image errors
The photo is the first thing Google checks and the most common reason a product is disapproved.
Image too smallGoogle wants every product image at least 500×500 pixels from 31 January 2027. Where the warning comes from, how to find small photos and replace them in bulk.Promotional overlay on image [image_link]A sale badge, watermark, logo or shipping banner on the photo disapproves the product. What counts as an overlay, Google’s automatic fix, and prevention.Generic imageA placeholder, a logo or a “no image available” graphic disapproves the product. How Google detects a generic image and how to find every one left.Missing value [image_link]No image URL in the feed, so Google disapproves the product. Why exports drop images for variants and drafts, and how to find every product without one.Invalid image [image_link]Google couldn’t fetch or decode your product image. Four causes — 404, http, format, bot protection — and how to test the image URL.Image not retrieved (crawl pending)Google hasn’t fetched the image yet, or can’t fetch from your host fast enough. When to wait, when to act, and how to let Google crawl your images faster.Same value for differing variants [image_link]Colour variants share one photo, so Google can’t show the colour a shopper searched for. Which variants need their own image, and setting them per platform.Identifier errors: GTIN, brand, MPN, id
How Google matches your product to its catalogue, and what happens when the numbers are wrong or missing.
Invalid value [gtin]The barcode fails Google’s format check: wrong length, bad check digit, a SKU or a placeholder. How to find the bad values and what to put in their place.Limited performance due to missing value [brand]Products without a brand run, but Google shows them less. Where brand lives in Shopify and WooCommerce, own-brand goods, and why “N/A” makes it worse.Incorrect value [identifier_exists]You told Google a product has no identifiers and Google disagrees. When identifier_exists false is right, when it isn’t, and how to set it only where it fits.Reused value [id]Two feed rows share one id, so Google keeps one and drops the other. Why variant exports do this, how to find the duplicates, and the rule that keeps history.Same GTIN but differing value [brand]Two products share a GTIN but name different brands, so one is wrong. Why reused barcodes and copied rows cause it, and how to find the pairs.Incorrect product identifier [mpn]The mpn isn’t a manufacturer’s part number: your SKU, a barcode or a placeholder. What an MPN is, when Google wants one, and why to leave it blank instead.Invalid value [brand]“N/A”, “Generic”, “Unbranded” or a URL in brand is invalid, and Google treats the product as brandless. What the field accepts, and goods with no brand.Product ID too longThe product id is over Google’s 50-character limit, often built from a URL or a title. The rule, why changing ids costs history, and an id that never changes.Limited performance due to missing identifiers [gtin]What Google's missing-GTIN issue means, where the GTIN goes in your store, and what to do for products with no unique product identifiers.Price, availability and shipping errors
The values Google re-checks against your product page and checkout, and the ones that put the whole account at risk.
Missing value [price]A product without a price does not show in ads or free listings; a price of 0 is reported as invalid. Why exports lose it, and the price format Google expects.Invalid value [availability]Google’s specification lists four availability values. A translated word, yes/no or “available” is not one of them. The accepted spellings and the wrong ones.Mismatched value (page crawl) [availability]Google crawled your page and found a different stock status from the feed. The timing gap behind most of it, the structured-data fix, and the account risk.Mismatched strikethrough price (page crawl)Your page’s crossed-out price doesn’t match the price in your feed, so Google drops it. The four causes, the structured data, and the fix per platform.Invalid sale priceGoogle says a sale price of 0 or less is invalid. Why feeds send one, the format sale_price needs, and how to fix it in Shopify, WooCommerce and feed files.Condition mismatch detected: condition [condition]A used or refurbished product sent as new. Why Google disapproves it, the two related issues, and how to set condition in Shopify, WooCommerce and files.Missing value [shipping]Google needs a shipping cost wherever shipping is required, from account settings or the feed. Why products are disapproved, and where to set it — once.Missing shipping costsThe account has no shipping policy for a country your products target, so every product there is affected. Google’s steps, and how to check the fix took.Missing value [availability]availability is required and this row has none. Why exports leave it empty, the four values it takes, and deriving it from stock in Shopify and WooCommerce.Inaccurate availability status due to inconsistency between feed and landing pageToo many products are in stock in the feed and sold out on the page, or the reverse, so the account is warned. Google’s causes, the fix order and the review.Mismatched value (page crawl) [price]Google disapproves products whose feed price and page price disagree. The usual causes — currency, sale prices, stale feeds — and the fixes.MisrepresentationMerchant Center suspended for Misrepresentation: what the policy covers, a recovery checklist for your site and feed, and how to request a review.Title and description errors
Editorial rules: what a title may not contain and what a description must.
Missing value [description]Description is required for every product; without one Google warns and limits performance. The length that works, what to leave out, and matching the page.Excessive capitalization“Excessive capitalization” is reported for product titles with excessively capitalized text. Google’s rule, the exceptions it names, and a catalogue-wide fix.Additional or promotional info“SALE”, “20% off”, “free shipping” and “buy now” break Google’s title rules. What a title may contain, and where to put the offer so Google shows it.Title truncatedGoogle cuts titles at 150 characters and warns you. Why the cut part is usually the one that mattered, how to reorder a title, and the first 70 characters.Variant and category errors
Sizes and colours listed as separate products, apparel attributes Google requires, and the category field.
Missing value [item_group_id]Without item_group_id every size and colour competes as its own product. How to group variants in Shopify, WooCommerce and a CSV export.Missing value [color] / [size] / [gender] / [age_group]Clothing needs color, size, gender and age_group, and a missing one disapproves it in Google’s biggest markets. Where each lives in Shopify and WooCommerce.Invalid value [google_product_category]The category isn’t a value from Google’s taxonomy: a typo, your own name for it, or an id and a path together. The accepted formats, and when to leave it out.Landing page, link and crawl errors
The URL itself is wrong, or Google could not open the page or the image behind the product.
Image not crawlable due to robots.txtrobots.txt blocks Google from the folder or CDN serving your images, so products can’t be approved. The lines to add on Shopify and WooCommerce, and a check.Unavailable desktop landing pageGoogle opened the product URL and got an error, a redirect or a timeout. The causes by HTTP status, and how to test as desktop and smartphone.Invalid URL [link]The product link isn’t a URL Google can follow: a relative path, no scheme, stray characters or the wrong field. The rule, and how to find every bad row.Mismatched domains [link]Product links point at a domain other than the one claimed in Merchant Center. Why it happens after a domain move, a staging URL or a marketplace link.Desktop page not crawlable due to robots.txtrobots.txt blocks Google from your product pages, so it can’t check price and availability and disapproves them. The rule to add, and the mobile twin.Landing page not workingEnough product pages failed Google’s crawl that the account is flagged. The causes Google lists, testing with URL Inspection, and the review that clears it.Products expiredEvery product expires 30 days after its last refresh, with no error. What counts as a refresh, and the two settings that stop the catalogue emptying itself.Data source could not be fetchedRobots rules, redirects to a page, SFTP errors and size limits — and the feed that downloads fine but arrives empty. Why Merchant Center’s fetch fails.Feed file and format errors
The ones about the document rather than the products in it — where Merchant Center rejects the file before it reads a single item.
Invalid RSS/Atom document formatMerchant Center couldn’t read the file as RSS or Atom. Usually the root element is fine and the file simply never finishes: an export cut off part-way.Meta Commerce Manager (Facebook & Instagram)
Meta’s issue names are the headings of its own troubleshooting pages rather than bracketed attribute strings. The pages below quote them as written; Google’s errors are above.
Errors that block the whole feed
Commerce Manager could not read the file at all: nothing in it was added or updated.
Your data feed file couldn't be accessedMeta couldn’t download your feed: a page instead of a file, a blocked crawler, a login or a restricted Google Sheet. Meta’s checklist and how to test each item.HTML format isn't supportedMeta got a web page where it expected a data file: a page, a login screen or an error page. The formats Meta accepts, and how to see what your URL returns.Incorrect number of columnsCSV rows don’t match the header, almost always an unquoted comma in a description. Meta’s quoting rule, and a two-minute check in a spreadsheet.Feed download speed is slow or exceeds file sizeMeta’s limits: 100 MB for a one-time upload, 4 GB scheduled, compression over 1 GB, a million items per feed. What to do when a catalogue outgrows them.Line or row of text exceeds size limitA row in your feed is over Meta’s 5 MB limit — usually an XML file on one line, or a row of very long image URLs. How to fix it in XML and in CSV.Errors on individual products
The file uploaded; these products were skipped, or are in the catalogue but not shown in ads or the shop.
A required field is missingMeta requires id, title, description, availability, condition, price, link, image_link and brand; without them, products may not be shown in ads or the shop.Invalid valuesSome Meta fields accept a fixed list: availability, condition, gender and age group. The accepted values, and what a Google feed can keep as it is.Field can't be all uppercase lettersMeta doesn’t support ALL-CAPS descriptions and requires one different from the title; the product may not be shown in ads or the shop. The fix and a data rule.Invalid Google or Facebook product categoryThe google_product_category or fb_product_category value isn’t on Meta’s list. Where the lists are, the name-or-id rule, and the missing-size side effect.ID conflicts with group IDA product’s id is also another product’s item_group_id, which Meta forbids. Why exports do this to the parent product, and how to find the pairs.IDs can't be duplicatedTwo rows share an id, so one overwrote the other. Meta’s rule — unique, case sensitive, distinct from group ids — and the variant pattern that meets it.Universal IDs are missing, Invalid GTINMeta wants brand, GTIN or MPN on every product, and a GTIN in a valid format without dashes. Why brand alone is enough, and how it differs from Google.URL incorrectly formattedThe link must start with http:// or https://, open that product’s page and, for Shops, sit on your domain. Meta’s three checks and the marketplace-link trap.Missing or invalid price or currency errorsMeta’s price format, the comma-decimal trap, the 0.50 to 10,000 range for Shops, and the one-currency-per-feed rule. With a rule that fixes decimals in bulk.Missing sizeSize is required only for specific categories, including clothing and shoes, in Shops; Meta may treat uncategorised items as either. Size format, “One size”.Policy violationsProducts rejected under Meta’s Commerce Policies or Advertising Standards: how to see why, request a review, or edit them, and the products shops don’t allow.Out of stock for too longOut-of-stock products leave ads at once and stay in the shop as sold out for 56 days, then disappear. What each status affects, and what to check.Invalid HTML, HTML attributes unsupported, Disallowed HTML tagsHTML belongs only in rich_text_description, with p, b, i, ul and li, for Shops. What Meta strips, what it rejects, and why the plain description stays.Image errors
Meta could not fetch or use the product image, or will not notice that it changed.
Product image upload issuesEvery image cause Meta lists: 500×500 minimum, 8 MB cap, JPEG or PNG, the crawler your firewall must allow, spaces in URLs, and when an image updates.How to read the Needs attention tab
Merchant Center groups issues by what they do to the product. A disapproval takes the product out of Shopping ads and free listings until the value is fixed. A warning means Google accepted the product but altered something (a truncated title) or expects you to act by a date (an undersized image). Limited performance means the product runs with less reach than it would have with the missing attribute. And a few issues are about the account rather than any one product; those need a review request after the fix, and the guides linked above cover them.
Whatever the issue, the mechanics of the fix are the same: change the value at the source (your store, or the export that produces the feed), let the feed refresh, and wait for Google to re-process it. Editing products inside Merchant Center works for one product and is undone by the next feed fetch for everything else.
Questions merchants ask
Where do I see these errors in Merchant Center?
Under Products, on the Needs attention tab. The filter above the table narrows the list to one issue, and the download icon exports the affected products as a CSV, which is the fastest way to fix many at once.
What is the difference between a disapproval, a warning and limited performance?
A disapproved product does not show anywhere until the issue is fixed. A warning means Google accepted the product but changed or flagged something. Limited performance means the product shows, but less often than it would with the missing data.
How long after fixing does an error disappear?
Google’s help pages say 24 to 72 hours for the Needs attention page to reflect a change, once the corrected data has reached Merchant Center. Issues that involve Google crawling your page or image take 24 to 48 hours from the crawl.
Can a feed check find these before Google does?
Most of them. Missing or invalid values, undersized images, wrong availability words, duplicate ids and text problems are visible in the file. What a file cannot show is what Google sees when it opens your page or looks at the pixels of your image, and the pages here say which is which.