Short answer. Merchant Center disapproves a product with “Missing value [image_link]” when the image_link attribute is empty: image_link is required for every product. Add a photo to the product in your store, or fix the export that is leaving the field blank for variants.
| Shown in Merchant Center as | Missing value [image_link] |
|---|---|
| Attribute | image_link |
| Effect | Product disapproved |
| Where to find it | Products → Needs attention, then filter by this issue |
| Free check | Reported by the free feed check |
What Merchant Center means by “Missing value [image_link]”
The image_link attribute is required for every product in the product data specification, and this row has none. Google cannot show a Shopping ad or a free listing without a picture, so the product is disapproved on arrival. The issue string follows the general pattern Google uses for a required attribute that is absent, “Missing value [attribute]”, listed in the Content API’s product issues reference.
It is the most mechanical error in Merchant Center: there is no judgement involved, only an empty field. That makes it the easiest to find before Google does.
Why it happens
- Variants without their own image. The parent product has photos; the export writes one row per variant and reads only the variant’s image, which is unset.
- Products with no photo yet. Drafts, new arrivals, made-to-order items published before photography.
- A column mapping error. The export maps the wrong column, or the header is misspelt (
image linkwith a space,imagelink) so Google does not recognise it. - Images hosted on a path the export cannot resolve. A relative URL or a protocol-less URL that the export drops rather than writes.
How to fix it
In Shopify
Open the affected products and assign media to each variant, or leave variant media unset and use a feed that falls back to the product’s featured image (Shopify’s own Google & YouTube channel does; so does our Shopify integration). Products that genuinely have no photo should be unpublished from the channel until they do.
In WooCommerce
Set a “Product image” on the product, and for variable products check the variation image where one is wanted. Our free connector sends the variation image when one is set and the product image otherwise, so a single product photo covers every size and colour.
In a CSV or XML feed
Check the header first: the column must be named image_link (or g:image_link in XML). Then fill the empty cells with full URLs starting with https://. Rows you cannot fill should be removed from the file rather than sent empty; a disapproved product counts against your account’s health and a missing row does not.
How long until Merchant Center clears it
The moment the next feed fetch carries a valid URL, Google fetches the image and the product is re-processed; allow 24–72 hours for the Needs attention page to catch up. No review request is involved.
What FeedRobin does about it
“No image” is the heaviest single deduction in the free check’s score, because it blocks approval outright, and the report lists the products with the count. We do not repair it, since there is no photo in the file to repair with; the fix is an upload in your store. For a connected store, products without an image are counted on the dashboard and, in the feeds we serve, a product missing a required field is left out rather than sent broken, so the feed Google fetches never carries this error.
Questions merchants ask
The product has a photo in my store. Why does the feed say it has none?
Usually because the photo is attached to the parent product and the feed row is a variant with no image of its own. Some exports only write the variant’s image. Set a variant image, or use an export that falls back to the product image.
Can I submit the product without an image and add it later?
You can submit it, but it will be disapproved until the image arrives, and it will count against your account’s overall disapproval rate. Better to leave the product out of the feed until it has a photo.
Does a broken image URL count as missing?
No. An image URL that returns an error shows as “Invalid image [image_link]”, a different issue with different causes. Missing means the field is empty.
Sources
- Image link [image_link] — Google Merchant Center Help
- Product issues (Content API for Shopping): the issue codes and the titles Merchant Center shows — Google Merchant Center Help
- Product data specification — Google Merchant Center Help