Google Merchant Center and feed optimisation

Fix disapproved products and account warnings
Improve feeds with supplemental data sources and attribute rules
Product data for Shopping, free listings and AI search

Request a Merchant Center check

Customer satisfaction

4.9

Based on 33 reviews

Google Merchant Center

Your product data decides your success in Google Shopping

Google Merchant Center holds the product data from which Google creates Shopping ads and free product listings. If the data is incomplete or differs from your shop, Google disapproves products or, in the worst case, suspends the entire account. We make sure your feed is compliant and contains all useful attributes. This page is about account, feed and product data. If you wish, we manage your campaigns as part of our Google Shopping service.

Account and diagnostics

We analyse the issues in your Merchant Center, from account warnings to individual disapproved products, and fix the causes.

Complete product data

In addition to the required attributes, we add recommended details such as categories, variants, additional images, product highlights and technical details, provided the data is available. If it is missing, we advise you on what is needed.

Current requirements

Google updates its specification regularly. We keep track of new requirements, deadlines and attributes for AI search for you.

Required attributes according to Google

What a product in Merchant Center needs as a minimum

Google defines which details a product needs in its product data specification. The most important required attributes at a glance:

id: a unique item ID of up to 50 characters. If it stays the same, the performance history is retained.
title and description: title of up to 150 characters, description of up to 5,000 characters. Texts created with AI are submitted via structured_title and structured_description.
link and image_link: product page and main image. From 31 January 2027, images must be at least 500 × 500 pixels.
price and availability: price and availability must match the product page, checkout and structured data.
brand: required for all new products except films, books and music, up to 70 characters.
gtin and mpn: the GTIN is strongly recommended if the manufacturer has assigned one. The MPN is only required if there is no GTIN.
shipping: shipping costs are required in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, among other countries, at account or product level.
Clothing and shoes: here age_group, gender, color, size and item_group_id are added, among others.

Our Merchant Center services

What we do for your Merchant Center account

We work directly in your Merchant Center and, if you have one, in your feed tool. You do not need any additional software for this. For attribute rules, the “Advanced data source management” add-on simply needs to be enabled in Merchant Center.

Merchant Center check

Analysis of account, data sources and products: account issues, disapproved products, warnings and their causes, with examples and priorities.

Account warning and suspension

Matching feed and website, correcting policy pages, contact details, prices and shipping costs, followed by a well-prepared review request. The decision on reinstatement lies with Google.

Disapproved products

GTIN, brand, MPN and identifier_exists, matching price and availability with the product page and structured data, image sizes and shipping details.

Feed optimisation

Titles and descriptions, Google product category and product type, additional images, variants, product highlights, technical details and unit prices.

Supplemental data sources and attribute rules

Corrections and additions directly in Merchant Center, without touching the shop and tested before they are applied.

Custom labels and additional programmes

Custom labels by margin, season or performance, plus the data basis for promotions, product ratings and local inventory.

Any questions?

We are happy to look at the messages your Merchant Center is currently showing.

Contact person:
Ralph Grundmann
0228 243 313 53

Get in touch now

Account suspension and misrepresentation

When Google suspends your Merchant Center account

Google reviews Merchant Center accounts regularly. If there is a violation, you will usually receive a warning by email with a deadline. If the issue is not resolved by then, the account may be suspended. For egregious violations, Google suspends accounts without prior warning. Google names a missing return and refund policy, insufficient contact information and misrepresentation as common reasons (Google Help: warnings and account suspensions).

Misrepresentation is particularly sensitive. For unacceptable business practices, coordinated deceptive practices and dishonest pricing and transaction conditions, such as false contact details, undisclosed shipping or return costs or bait-and-switch offers, Google suspends accounts without prior warning and only reinstates them in compelling circumstances. For unavailable offers, manipulated media and unreliable claims, Google issues a warning at least seven days before any suspension (misrepresentation policy).

How we approach it:

Narrowing down the cause: we analyse the notices in Merchant Center and compare feed and website: company name, address, phone and email, shipping, returns and privacy pages, prices, shipping costs and checkout.
Checking the website: Google expects, among other things, consistent business information, linked policy pages, no placeholder text or broken links and a working HTTPS checkout. We check this together with technical SEO and structured data.
Requesting a review: only once everything has been fixed do we request a review. You can either confirm that you have fixed the issue or disagree with the decision. Identity verification may be required first, and the data source must not be empty (Google Help: requesting a review).
Avoiding a cool-down: after unsuccessful requests, Google blocks the option to request a new review for a certain period. This cool-down can get longer with every further unsuccessful request. A premature request therefore costs time.

Whether an account is reinstated is decided by Google alone, so we cannot guarantee reinstatement. We make sure that feed and website meet the requirements before the request is submitted.

How we approach it

From check to a stable data basis

For acute account problems, we start with the account and website; otherwise we start with the feed.

Access

You add us as a user in your Merchant Center and give us the feed URL, shop system and, if applicable, your feed tool.

Diagnosis

We analyse account issues, disapproved products and warnings and rank them by their impact on your products.

Matching with the website

We compare feed, product pages, structured data and policy pages, supplemented by a technical SEO check if needed.

Corrections

We implement corrections in Merchant Center, in your feed tool or together with your shop agency at the source.

Testing and verification

We test attribute rules before applying them. Then we check whether Google has picked up the data.

Monitoring

We keep an eye on diagnostics and new requirements and adjust the feed accordingly.

Merchant Center check

Received a warning in Merchant Center?

Do not submit a review request too early. We first check feed and website and tell you what needs to be done before the request.

Request a Merchant Center check

Optimising product data

From disapproval to a complete product

Merchant Center distinguishes between account-level issues, which affect all products, and product-level issues. With warnings, products keep showing, but their performance may be limited. Disapproved products stop showing across Google (Google Help). Common causes that go unnoticed in the shop:

The GTIN is missing or invalid, brand and MPN are missing, or identifier_exists is set incorrectly. Find out more in our knowledge article on the GTIN.
Price or availability in the feed differ from the product page or the structured data, for example because the feed is updated less often than the shop.
Images are missing or too small.
Shipping costs are missing or do not match the details in the shop.

If prices or stock levels change frequently, the interface is worth a look: Google’s Merchant API lets you update the price and availability of individual products without resubmitting the entire feed. According to Google, the changes are usually processed within a few minutes.

Optimisation goes beyond the requirements:

Titles: we put the most important features such as brand, product type, size or colour first and stay within 150 characters. The basis is your original texts and product facts.
Categories: google_product_category with category ID and product_type with the full path. For bidding and reporting in Shopping campaigns, only the first product type value counts.
Images and variants: up to ten additional images via additional_image_link, variants via item_group_id, size and color.
Product highlights and details: product_highlight with 2 to 100 highlights of up to 150 characters each, without promotional language, and product_detail for technical specifications.
Unit price: unit_pricing_measure and unit_pricing_base_measure.

Our reference is Google’s product data specification and its tips for optimising product data.

Supplemental data sources, attribute rules and custom labels

Improving feeds without touching the shop

Not every correction has to be made in the shop. With a supplemental data source, you add to or override information from your primary data source (Google Help), for example missing GTINs, custom labels or product highlights from a spreadsheet.

Attribute rules, formerly feed rules, change values according to fixed rules: set a value, extract part of a value, take the latest value or clear a field. They require the “Advanced data source management” add-on. Rules run one after the other and can be tested in draft mode before they are applied (attribute rules, testing rules).

Custom labels (custom_label_0 to custom_label_4) are not visible to users and are used to structure campaigns. Each label allows up to 100 characters and a maximum of 1,000 unique values per account (product data specification). We fill them with margin, season, bestsellers or clearance items, derived from your Google Analytics 4 data if you wish.

We also prepare the data for additional programmes: promotions (with promotion_id if a promotion only applies to specific products), product ratings (Google requires, among other things, at least 50 reviews across all products), local inventory and the price insights in Merchant Center analytics.

Product data for AI search

Merchant Center data for AI Mode and beyond

Google also uses product data from Merchant Center on AI surfaces such as AI Mode. For this purpose there are conversational attributes: question_and_answer, document_link, related_product, item_group_title, variant_option and popularity_rank. They are meant to help AI systems understand the specific nuances of your products. The attributes are completely optional and do not affect approval status. Google recommends submitting them via a supplemental data source (Google Help: conversational attributes).

Just as important is labelling AI content: titles and descriptions created with generative AI must be submitted via structured_title and structured_description with the digital_source_type “trained_algorithmic_media”. AI-generated images must contain the IPTC metadata DigitalSourceType TrainedAlgorithmicMedia (Google Help). Our AI product text generator creates product texts based on your original texts, our editors check them, and we label content correctly where AI is involved. Our AI product text generator is a separate tool and not part of the Feed Manager; texts created with it are labelled as AI-generated in the Google feed.

We measure and improve how visible your brand and products are in AI answers overall as part of GEO.

Deadlines and changes

Four reasons for a feed check

Two men talk in front of a computer screen showing charts.

Google requirements as of September 2026. These changes affect many shops in Germany. We check whether your account, your feed and your shop plugins are prepared for them.

End of the Content API

Google has replaced the Content API for Shopping with the Merchant API and gave 18 August 2026 as the shutdown date. Shop plugins that still use the old interface should be checked.

pickup_cost from 30 September 2026

For products available for in-store pickup, pickup cost and minimum order value are required in the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland if your shop charges such costs or minimum values (Google Help).

Images of at least 500 × 500 pixels

From 31 January 2027, product images must be at least 500 × 500 pixels. Merchant Center already flags images that are too small with warnings before that date (Google Help).

EU energy label via EPREL

Since April 2025, the EU energy label has been submitted via the certification attribute with reference to the EPREL database instead of energy_efficiency_class (product data specification).

Frequently asked questions about Google Merchant Center

Google Merchant Center FAQs

Answers about account suspension, disapprovals and product data.

Why has my Merchant Center account been suspended?

Google names a missing return and refund policy, insufficient contact information and misrepresentation as common reasons (Google Help). Merchant Center shows the specific reason. The cause often lies on the website rather than in the feed.

How long does a review take?

According to Google, typically three to seven working days (Google Help). After unsuccessful requests, a cool-down period for new requests may apply, and it can get longer with every further unsuccessful request.

What does "misrepresentation" mean?

Google uses the term for violations where users could be misled about the business, its products or its terms, such as false contact details, hidden costs or offers that cannot be delivered. Some violations lead to immediate suspension (policy).

Why are products disapproved even though the shop is correct?

Often the feed and the product page do not match, for example because the feed is updated less frequently, the structured data shows a different price or a GTIN does not belong to the product. We compare feed, page and structured data directly.

Do I need GTINs?

If the manufacturer has assigned a GTIN, you should submit it. Google then classes the GTIN as strongly recommended, and without it visibility may be limited. Find out more in our knowledge article on the GTIN.

What are supplemental data sources and attribute rules?

Supplemental data sources let you add to or override details from your main feed, for example via a spreadsheet. Attribute rules change values according to fixed rules directly in Merchant Center. Both allow corrections without touching the shop.

What are custom labels?

Custom labels are five freely definable fields (custom_label_0 to custom_label_4) that users do not see. They let you group products in campaigns, for example by margin, season or sell-through.

Do I have to label AI-generated product texts?

Yes. Google requires titles and descriptions created with generative AI to be submitted via structured_title and structured_description with the value “trained_algorithmic_media” (Google Help).

What happened to Merchant Center Next?

Since July 2026, Merchant Center Next has simply been called Merchant Center. According to Google, this does not affect your account, product data or campaigns.

Do you also manage our Google Shopping campaigns?

Yes, if you wish. We manage the campaigns as part of our Google Shopping service. You can also commission the work on Merchant Center and feed on its own.

Request a Merchant Center check

Let's take a look at your Merchant Center

Briefly describe which warnings or disapprovals you are seeing. We will get back to you with an initial assessment. You will find an overview of all channels on our feed optimisation page.

Customer satisfaction

4.9

Based on 33 reviews

Founder and Managing Director Ralph Grundmann 0228 243 313 53