A disapproved product in Merchant Center does not just lose performance: it disappears from Google. No more Shopping ads, including in Performance Max campaigns, no more free listings. And since a disapproval often comes from an attribute shared by dozens of products, a single error can take a whole part of the catalog offline.
The good news: most disapprovals come from a handful of known causes, and they are fixed in the feed.
Where to find your disapproved products
In Merchant Center, open Products, under Products & store, then the Needs attention tab. Google lists the products that have an issue there, with its reason, and you can filter the list or download it as a CSV file. Issues affecting the whole account appear in a banner at the top of the screen; the "View setup and policy issues" link in the Needs attention tab groups them (Merchant Center Help).
There are two levels to tell apart:
- disapproved: the product no longer shows on Google until the issue is fixed;
- limited: the product still shows, but its performance may be reduced. Left unfixed, the warning can become a disapproval.
Always sort by number of affected products: an issue that hits three hundred products comes before an isolated one.
Mismatched price: when Google reads the wrong price
On the accounts we manage, it is one of the most frequent disapprovals. Google reads a product’s price in three places: in your feed, on the landing page, and in that page’s structured data, the markup behind rich snippets in its results. If the feed price differs from the price on the page or in its structured data, the product may be disapproved for a "mismatched product price", and if mismatches pile up, the whole account risks suspension (Merchant Center Help).
The usual causes: a promotion applied on the website but not in the feed, a feed updated once a day while prices change more often, structured data announcing a different price from the one displayed.
The variant trap: different prices
Most often, the gap comes from variants that do not all have the same price: sizes, capacities or colors sold at different prices. In the feed, each variant is a separate product, with its own price. But if its link opens the page on the default variant, or if the right price only appears through JavaScript once the page has loaded, Google reads another price: it crawls the page as your server returns it. Only the variants with a different price are then disapproved, which makes the issue hard to spot.
The fix comes down to three points:
- One link per variant, which preselects it: the page must open on that variant’s image, price and availability (Google Search Central). On Shopify, that is the
?variant=parameter followed by the variant ID, if the theme supports it. - The price in the page code sent by the server, not only added through JavaScript after loading.
- Structured data that describes the variant displayed: Google asks that your microdata match the variant shown on the landing page (Merchant Center Help), and recommends the
ProductGrouptype, with one entry per variant.
To check, open the link of a disapproved variant as it appears in the feed, and compare three prices: the one in the feed, the one displayed on the page, and the one in the structured data, which Google’s Rich Results Test shows.
Two settings then prevent most mismatches. Update the feed as often as your prices. And keep Merchant Center’s automatic item updates on: they fix price, sale price, availability and condition from your website, notably by reading its structured data, hence the importance of getting it right. They are on by default; just check that they still are.
Other common causes
Availability different from the product page
Same logic for stock: a stock-out the feed ignores, or a product back in stock on the website but not in the feed. Automatic item updates cover availability too. And to pause a product for a few days, Google recommends the pause attribute, for up to 14 days, rather than marking it out of stock (Merchant Center Help).
Missing or wrong identifiers
A product that has a GTIN, the barcode assigned by the manufacturer, must send it, or Google may disapprove it. The brand is required for a new product, and the manufacturer part number (MPN) is required when the product has no GTIN. For a private label without a barcode, you leave the GTIN empty and provide the brand and the MPN; the identifier_exists attribute is used to flag a product that lacks these identifiers (product data specification).
Non-compliant images
Added text, prices, "free shipping", watermarks, borders, logos that are not part of the product: any promotional element is forbidden on the main image. As for size, Google currently requires at least 100 × 100 pixels, 250 × 250 for apparel, and will require 500 × 500 for all images from January 31, 2027; smaller images already show a warning (Merchant Center Help). Keep advertising visuals for your ads, and a sharp photo of the product alone for the feed.
Missing required attributes
Some fields are required for every product: ID, title, description, link, image, availability and price. Others become required depending on the product: condition for a used or refurbished item, availability date for a pre-order.
Apparel sold in France asks for more: age group, gender and color are required, size too for clothing and shoes, and variants (sizes, colors) must be tied together by the same group ID, item_group_id. This is often where fashion and sneaker stores lose part of their catalog.
Unavailable landing page
A broken link, a page that redirects to the homepage or a page that does not open on mobile prevent Google from checking the product, which then cannot be shown. After a redesign or a change in product page URLs, it is the first thing to check.
Misrepresentation and Google policies
Some disapprovals do not come from the feed but from Google’s policies. Under the name misrepresentation, Google penalizes a website that hides important information: missing or false contact details, a return policy that cannot be found or is not honored, a total price shown without fees or shipping, unrealistic promotions, products listed but impossible to deliver.
These issues usually affect the whole account, not a single product. In most cases, Google sends a warning email and gives 7 or 28 days to fix the issue; for serious violations, it can suspend without warning.
Merchant Center messages, and how to fix them
In the Needs attention tab, each issue has a name. Here are the main ones, as Google names them, each linked to its help page.
| Reported issue | What it means | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Mismatched product price | What it meansThe feed price differs from the price on the page or in its structured data. | The fixAlign the three prices, variant by variant, then request a website check: Google may take up to 12 hours to review it. |
| Mismatched product availability | What it meansThe stock in the feed doesn’t match the page. | The fixUpdate the feed at the same time as the website, and keep automatic item updates on. |
| Limited performance due to missing value: GTIN [gtin] | What it meansThe product still shows, but is limited: Google expects a GTIN in its category. | The fixSend the GTIN assigned by the manufacturer, never a made-up code. |
| Image too small | What it meansThe image is under 100 × 100 pixels, or 250 × 250 for apparel. | The fixAn image of at least 500 × 500 pixels, the rule from January 31, 2027. |
| Text on image | What it meansPromotional text, a logo or a watermark on the product image. | The fixA photo of the product alone, or Merchant Center’s automatic image improvements. |
| Product page unavailable | What it meansGoogle can’t reach the page: 404 error, server down, robots.txt. | The fixTest the URL with Search Console’s URL Inspection tool, then fix the link or the website. |
| Missing shipping costs | What it meansShipping costs aren’t set for these products. | The fixAdd a shipping policy in Merchant Center, or the shipping attribute product by product. |
| Misrepresentation | What it meansAccount issue: the website hides or distorts important information. | The fixMake contact details, return policy and total price visible, then request a review. |
The takeawayA disapproval rarely hits a single product. Fix the rule, not the product.
Fix, then get reviewed
- Fix the source: the feed, the feed management tool or the product page. A manual fix on a product in Merchant Center is overwritten at the next feed update.
- Re-import the corrected data.
- Let Google review again. A new crawl usually finishes within 24 to 48 hours. For a mismatched price or availability, you can request a website check, which Google may take up to 12 hours to review. If you disagree with a disapproval, appeal from Merchant Center; the number of reviews may be limited.
- Plan for the delays. The initial review of your products for Shopping ads can take up to 3 to 5 business days, and an account-level review, after a warning, up to 7 days.
Prevention beats cure
- A weekly look at the Needs attention tab, sorted by number of affected products.
- Feed rules rather than manual fixes: a tool like Channable applies the same fix to the whole catalog, and to every new product.
- Up-to-date schema.org structured data on your product pages, price and availability included: they feed the automatic item updates.
- A variant test after every theme change: open the link of a few variants with different prices, and check the price on the page and in its structured data.
- Promotions in the feed at the same time as on the website, never after.
An approved feed is only the starting point: to show up on the right searches, it also has to be rich. That is the subject of our article Google Shopping: your feed matters more than your bids.
To go further: the Google Ads topic, and the Agency page, which describes how we work.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take for a fixed product to be approved again?
Google says a new crawl usually finishes within 24 to 48 hours. The initial review of your products for Shopping ads can take up to 3 to 5 business days, and an account-level review up to 7 days.
Why are only some variants disapproved for a mismatched price?
Most often, their link opens the page on the default variant, whose price is different, or the right price only appears through JavaScript. Each variant needs a link that preselects it, and the page, structured data included, must show its price.
What is the difference between a disapproved product and a limited one?
A disapproved product no longer shows on Google. A limited product still shows, but its performance may be reduced; left unfixed, the warning can turn into a disapproval.
Do I need to request a review after every fix?
No. Once the data is fixed and re-imported, Google reviews the product again at its next crawl; for a mismatched price or availability, requesting a website check speeds things up. If you disagree with a disapproval, you can appeal from Merchant Center, or from your platform if you use a third-party app; the number of reviews may be limited.
My prices change often: how do I avoid price mismatch disapprovals?
Update the feed as often as your prices, and keep Merchant Center’s automatic item updates on: they fix price, sale price, availability and condition from your website. Up-to-date schema.org structured data on your product pages helps them.
My whole account is suspended: what should I do?
First read the reason in the account banner. If it is misrepresentation, make visible what Google asks for: contact details, return policy, total price including fees and shipping. Fix the website, then appeal: Google only reinstates the account if it is convinced the appeal is justified.