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Google Shopping product data,fixed at the source

Google can turn a product away for its data, not only for breaking a policy: a mangled barcode, a thumbnail for a photo, a title in capitals. Send the supplier’s spreadsheet exactly as it arrived, and we hand back the same products with real barcodes, full-size images and plain titles, so the feed built from them stops repeating the faults. Your feed keeps running as it does now.

How it works
  • Nothing goes live without your sign-off
  • Every value keeps its source
  • Your data is never shared
Google attributeBeforeSupplier sentAfterReady for Google
title18V COMBI DRILL FREE P&P!!18V cordless combi drill with 2 batteries
gtin5.01235E+125012345678900
image_linkdrill_thumb.jpg, 200 × 200https link to the 1600 × 1600 original
colorVariousBlack/Yellow
descriptionSee datasheetWritten from the specs: 18V, two batteries, 13 mm chuck
mpnD-44871, a distributor’s codethe maker’s own part number
product_typePOWER TOOLSTools > Power Tools > Drills
One drill from a supplier file, as it arrived and as Merchant Center reads it. The product is an example, and the rules are Google’s own.1 Our titles and descriptions are written with generative AI, which Google wants sent as a structured title and structured description, marked as AI-made, rather than as title and description.1112

How it works

  1. Send the file as it arrived

    Any columns, any names, no template to fill in. A SKU or barcode on each row is enough to start.

  2. We fix the data the feed is built from

    We match every product to the real thing and check it against a source: the barcode its maker gave it, the full-size photo, the details Google asks for, and a plain title written from the specs.

  3. Your feed picks it up

    Nothing goes live without your sign-off. The corrected file goes into your shop or your feed the way your data does now, and Merchant Center reads it from there.

Where supplier data trips up Google Merchant Center

Each of these arrives in the supplier’s file and travels into your feed. Fixed in Merchant Center alone, it comes back with the next delivery, so we fix it in the file.

  • Barcodes Excel has rounded

    Before5.01235E+12

    After5012345678900

    Google wants a GTIN of 8, 12, 13 or 14 digits, with spaces and dashes “accepted, but ignored”, and a decimal point and a letter E are neither.2 Excel turns a long barcode into scientific notation when it opens the file.3 We put the real number back from the product itself.

  • No barcode on a branded product

    Before(empty)N/A

    Afterthe maker’s GTIN, found at source

    Google asks for a GTIN on every product that has one “to enable full offer performance”, and the values “must be those allocated by the manufacturer”.14 We find the manufacturer’s number from the product itself and never make one up: in Google’s own words, “Don’t make up a GTIN”.5

  • One barcode copied down every size

    Before5012345678900 on all six sizes

    Aftereach size’s own GTIN

    Each product and variant “has its own GTIN”, Google says, and it tells sellers not to reuse a GTIN from another product.65 A supplier column that repeats one code down every size and colour breaks that rule for all but one of them, so each variant is matched to its own.

  • Thumbnails where photos should be

    Beforedrill_thumb.jpg, 200 × 200

    Afterthe 1600 × 1600 original

    Google has announced that every product image must be at least 500 x 500 pixels from 31 January 2027,7 and its product data specification already says “Don’t scale up an image or submit a thumbnail”.1 What a supplier gives you is often the small gallery thumbnail. We find the full-size original behind each one and check every link before the file is built.

  • Titles that shout or sell

    Before18V COMBI DRILL FREE P&P!!

    After18V cordless combi drill with 2 batteries

    Google flags titles in capitals, though it accepts capitals for abbreviations like ‘UK’ or ‘USD’, and treats phrases such as ‘Free delivery’ as promotional text.89 It takes titles up to 150 characters but shows up to 70.10 We write titles from the product’s own specs, to the length you set.

  • Colours Google will not take

    BeforeVariousMultiN/A

    AfterBlack/Yellow

    Colour is required for clothing sold in the UK and for anything sold in different colours, and Google rules out values such as ‘multicolour’, ‘various’ and ‘N/A’. Several colours are separated with a /.1 We find each product’s real colours and write them that way.

What you get back

A Google Sheet or Excel file of the same products, one tab per category, ready to go back into your shop or feed, plus the before and after so you can see exactly what changed.

  • Every product matched and checked

    We match each SKU or barcode to the real product, and check every source page to make sure it really shows that product.

  • The gaps filled, with sources

    We find missing specifications, descriptions and images on manufacturer and retailer pages, and every value keeps a link to where it came from, so anyone on your team can check it.

  • Barcodes and part numbers that are the maker’s

    Every product is matched to the real one by its code, so the GTIN and MPN in the file are the manufacturer’s, not a supplier’s stock code.

  • Titles and descriptions written from the facts

    Product titles, descriptions, page titles and search snippets are written from the values already in the data, to length limits that are enforced, not hoped for.

  • Images measured, not guessed

    We measure every image, find the full-size original behind each thumbnail, and take out logos, badges and duplicates, so you know which products still need a better photo.

  • A score before anything goes live

    You get one quality score for the file and a grade for each product, worst first, so you know what to look at. It warns and never blocks.

Recent jobs

Our own account of work we have done. The customers are unnamed here, and every figure comes from our own records of the job.

Questions

Questions Google Shopping sellers ask

What Google Shopping sellers ask before they send us a file. Anything else, ask us and a person answers.

Do you manage my Merchant Center feed?

No. We fix the product data your feed is built from, and the feed carries on as it does now, however it reaches Merchant Center today. Nothing goes live until you have seen it.

Will this fix every disapproval?

Only the ones that start in the product data. Policy disapprovals, missing delivery settings, and prices or stock that differ from your website are fixed elsewhere, in your Merchant Center account and your shop.

What must a Google Shopping feed have for each product?

On every product: an ID, title, description, link, image link, availability and price, or it “won’t be able to be served in ads and free listings”. Brand is required on new products except films, books and musical recordings, a GTIN wherever one is known, and an item group ID on variants. UK clothing adds colour, size, age group and gender. We fix the titles, descriptions, images and product details. The link, price and availability stay your shop’s.

Can our supplier’s product codes go in the feed?

As the ID, yes: Google asks for “the product’s SKU where possible” and wants the ID kept the same when you update. As the MPN, no: only part numbers “assigned by a manufacturer” count, and a GTIN must be the one the manufacturer allocated. A code on each row is enough for us to find the real product, and the maker’s numbers with it.

What about products with no GTIN, such as our own brand?

Leave the GTIN out. Google says a shop brand, or a product only you sell, “generally won’t have a GTIN”, and asks for its brand and MPN instead. identifier_exists set to no is only for a product with neither a GTIN nor an MPN and brand. Sent for a product that has them, it can get the product disapproved. We look for the maker’s number before any product goes without one.

Why does Merchant Center call a 13-digit GTIN invalid?

Because length is only one test. Google takes only GTINs that are valid under GS1’s validation guide: the check digit must be present and correct, and the number must not fall in the restricted ranges, which start 02, 04 or 2. An incorrect GTIN keeps the product off Google until it is corrected. Each barcode is matched to its product, and one that fails is replaced with the maker’s own.

What about the 500 pixel image rule?

Google has announced “new image size requirements of at least 500 x 500 pixels for all products beginning on 31 January 2027”, and recommends 1500 x 1500 or more for the best performance. We measure every image in your file and find the full-size original behind each thumbnail, so you know before then which products still have no photo big enough.

Why was a product’s image disapproved?

Google turns a main image away for what is on it: added text or prices, watermarks, logos laid over the product, borders, and placeholders such as “Coming soon”. Nor will it take a logo “as a substitute for a product photo”. A supplier’s gallery can hold its own logo or a payment badge among the photos. We drop those, so the main image shows the product.

Doing it yourself?

Everything on this page is written up in full on the blog, with Google Shopping’s own pages cited, and every word of the trade is in the glossary in plain English.

Sources

  1. Google Merchant Center Help. Product data specification.
  2. Google Merchant Center Help. How to fix: Invalid value [gtin].
  3. Microsoft Support. Keeping leading zeros and large numbers.
  4. Google Merchant Center Help. How to fix: Limited performance due to missing value: GTIN [gtin].
  5. Google Merchant Center Help. How to fix: Incorrect product identifier.
  6. Google Merchant Center Help. GTIN [gtin].
  7. Google Merchant Center Help. Image link [image_link].
  8. Google Merchant Center Help. How to fix: Excessive capitalisation.
  9. Google Merchant Center Help. How to fix: Additional or promotional info.
  10. Google Merchant Center Help. How to fix: Text too long.
  11. Google Merchant Center Help. Title [title] and structured title [structured_title].
  12. Google Merchant Center Help. Description [description] and structured description [structured_description].

Google Shopping is a trademark of its owner. RefynData is an independent service, not affiliated with or endorsed by Google Shopping.

Send the fileas it arrived

Nothing goes live without your sign-offEvery value keeps its sourceYour data is never shared

Send one supplier spreadsheet, exactly as it came. We will show you the same products before and after, ready for the platform you sell on, with a source on every value we add.

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