GMC FIXING ISSUES & STEP BY STEP GMC FIXING ISSUES & STEP BY STEP SOLUTIONS
Types of Google errors
When uploading your products to Google Merchant Center account, you might come across different kinds of feed issues. They could vary by severity – some issues might turn out fatal for your Shopping Ads (formerly Product Listing Ads or PLAs), some may represent an opportunity to improve feed quality.
Google Merchant Center – Diagnostics
Invalid value for the category [price]
If you encounter this issue in your Merchant Center account, it’s possible that you mistakenly utilized an incorrect source field for the [price] attribute. Many shopping carts feature multiple pricing fields, including price, retail_price, special_price, and compare_at_price, which can lead to confusion regarding which one to utilize.
Step by Step Solution
In DataFeedWatch, navigate to the “Shop products” section to review all the price fields extracted from your store and identify the one that reflects the accurate pricing.
Then, within the mapping panel, assign the identified price field to ensure its correct usage.
Missing value [shipping]
Missing shipping value error will occur if you didn’t provide your shipping rates to Google. It’s a required attribute for all Merchants, no matter the location or vertical. It also applies if you offer free shipping. To fix it, you need to provide shipping price and country.
Step by Step Solution
Method 1
Via the data feed
You can quickly add shipping information to your feed in DataFeedWatch – navigate to ‘Edit Feed’ and scroll down to the ‘Shipping’ section. Then, specify location and cost.With a flat shipping fee, you can use a simple ‘add static value’ rule:
if you offer free shipping make sure to enter 0.00, and not ‘free’.
If your shipping price varies depending on other factors, e.g. product weight (and you determine your shipping price), the rule could look like this:
Method 2
Directly in the Google Merchant Center (GMC) account
That way you can apply shipping settings globally – to all the feeds held under your account. Also, if your shipping rates are dynamic and calculated by the shipping carrier – you will have to use this method to provide your shipping details.
Click the tools icon > Shipping and returns > Click the + sign > Fill in the needed fields.
Key steps to fix an invalid image format error in GMC:
GMC HELP CENTRE: LEARN MORE
To meet Google Merchant Center’s image requirements, you must:
Use an accepted format, such as:
- JPEG (.jpg/.jpeg)
- WebP (.webp)
- PNG (.png)
- Non-animated GIF (.gif)
- BMP (.bmp)
- TIFF (.tif/.tiff)
Meet the minimum image size requirements:
- Apparel products: At least 250 x 250 pixels
- All other products: At least 100 x 100 pixels
- Avoid scaling up images or submitting thumbnails
- Don’t include promotional text, watermarks, or borders
- Don’t submit a placeholder or a generic image
- Meet the file size limit of 16 MB
- Don’t exceed 64 megapixels
- For lifestyle images, use an aspect ratio between 2:0 and 2:3
- For images created using generative AI, include meta data indicating that the image was AI-generated
- For logos, make sure any white space or background is transparent
If you don’t meet these requirements, your product will be disapproved. You’ll be notified in the Diagnostics section of your Merchant Center account.
Fix products one by one directly in Merchant Center
Step 1: Go to Products in Merchant Center, then select the Needs attention tab.
Step 2: Use the filter icon above the table to find all products affected by your issue.
Step 3: Click on the title of the product you want to fix, then click Edit product.
Step 4: Make the sure the images you submit are encoded in an accepted format.
Step 5: Select Save.
Check the image format:
Verify that the image files you’re uploading have extensions like.jpg,.jpeg,.png, or.gif.
Review GMC guidelines:
Consult the Google Merchant Center Help Center to see the exact image specifications regarding file size, dimensions, and allowed formats.
Use an image editor:
If your images are in an incompatible format, use a photo editing program to convert them to a supported format like JPEG.
Re-upload images:
After converting, re-upload the corrected images to your product listings in GMC.
Potential causes of an invalid image format error:
Incorrect file extension: The file might have the wrong extension despite being the correct format.
Corrupted image file: The image could be damaged or partially corrupted.
Unsupported image type: You might be using a format not accepted by GMC, like a RAW image.
What does mismatched price mean?
How to fix: Mismatched product price : LEARN MORE
If a product’s price in the feed is different from its price on the website, mismatched pricing will be activated in the Merchant Center. For them to be accepted and eligible, they must match. This contains the standard product price, and the product feed has to be updated with the most recent pricing details whenever there is a sale or promotion on the website.
For instance, Temu advertises dried flowers for £8.19 in the screen grab below, and the purchase price is £8.19 when you click through to the website.
The price on the website has been lowered to £8.19 as part of a current special. Showing that it’s a sale price will improve the shopping advertisement’s communication of this point, but the most crucial factor is that the pricing match. This is a fast workaround if you get this Merchant Center problem. The products should be accepted if you just edit the price attribute to match the product’s pricing on the website and then refresh the diagnostic page. In Google Merchant Center, there are six typical pricing mistakes. The first step is to determine the cause of the error, after which you can fix it.
How does it happen, and how to avoid it?
One of the most frequent causes of this problem is the time discrepancy between website changes and Merchant Center data updates.
As a result, Google advises scheduling feed updates through the Content API for immediately after website product updates. By doing this, you can prevent the previously noted disparities in values.
The inability of Google to crawl the appropriate price attribute to locate the data is another potential source of the issue. To ensure that Google crawls the correct attribute in this instance, developers must modify the webshop’s source code.
Tips: When introducing a sale, don’t modify the price attribute instead submit a new sale price attribute.
How can the problem’s origin be identified?
Following the steps in Google Merchant Center is the simplest method to determine the type of issue.
- Locate the product with the previously mentioned error message by going through all of the products.
Look at the attribute values by scrolling down:
- The raw feed characteristics’ price information must to be accurate.
- The cost must be the same in the part titled “Information found on your website.
- Click on the landing page link if the price on your website does not match.
- See the source of the page
- Look up “og:price” to find the open graph attribute. There should also be a match in the pricing that is shown there. It is essential to ensure that the right price is updated in both the structured data and the “og:price” tag. Google will automatically update based on the structured data if the “price and availability” update is enabled in GMC’s pricing updates section.
How to fix: Unclear value on your website
Make sure this value appears in your structured data markup and on the landing page of your website.
Why this issue is happening?
Google is unable to determine whether the information provided for one or more of your goods is still accurate based on the landing page.
The price, availability, or condition of your product might not be able to be extracted by Google’s automated extractors from the structured data or user interface elements on your website. The product has been removed as a result, and it will no longer appear in free listings or shopping advertisements.
How to fix your issue
To fix this problem, incorporate structured data into the product’s landing page so that extractors may accurately and quickly validate the product data.
Fix products one by one directly in the Merchant Center:
Step 1: Select the Needs attention tab after clicking to Products in Merchant Center.
Step 2: To identify every product related to your problem, use the filter icon above the table.
Step 3: Select the product you wish to modify by clicking on its title, and then select Edit product.
Step 4: Verify that the landing page for each product has structured data added.
Step 5: Click “Save.”
Fix several items at once
Step 1: Select the Needs attention tab after navigating to Products in Merchant Center.
Step 2: To identify every product impacted by your problem, use the filter icon above the table.
Step 3: To download a list (.csv) of all impacted items for all concerns or just this specific issue, click the Download icon.
Step 4: Use the ID to search your product data for those products, and ensure that the landing page has structured data for each product.
Step 5: Use the upload method of your choice to reupload your updated product data to Merchant Center.
Next actions
After implementing the suggested modifications, confirm that the problem has been resolved by ensuring that it is no longer visible on the “Needs attention” page.
URL of an inappropriate landing page
It is important that the [link] attribute is appropriately applied for every product in your product feed. It needs a landing page that is related to specific products so that people who click on an advertisement may see the product on the website and have the option to buy it.
Here’s how it ought to function. Customers should be sent to this product page on the website by the landing page used in the product feed if they search for “asics sneakers” on Google and click on an advertisement for a particular pair:
An “inappropriate landing page URL” errors is frequently caused by a website malfunction, such as a blank page or a 404 error, or by not directing a user directly to the correct product page, whether it’s a general page or the incorrect product page. The impacted products will be disapproved after these problems are reported in the Merchant Center, same like they are in regular search campaigns.
Make sure all of the [link] features match the correct products after exporting your feed to resolve this issue. Reupload the feed when the landing pages have been modified and aligned.
How to avoid product disapprovals – 5 Best Practices
1.Verify your product info again.
The first step should be to review all of the information you are submitting and double-check, if not triple-check, your product data. Titles, descriptions, prices, photos, UPIs, and shipping should all be included in this.
By identifying problems before the feed is submitted, you can reduce the possibility of product disapprovals due to incomplete or erroneous product information. It’s also a good idea to review Google’s advertising standards, particularly as they relate to Google Shopping, while verifying product information.
Automate this step and ensure the checks are as effective as possible by using the DataFeedWatch feed checker tool. The tool will troubleshoot your feed in minutes and highlight any potential errors that may eventually lead to product disapprovals, meaning the issues can be rectified before the feed is submitted. The main benefit here is avoiding errors in the first place
2. Request approval for applicable products
You can either manually upload the product feed, resubmit it via the Content API, or import it using your feed management platform after your product data has been changed. Once this is finished, go to the Merchant Center’s diagnostics section to check the approval status of your product feed, which will be under evaluation.
By selecting “Item status” and then “Request review,” you might be able to proactively request manual approval for products that have previously been rejected. If there are no problems, putting as many products through the evaluation procedure as possible will expedite the time it takes for them to be approved for advertising.
3. Submit appeals
Make an appeal if a product or advertisement has been rejected and you have taken steps to address the problem in accordance with Google’s guidelines. This also holds true if you think the disapproval was an error and your product information or advertisement is in compliance. The latter is more prevalent because the approval procedure is automated and might be delicate.
In order to expedite the approval of your items, it is excellent practice to file your appeals as soon as feasible.
4. Technical issue? Change your product IDs
Changing your product IDs is one way to get around recurrent product disapprovals caused by technological problems. By doing this, the relationship between the product and the technical problem will be restored, offering a solution for whatever was causing the issue.
Consider speaking with a Google representative first to find out if this is the quickest and most straightforward solution, as doing so may result in the loss of historical product data.
5.For automated product imports and updates, use a feed optimization tool
Lastly, to take advantage of automation, it is excellent practice to employ a Google Shopping feed management solution like DataFeedWatch. To guarantee that product data is correct, current, and in accordance with Google policy, feed management solutions enable you to automatically import feed data on a regular basis.
This is the most effective method to reduce the possibility that a product will be rejected because the product feed is outdated or does not match the website’s inventory and product information.
Hi, I’m Nazmul Hossain and I’m here to help you to have a complete GMC & Web Analytics setup for your business.
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