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Your products are not being served on Google Shopping
It is almost always the feed, not the bid. Merchant Center requires a set of mandatory attributes per product, among them id, title, description, link, image_link, availability and price g-merchant; brand is mandatory for new products except films, books and music recordings, gtin when a GTIN is known, mpn only without a GTIN g-merchant. If one of them is missing or contradicts the landing page, the product disappears, usually without anyone noticing. The lever therefore sits in data quality at the source, not in a correction layer in front of it.
What we do: We sort disapprovals by cause, fix them in the shop or product information system instead of a correction layer, enrich titles and attributes at scale and monitor price mismatches permanently; your products actually enter the auction, and errors surface the day they appear.
By Robin Kardinal, Chief Operation Officer (COO)
Last updated on
What it is about and when it becomes relevant
What this is about
Google Shopping draws its ads from the product data in Merchant Center. The product data specification defines which attributes must be present and in which format: id as the unique identifier, title or structured_title, description, link to the landing page, image_link to the main image, availability and price g-merchant. condition is mandatory for used or refurbished products g-merchant.
When it becomes relevant
As soon as the range is larger than what one person can review. From a few hundred items on, feed quality decides more about revenue than any bid adjustment, because disapproved products never enter the auction in the first place.
Why correction layers are not enough
Rules in Merchant Center or in a feed tool fix the symptom. The error usually sits in the shop or the product information system, and there it also affects page titles, on-site search and availability displays. Whoever corrects at the root repairs more than the feed.
Common mistakes and how you spot them
Price and availability deviate from the landing page
How you spot itDisapprovals for price mismatch pile up in Merchant Center, often after promotions or at night, when the shop updates and the feed does not.
Titles taken from the shop system
How you spot itThe title consists of item number and internal shorthand. In the search terms, the product only appears for the exact designation, not for the description customers use.
gtin missing or guessed
How you spot itProducts with a known GTIN get disapproved or run with far less reach. gtin is required when the GTIN is known; mpn only takes its place when there is none g-merchant.
One feed for all markets
How you spot itIn one target country, products get disapproved that run in another. Prices, currency, shipping and language belong checked per target country.
How we go about it
Sort disapprovals by cause
We group the errors in Merchant Center by attribute and by origin in the system. Ten disapproval reasons usually turn out to be two causes.
Correct at the source
What sits wrong in the shop or the product information system gets fixed there. Rules in the feed are the exception, not the norm.
Enrich titles and attributes
We enrich titles, attributes and categories at scale and verify with spot checks. With large ranges, that is the only route that delivers volume and accuracy at once.
Monitor permanently
Disapprovals, price mismatches and stock gaps run under permanent checks with us, so they surface the day they appear and not in the monthly report.
Further reading
This topic belongs to SEA.
Frequently asked questions
Which attributes are mandatory in Merchant Center?
id, title or structured_title, description or structured_description, link, image_link, availability and price g-merchant. brand is mandatory for new products except films, books and music recordings, condition for used and refurbished goods g-merchant.
When do I need gtin, when mpn?
gtin is required when the product has a known GTIN. mpn is only demanded when there is no GTIN g-merchant.
Why is my product disapproved for price mismatch?
Because the price in the feed does not match the one on the landing page. Typical causes are update rhythms drifting apart, or promotional prices that apply only in the shop.
Is a feed tool worth it?
For enrichment and formatting, yes. For papering over structural errors, no: the same error then keeps acting on shop search, page titles and availability display, only nobody sees it anymore.
How often should the feed be updated?
As often as prices and stock change. With promotions and scarce stock, daily is not enough; then it takes a connection that transfers changes promptly.
Is this exactly where you are stuck?
Write to us about where it is stuck. Robin Kardinal and the team will look at what is concretely behind it in your case, and tell you where the biggest lever sits.
Sources
Every statement about ad products comes from the official documentation of the respective platform, with the date we retrieved it. Products change; if something looks outdated to you, write to us and we will check it.
- g-merchantMerchant Center-Hilfe, Produktdatenspezifikationretrieved on 21.9.2026
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