10 most common Google Shopping errors and how to fix them with Channable

The following list identifies the most common Google Shopping errors experienced by Channable users when connecting to the Merchant Center, along with practical advice on how to solve them. While some errors are policy-based, many are technical pitfalls, like incorrect availability formats or missing categories—that can be resolved using Channable’s smart categorization and rules.

Key takeaways

• Channable supports two forms of connections to Google Shopping, a feed that you upload or a Google Shopping integration that provides a direct connection.

• The API connection will communicate the errors immediately in Channable. Whereas any errors from a feed will only be found in the Google Merchant Center.

1. Invalid GTIN

If you encounter this Google Shopping error, use Channable’s GTIN check rule to isolate valid identifiers. Within the same rule, you can automatically exclude products with invalid GTINs or clear the invalid values to ensure the rest of your feed is approved. This prevents invalid data from reaching Google and stalling your import. Once you update the incorrect GTINs and refresh your feed sync or API, the rule will automatically include the corrected items.

2. Insufficient product identifiers: missing two out of the three attributes (GTIN, brand or MPN)

While the fields GTIN and MPN are labelled as recommended in the “finalize” stage in Channable, you will need one of them. There is a nifty way to circumvent this Google Shopping data feed error within the Channable tool. It involves setting the field ‘product identifier’ as ‘false’. You’ll need to create a new field and then a simple rule to set the new field as FALSE, if the GTIN or MPN is missing. Detailed instructions are available in our help center article.

3. Item requires a GTIN

This Google Shopping error occurs when a submitted GTIN is in the incorrect format. Channable helps you quickly identify these items using the handy GTIN check rule. From there, you can take the necessary action to ensure your feed remains error-free.

4. Temporary item disapprovals due to incorrect prices

It’s really important to send Google the exact product price displayed on your website. Google is incredibly strict about this because they don't want customers to be faced with two different prices when they land on your site. For this reason, avoid creating Channable rules that modify your price for a Google Shopping connection.

This Google Shopping data feed error often occurs if your website updates before your import feed has had a chance to rerun. Make sure your scheduling is synchronized to run shortly after your website refreshes. If your prices update frequently throughout the day, Channable offers additional feed runs for an extra cost. If you require more frequent updates, please contact us.

5. Missing images

Including visuals with your Google Shopping ads is a no-brainer, so make sure you aren't sending products without an image. Channable offers a specific rule to help you quickly identify and exclude these items.

6. Images too small

To advertise on Google Shopping and avoid error messages, you must provide Google with a valid image link. However, many Channable users encounter issues because their images are considered too small by Google’s standards.
Usually:

• Images need to be 100 x 100 pixels and no larger than 64 megapixels.

• Images cannot be larger than 16MB.

• The visual in the image needs to take up 75-90% of the image.

• Images need to be 100 x 100 pixels and no larger than 64 megapixels.

• Images cannot be larger than 16MB.

• The visual in the image needs to take up 75-90% of the image.

For more information about how to fix this issue, you can refer to Google’s Merchant Center page to find the right dimensions for the images.

7. Generic images

Google defines generic images as those that use logos or "no image available" text. While you can preview thumbnails in Channable’s item overview, this Google Shopping error is best avoided by ensuring your feed contains images that accurately depict your products. For further advice, consult Google's help page regarding generic images.

8. Product pages cannot be accessed from a mobile device

This Google Shopping error prevents your product ads from appearing on both desktop and mobile devices because Google cannot access your link. According to Google, you can find the specific reason for this in the ‘crawl error’ column of your account. For more details on how to resolve this, visit the Google Merchant Center help page.

9. Product page unavailable

Similarly to the previous error, if Google cannot locate your product page link, they will disable the ad for that item. Common reasons for inaccessible URLs include ‘Page not found (404)’, ‘Too many redirects’, ‘HTTP 5xx server responses’, and ‘Hostname not resolvable’. Detailed solutions for these issues are explained on Google's help page.

10. Automatic item disapprovals due to a policy violation

Currently, Channable does not automatically identify which items violate Google’s specific advertising policies. To resolve these issues, you will need to review Google’s policy guidelines to understand why a product was disapproved. Once identified, you can easily use Channable rules to exclude that specific EAN or product group from your feed.

Solve your Google Shopping errors with Channable

Hopefully, these tips will help you improve your Google Shopping connection and reduce errors. If you want to connect to Google Shopping with Channable but don’t already have an account, just sign up for free here.

Build the perfect Google Shopping connection in your own time and choose a subscription when you’re ready to go live. If you experience any Google Merchant Center errors that aren’t mentioned above, feel free to contact Channable’s technical support team for assistance.

To see these solutions in action, watch the video below. We’ll walk you through the most frequent Google Shopping errors and, more importantly, exactly how to fix them.

https://youtu.be/UJFpE24MiFI