Google Shopping Feed Errors on Shopify: The Complete Fix Checklist

Short answer: Almost every Google Shopping feed error on Shopify falls into one of seven buckets — identifiers (GTIN/brand), titles, descriptions, images, price, availability, and landing-page/policy. Open Products → Needs attention in Merchant Center to see which bucket each error is in, then fix that field at its source in Shopify. Use the checklist below to clear your whole catalog in one pass.

Print this, or work down it top to bottom. Each item is a real Merchant Center error, what triggers it on Shopify, and the fix.

Identifier errors (GTIN, brand, MPN)

• [ ] Missing value [GTIN] — Google expects a barcode and isn't getting one. Enter the real barcode in the variant's Barcode field, then set Custom product = False in the Google & YouTube channel's Manage availability page so Shopify sends it. (Full walkthrough: Shopify Missing GTIN fix.)
• [ ] Invalid value [GTIN] — a barcode was sent but is the wrong length or fails the check digit. Re-enter the correct UPC/EAN; never invent one.
• [ ] Duplicate GTIN — the same barcode is on two different variants/products. Each item needs its own unique GTIN.
• [ ] Missing value [brand] — Shopify's Vendor field is blank. Set a real brand; don't use "N/A", "Default", or your store name as a placeholder.
• [ ] No GTIN available — for handmade/custom/own-brand items with no barcode, set Custom product = True (and supply brand + MPN where you can) so Google stops expecting a GTIN.

Title errors

• [ ] Missing value [title] — product has no title. Add one.
• [ ] Title too long — over 150 characters. Trim; put brand + product + key attribute in the first 70 characters.
• [ ] Promotional text in title — "free shipping", "sale", "best seller", "% off", emoji. Remove it; titles describe the product, not the offer.
• [ ] All-caps title — rewrite in normal capitalisation.
• [ ] Title is just the SKU — replace the internal code with a descriptive product name.

Fix all of these in the Shopify product Title field, or set a separate Google title via a metafield/feed app if your storefront title must stay promotional.

Description errors

• [ ] Missing value [description] — empty description. Add real text.
• [ ] HTML-only / no readable text — markup with no actual words after tags are stripped. Write plain sentences.
• [ ] Too short — a one-word description is thin. Give two or three sentences describing the actual product; it also helps Google match search queries.

Image errors

• [ ] Missing image — no main image. Every product needs a real photo (the featured image in Shopify Media).
• [ ] Placeholder / "no image" graphic — a "coming soon" image counts as missing. Replace it.
• [ ] Promotional overlay or watermark — text, badges, logos, or "SALE" banners burned into the image are rejected. Use a clean photo on a plain background.
• [ ] Image too small — current minimums are 100×100 px (non-apparel) and 250×250 px (apparel); Google recommends 1500×1500. A larger floor (reported as 500×500 for all products) is coming, so upload large images now. Max 64 MP and 16 MB per file.

Price errors

• [ ] Missing / invalid price — price is blank, zero, or non-numeric. Set a valid price on the variant.
• [ ] Mismatched value [price] — the feed price ≠ the live product-page price. Usually a sale price updated on the storefront but not the feed, or tax/currency shown differently in each place. Make them match, same currency.
• [ ] Sale price higher than price — your "compare-at" (was) price isn't actually higher than the selling price, so it's not a real sale. Fix the compare-at price.
• [ ] Currency issues — make sure the feed carries a valid currency code with the right decimals, matching the storefront.

Availability errors

• [ ] Mismatched / incorrect availability — feed says "in stock" but the product is unbuyable (zero inventory, not tracked, or purchasing disabled), or vice-versa. Reconcile the inventory quantity and the variant's inventory policy so the stated availability is true.
• [ ] Invalid availability value — must be one of Google's predefined values: in stock, out of stock, preorder, backorder.

Landing-page and policy errors

• [ ] Unavailable / broken landing page — product URL 404s or redirects. Make sure each product page loads.
• [ ] Parked domain / empty landing page — Google sees no product (e.g. only your homepage with menus). Submit real product URLs; make sure the homepage links clearly to product categories.
• [ ] Policy violation / misrepresentation — restricted products, missing contact/returns/refund info, or site-vs-feed mismatches. These come with a warning email and a 7- or 28-day fix window, then a manual Review and fix request.

One scan instead of a weekly firefight. Feed Doctor runs this entire checklist against your live Shopify catalog automatically — it flags every product Google would reject, names the exact field to change, exports the list as CSV, and re-scans daily so a new break emails you the day it appears. Start a 7-day free trial.

The workflow that keeps the feed clean

1. Diagnose at the account level first. A single store-wide cause (currency, parked domain, GTIN/custom-product flag) can disapprove everything — fix that before chasing individual products.
2. Group by error type. Diagnostics buckets issues; fix the shared root cause once to clear many products together.
3. Fix at the source in Shopify, never in Merchant Center — Shopify overwrites Merchant Center daily.
4. Let it re-sync and re-crawl. Data fixes clear within 24–48 hours; policy reviews take a few business days.
5. Monitor going forward. New products and edits introduce new errors silently. A daily re-scan catches them the day they appear instead of weeks later when you notice the traffic drop.