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Merchant Center Disapproval Fixer: turn product issues into a fix plan

Turn the Merchant Center issues list into a fix plan: worst issues first, with Google's fix and a CSV.

  • Free to use
  • Runs in your browser
  • No sign-up

How to use the Merchant Center Disapproval Fixer

Read what the guide says

This is the Merchant Center Disapproval Fixer.

Turn the Merchant Center issues list into a fix plan: worst issues first,

with Google's fix and a CSV.

In Merchant Center, open Products › Needs attention,

turn off "Prioritized fixes" and click the download icon to save the list of affected products.

Or press Try an example to fill in sample details.

Drop the file here or paste the table. Add the number of products in your account if you want to see what share cannot show.

Work down the do-these-first list, fix your feed or website,

and check the corrected feed with our Merchant Center Feed Checker before you upload it.

It only reads the list you give it.

It runs in your browser, so nothing you type is uploaded.

Try it free on this page.

Paste with the header row. It needs an item ID column and an issue column; status, attribute, country, marketing method and help link columns add detail.

From the Products overview. Shows what share of your catalogue cannot show.

Runs in your browser. Your download is not uploaded.

Getting the list

  1. 1 In Merchant Center, open Products and the Needs attention tab.
  2. 2 Turn off "Prioritized fixes" if it is on, so low-impact issues are listed too.
  3. 3 Click the download icon above the table to save the list of all affected products as a .csv file.
  4. 4 In older Merchant Center accounts, use Products › Diagnostics › Item issues and download from there.

What you get

  • Issues grouped by type, with how many products each one affects and how serious it is.
  • A do-these-first list: not approved before limited, then the issues on the most products.
  • A plain explanation and fix from Merchant Center Help for the common issues, with the link.
  • Products with several issues, a list of every product and a CSV fix list.

To fix the feed file before you upload it, use the Merchant Center Feed Checker.

Your fix plan appears here

Upload or paste the issues list from Merchant Center, or try the example: an electronics accessories shop in Bengaluru.

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About the Merchant Center Disapproval Fixer

Upload or paste the list of affected products you download from Merchant Center (Products › Needs attention). The tool groups the issues by type, counts the products each one affects and how serious it is, and puts the ones that stop the most products first. For common issues, such as a missing GTIN, a price that does not match the website, missing shipping costs, image problems and misrepresentation, it explains the issue in plain words with the fix from Merchant Center Help and the link. You also get the products with several issues, a list of every product and a CSV fix list. Nothing is uploaded.

How it works

  1. Step 1

    In Merchant Center, open Products › Needs attention, turn off "Prioritized fixes" and click the download icon to save the list of affected products.

  2. Step 2

    Drop the file here or paste the table. Add the number of products in your account if you want to see what share cannot show.

  3. Step 3

    Work down the do-these-first list, fix your feed or website, and check the corrected feed with our Merchant Center Feed Checker before you upload it.

How the tool ranks issues

Merchant Center marks a product as not approved when it cannot show, and limited when it shows only in some cases; warnings do not stop a product showing. The tool puts not approved issues first, then limited, then warnings, and within each the issues that affect the most products. This ranking is our own measure. A product with the same issue in several countries or marketing methods is counted once.

Where the explanations come from

We wrote explanations and fixes only for issues we checked in Merchant Center Help: missing or invalid GTINs, missing brands, prices and stock that do not match the website, missing or invalid prices and sale prices, missing or wrong shipping costs, small, generic or promotional images and images Google cannot fetch, product pages that do not work, too many capital letters, long text, misrepresentation and unsupported content. For any other issue the tool shows the help link from your download, or asks you to open Google's link for it in Merchant Center.

What this tool cannot do

It only reads the list you give it. It never signs in to Merchant Center or Google Ads, cannot see your website or account settings, and cannot request a review for you. Google does not document the column names of these downloads, so the tool accepts several spellings; check that the counts match what you see in Needs attention. Account-level issues such as misrepresentation may not appear in a product download at all.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between not approved and limited?

A not approved product cannot show on Google until the issue is fixed. A limited product still shows, but only in some cases, such as in some countries or marketing methods. Warnings do not stop a product showing, though its performance may be limited.

How do I fix a price mismatch in Merchant Center?

Make the price and currency the same in your feed, on the product page and in the page's structured data. Use sale_price with the right effective dates for a sale, make the feed price match the variant selected when the page loads, and do not change prices by the visitor's location. Then update the feed and let Google check again. Google says many mismatches can lead to an account suspension.

Do I need shipping costs for India?

Yes. India is one of the countries where Google needs shipping costs for Shopping ads and free listings, and products without one stay disapproved. Google recommends setting up shipping once for the whole account in Merchant Center, and using the shipping attribute only for products that cost a different amount to send.

How long does it take after I fix an issue?

Merchant Center Help says changes can take 24 to 72 hours to show on the Needs attention page. Where Merchant Center offers it, request a review once everything is fixed. If issues remain after a second review, a one-week cool-down may start before you can ask again, and it can get longer.

My products do not have a GTIN. What should I do?

Do not make one up or use your own SKU: Google disapproves products with wrong GTINs. Products you make yourself, or that have no manufacturer GTIN, need a brand and an MPN instead. Set identifier_exists to no only when a product has no GTIN and no brand with MPN. Our Merchant Center Feed Checker checks the GTIN check digits in your feed.

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