A product disapproval is not just a warning. It means that product cannot appear in Shopping ads or free listings until the issue is resolved. For accounts with high disapproval rates, it can also signal to Google that the account itself has quality problems — which can escalate from product-level to account-level issues.
Understanding why disapprovals happen and what the fix actually requires saves time and prevents the cycle of making changes, waiting for re-review, and finding out the same issue still exists.
How Disapprovals Work
When you submit products to Merchant Center, Google runs automated checks against its feed specification requirements and Shopping policies. Products that fail these checks are disapproved with a specific error reason.
Some disapprovals are automated and can be resolved by fixing the feed data. Others involve a policy determination that requires human review. The type of disapproval determines how you fix it and how long re-approval takes.
Automated disapprovals typically resolve within 24-48 hours after the feed is corrected and reprocessed. Policy-based disapprovals require submitting a reinstatement request and waiting for a manual review, which can take 3-5 business days.
Category 1: Feed Attribute Errors
These are the simplest disapprovals to fix. The product data does not meet the technical requirements of the feed specification.
Missing required attribute — a required field is blank. For apparel: gender and age_group are required and frequently missing. For all products: title, price, availability, link, and image_link are required.
Fix: Add the missing attribute to the feed for the affected products.
Invalid value — an attribute contains a value that is not in the list of accepted values. The availability field is set to “In Stock” rather than in_stock. The gender field is set to “Women” rather than female.
Fix: Update the field to use the exact accepted value from Google’s feed specification. Values are case-sensitive.
Unsupported value — the value submitted is not recognized for that attribute in your target country. Some attributes have country-specific accepted values.
Category 2: Landing Page Issues
Google crawls your product landing pages to verify that the page content matches what you have submitted in the feed. Disapprovals in this category mean something on the page does not meet Google’s standards.
Price mismatch — the price on the landing page does not match the price in the feed. Even a $0.01 difference causes this. Tax-inclusive vs tax-exclusive display is a common cause in markets where both formats exist.
Fix: Sync your feed price to exactly match your landing page price. For sale prices, use the sale_price attribute with an effective date range rather than changing the base price field.
Availability mismatch — the feed says a product is in_stock but the landing page shows it as out of stock, backordered, or the Add to Cart button is missing.
Fix: Update your feed availability to match the site. If inventory syncs cause a timing gap, increase your feed fetch frequency or push availability changes via Content API.
Landing page not working — the page returns an error, requires login, or redirects incorrectly.
Fix: Verify the product URL in the feed resolves to a working page without authentication. Check for accidental bot blocking, expired redirects, or products removed from the site without removing them from the feed.
Checkout not functional — Google’s crawler tests that users can actually complete a purchase. If checkout is broken, requires account creation with no guest option, or shows unexpected errors, this can trigger a disapproval.
Category 3: Image Policy Issues
Promotional overlay — the product image includes text overlaid on it: sale banners, “New Arrival” badges, pricing watermarks, or any text. Google’s policy prohibits promotional text on product images.
Fix: Remove the text overlay from the image. Use a clean product image for the feed even if your website displays the image with overlays. The image_link in your feed does not need to be the same image displayed on your site — it needs to meet Google’s image policy.
Placeholder image — the product uses a generic placeholder image (a grey box, a logo, “image coming soon”) rather than an actual product image.
Fix: Add a real product image. Products without images cannot show.
Non-product image — the image shows something other than the product (a person holding the product where the person dominates the frame, a graphic illustration, an infographic). For most categories, the product should be the clear subject of the image.
Low resolution — image is below the minimum size requirements (100x100 for most products, 250x250 for apparel).
Category 4: Policy Violations
Policy violations are more serious than feed errors. They represent Google’s determination that the product or listing violates its Shopping Ads policies, not just its technical requirements.
Misrepresentation — Google has determined that something about the listing misleads customers. Common causes: prices shown in ads that do not include mandatory fees added at checkout, promotions advertised that are not actually active, shipping times that do not reflect actual delivery.
Fix: Remove the misleading element from your listing or site, then submit a reinstatement request. Be specific in the request about what you changed and why the listing now complies.
Dangerous products — some product categories are restricted or prohibited outright. Weapons, certain supplements, products making prohibited health claims, and others fall under this category.
Adult content — products intended for adults need the adult content flag enabled in your Merchant Center account. Without it, adult products will be disapproved.
Counterfeit goods — using brand names in product listings for products that are not genuine branded items. Selling unauthorized replicas or counterfeits violates policy and can result in account suspension.
Category 5: Account-Level Suspensions
This is the most serious category. An account suspension means all products in the account are disapproved and no Shopping activity is possible.
Account suspensions typically follow a pattern of persistent policy violations at the product level, or a determination that the website or business itself violates Shopping policies — not just individual products.
Common causes of account suspension:
- Persistent misrepresentation (pricing that does not match checkout, promotions that do not work)
- Website that does not function correctly (broken checkout, missing payment information, no return policy visible)
- Website that violates Google’s Shopping policies (selling prohibited products, deceptive business practices)
Getting reinstated: Fix every underlying issue first. This means verifying every policy concern on your site, not just the ones specifically mentioned in the suspension notice. Then submit a reinstatement request through Merchant Center with a clear explanation of what was wrong and what has been corrected.
Reinstatement after account suspension typically takes 1-2 weeks and is not guaranteed. Google may decline reinstatement if the underlying issues are not fully resolved.
The Appeals Process
For policy-based disapprovals (not simple feed errors):
- Fix the underlying issue on your site or in your feed
- In Merchant Center, go to Products, All Products, find the disapproved product
- Click the disapproval reason to see the detail
- Click Request review if available, or follow the specific reinstatement path shown
When submitting a review request, be specific and factual. State what the issue was, what you changed, and where on the site or in the feed you made the change. Vague requests (“we fixed everything”) are less likely to succeed than specific ones (“we removed the checkout fee that was not disclosed in the ad price”).
For account-level suspensions, the reinstatement form is under Merchant Center settings, Account issues. Be thorough — account reinstatement reviewers want to see that you understand what was wrong, not just that you made some changes.
Preventing Disapprovals Before They Happen
Set up Merchant Center email alerts for new disapprovals — go to Settings, Notifications, and enable product status emails. Catching disapprovals within 24 hours means less campaign disruption than discovering them in a weekly review.
Review your Diagnostics tab weekly. Track approval rate as a metric alongside campaign performance. A steady decline in approval rate while campaign performance holds is a warning sign that you are losing eligible products gradually.
Run a quarterly audit of your top 100 products by revenue to verify they are all approved, fully attributed, and have accurate pricing and availability. Your highest-value products are worth extra attention.
Related Posts
The Most Common Feed Errors in Google Merchant Center (and How to Fix Them)
How to Set Up Google Merchant Center Promotions for a Limited-Time Sale
How to Use Merchant Center Diagnostics to Audit Your Product Feed
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