Common Feed Errors and How to Fix Them: A Troubleshooting Guide

Product feed errors are inevitable. Even well-managed catalogs encounter issues—a changed URL breaks an image link, a data import introduces bad characters, or a platform policy update creates new validation rules. The key is quickly identifying and resolving these errors before they significantly impact your advertising.

This guide covers the most common feed errors across Google Merchant Center and Meta Commerce Manager, explains why they happen, and provides step-by-step fixes.

Understanding Feed Error Types

Error Severity Levels

Critical Errors (Disapprovals)

Products are rejected and won't serve in ads. Requires immediate attention.

Warnings

Products may serve but with limited reach or potential future disapproval. Should be addressed promptly.

Notifications

Informational issues that could impact performance but don't prevent serving. Address when possible.

Error Categories

• Data quality: Missing, incorrect, or low-quality attribute values
• Policy violations: Products or data that violate platform policies
• Technical issues: Feed format, URL, or processing problems
• Mismatch errors: Discrepancies between feed and landing page

Price and Availability Errors

Price Mismatch

Error message: "Price on landing page doesn't match feed" or "Mismatched price"

Why it happens:

• Feed price hasn't updated after website price change
• Currency conversion issues
• Tax inclusion/exclusion differences
• Dynamic pricing showing different prices to different users

How to fix:

1. Verify your feed update frequency—increase if prices change often
2. Check currency formatting matches landing page exactly
3. Ensure tax settings are consistent (prices should exclude tax for most US merchants)
4. Disable dynamic pricing for Google's crawler (serve consistent prices)
5. Use structured data (schema.org) to help Google identify the correct price

Availability Mismatch

Error message: "Availability mismatch" or "Item marked in stock but unavailable on landing page"

Why it happens:

• Product sold out after feed generation
• Regional availability differences
• Variant-specific availability not reflected

How to fix:

1. Increase feed update frequency for high-velocity inventory
2. Implement real-time inventory updates via Content API
3. Ensure availability reflects the specific variant in the feed
4. Set up inventory thresholds to mark items unavailable before stockout

Invalid Price Format

Error message: "Invalid price value" or "Price format not recognized"

Why it happens:

• Missing currency code
• Incorrect decimal format
• Extra characters (commas, spaces, symbols)

How to fix:

1. Use format: "29.99 USD" (value, space, ISO currency code)
2. Use period as decimal separator
3. Don't include thousand separators
4. Don't include currency symbols ($, €) in the value

Image Errors

Image Too Small

Error message: "Image is too small" or "Image doesn't meet minimum size requirements"

Requirements:

• Google: Minimum 100x100px (non-apparel), 250x250px (apparel)
• Meta: Minimum 500x500px recommended
• Recommended: 800x800px or larger for best quality

How to fix:

1. Source higher resolution images from your product database
2. Request better images from suppliers/manufacturers
3. Use image upscaling tools (with caution—can reduce quality)
4. Don't stretch small images—this creates blurry results

Image URL Not Accessible

Error message: "Couldn't fetch image" or "Image download failed"

Why it happens:

• Image URL broken or changed
• Server blocking crawler requests
• Authentication required
• Image hosting service down

How to fix:

1. Verify image URLs are accessible in a browser
2. Check your robots.txt isn't blocking image crawlers
3. Ensure no authentication is required for images
4. Test from different locations to rule out geo-blocking
5. Use a reliable CDN for image hosting

Promotional Text in Image

Error message: "Image contains promotional elements" or "Text overlay on image"

Why it happens:

• Watermarks on images
• "Sale" or "Free shipping" badges
• Call-to-action text
• Logos covering significant portion of image

How to fix:

1. Use clean product images without text overlays
2. Remove watermarks from product photography
3. Create separate lifestyle images for display ads if needed
4. Keep logos small and in corners if brand guidelines require them

Generic or Placeholder Image

Error message: "Generic image" or "Image doesn't represent the specific product"

Why it happens:

• Stock photos used instead of actual product
• Parent product image used for variants
• Placeholder images for items awaiting photography

How to fix:

1. Use actual product photographs
2. Show the specific variant (color, size) when possible
3. Don't submit products without proper images

Product Identifier Errors

Missing GTIN

Error message: "Missing GTIN" or "Product identifier not provided"

Why it happens:

• GTIN not in product data
• Custom or handmade products without standard identifiers
• Older products predating barcode requirements

How to fix:

1. Source GTINs from suppliers or manufacturers
2. Look up GTINs in barcode databases
3. For products without GTINs, set identifier_exists to "no"
4. Ensure brand and MPN are provided when GTIN isn't available

Invalid GTIN

Error message: "Invalid GTIN" or "GTIN checksum doesn't validate"

Why it happens:

• Typo in GTIN value
• Internal SKU used instead of GTIN
• GTIN from different product
• Invalid GTIN format

How to fix:

1. Validate GTINs using checksum verification
2. Cross-reference with manufacturer data
3. Don't use internal identifiers in GTIN field
4. Use proper GTIN format (8, 12, 13, or 14 digits)

Incorrect Brand

Error message: "Brand doesn't match known brand for this GTIN"

Why it happens:

• Generic brand name used instead of actual brand
• Retailer name used as brand
• Brand name misspelled

How to fix:

1. Use the manufacturer's official brand name
2. Check brand spelling against official sources
3. Don't use your store name as brand unless you manufacture the product

Title and Description Errors

Title Too Short or Generic

Error message: "Title is too generic" or "Insufficient product information in title"

Why it happens:

• Only product name provided, missing attributes
• Very short titles that don't describe the product

How to fix:

1. Include brand, product type, and key attributes
2. Add color, size, material, or other relevant details
3. Aim for 50-150 characters with meaningful information
4. Use format: Brand + Product Type + Attributes

Promotional Text in Title

Error message: "Title contains promotional text"

Why it happens:

• "Free shipping" or "Sale" in title
• Price information in title
• Excessive punctuation or capitalization

How to fix:

1. Remove promotional language from titles
2. Don't include prices in titles
3. Use standard capitalization (Title Case or sentence case)
4. Remove excessive punctuation (!!!, ***, etc.)

Missing Description

Error message: "Description is missing or too short"

How to fix:

1. Add meaningful descriptions of at least 100 characters
2. Describe product features and benefits
3. Include relevant keywords naturally
4. Don't duplicate the title as description

Category and Attribute Errors

Missing Google Product Category

Error message: "Google product category not specified"

How to fix:

1. Map your products to Google's taxonomy
2. Use the most specific category that applies
3. Download Google's category taxonomy for reference
4. Use category IDs or full path names

Missing Required Attributes for Category

Error message: "Missing required attribute for this product type" (e.g., gender for apparel)

Why it happens:

• Category requires attributes you haven't provided
• Different categories have different requirements

How to fix:

1. Check category-specific requirements in documentation
2. Add required attributes (gender, age_group, color, size for apparel)
3. Set up feed rules to populate attributes from product data

Policy Violations

Prohibited Product

Error message: "Product violates Shopping policies"

Categories often restricted:

• Weapons and weapon accessories
• Drugs and drug paraphernalia
• Tobacco products
• Adult content
• Counterfeit goods
• Dangerous products

How to fix:

1. Review platform policies thoroughly
2. Remove prohibited products from feed
3. For borderline products, ensure compliance with restrictions
4. Request manual review if you believe disapproval is incorrect

Misleading Content

Error message: "Misleading or unrealistic claims"

Why it happens:

• Exaggerated claims ("Cures all diseases")
• Fake urgency ("Only 1 left!" when false)
• Misrepresented products

How to fix:

1. Remove exaggerated or unsubstantiated claims
2. Ensure product matches description and images
3. Don't use fake scarcity tactics

Technical Feed Errors

Feed Fetch Failed

Error message: "Couldn't download feed" or "Feed fetch error"

Why it happens:

• Server timeout
• URL changed or broken
• Authentication issues
• Server error responses

How to fix:

1. Verify feed URL is accessible
2. Check server response time—optimize if slow
3. Ensure no authentication blocks crawler
4. Check server logs for errors during fetch times

Invalid Feed Format

Error message: "Feed format error" or "Invalid XML"

Why it happens:

• Malformed XML (missing closing tags, invalid characters)
• Incorrect column headers in TSV/CSV
• Encoding issues

How to fix:

1. Validate XML with an XML validator
2. Use UTF-8 encoding
3. Escape special characters properly
4. Check for truncated files (incomplete uploads)

Duplicate IDs

Error message: "Duplicate product ID"

Why it happens:

• Same ID used for multiple products
• ID generation logic creating collisions

How to fix:

1. Audit feed for duplicate IDs
2. Use truly unique identifiers (SKU + variant attributes)
3. Implement ID validation in feed generation

Monitoring and Prevention

Regular Audits

• Check diagnostics weekly at minimum
• Address warnings before they become disapprovals
• Track error trends over time

Automated Alerts

• Set up alerts for disapproval spikes
• Monitor feed fetch status
• Track product approval rates

Pre-Submission Validation

• Validate feeds before submission
• Check required fields
• Verify URL accessibility
• Test images meet requirements

Conclusion

Feed errors are a normal part of managing product data, but they don't have to derail your advertising. By understanding common error types, implementing proper monitoring, and having clear remediation processes, you can minimize the impact of feed issues on your campaigns.

GetFeeder includes built-in validation and error detection to catch issues before they reach shopping platforms. Our monitoring tools alert you to problems so you can fix them fast, keeping your products visible and your campaigns performing.