Google Shopping image requirements: the rules that matter

Google has over a dozen image requirements for Shopping ads. Merchants treat them all as equal. They're not. Some cause instant product disapproval. Others reduce ad quality but keep your products live. Knowing the difference saves you from wasting time on cosmetic fixes while ignoring the issues that tank your campaigns.

Requirements that cause instant disapproval

Promotional text on images

Any text overlay, "SALE", "FREE SHIPPING", "50% OFF", or price tags, triggers disapproval. Google uses OCR (optical character recognition) to scan every product image. Their detection is aggressive. Even small text in a corner triggers it.

Fix: Use clean product photos with no text of any kind. Promotional messaging belongs in the title, description, and sale_price attributes of your feed.

Images below minimum dimensions

These are hard minimums based on actual file dimensions. CSS scaling doesn't count. If the image file is 80x80px, it gets disapproved regardless of how large it displays on your page.

Placeholder or generic images

"Coming soon" placeholders, stock category photos, blank squares, or logos used as product images. Google's image classifiers detect these. Every product must have an image of the specific product being sold.

Requirements that reduce performance (no disapproval)

Watermarks: Light watermarks reduce ad quality and click-through rate but don't trigger automatic disapproval. Remove them anyway. They make your ads look less professional than competitors.

Low resolution above minimum: Images between minimum and 800x800 pass review but look blurry on high-DPI screens. Competitors with crisp photos win the click.

Non-white backgrounds: Google recommends white or light backgrounds. Lifestyle images are allowed and sometimes outperform white-background shots for apparel and home goods.

Multiple products in one image: Fine if you're selling a bundle. Confusing if the listing is for one item but the image shows five.

Recommended dimensions and formats

Target 800x800px or larger for all products. 1000px+ for apparel.

Accepted formats: JPEG (most common, best compression-to-quality), PNG (good for transparent backgrounds), WebP (smaller files), GIF (non-animated only), BMP, TIFF.

File size limit: 16 MB per image. Stay well below this. 100-500 KB per image is the sweet spot for quality vs. load time.

Aspect ratio: Square (1:1) is standard for Shopping placements. Non-square images get cropped or letterboxed. Add white padding to make images 1:1 before submitting.

Image requirements by product category

The additional_image_link attribute

You can submit up to 10 additional images per product using additional_image_link. These show in expanded product listings and give customers more information before clicking.

Use additional images for: different angles, close-up details, size reference, lifestyle/in-use shots, and packaging. The same quality rules apply.

How to audit images at scale

Checking compliance manually works for 10 products. It breaks at 100. For stores with hundreds or thousands of products, you need automated validation that:

• Checks actual image dimensions (not CSS display size)
• Detects text overlays using OCR
• Flags placeholder and generic images
• Reports broken image URLs