Automatic Image Improvements in GMC: How to Enable Them
GMC can automatically improve images by removing promotional text and adjusting lighting. Here's how to enable it and what it changes.
Non-compliant images are silently disapproving your listings.
FeedShield catches issues like this automatically. Run a free audit before it costs you.
What Automatic Image Improvements Does
Google Merchant Center has a feature that automatically applies basic image improvements to products that would otherwise be disapproved for image quality issues. Specifically:
Promotional text removal — Google detects and removes overlaid promotional text (sale badges, price stickers, watermarks) from the image.
Image quality improvement — Basic adjustments to lighting, contrast, and background for products with poor-quality images.
This feature is opt-in and runs automatically on eligible products.
How to Enable It
- •Go to GMC > Growth > Manage programs
- •Find "Automatic image improvements"
- •Click Get started and accept the terms
Once enabled, Google processes your existing product images. Products that were disapproved for promotional text may become eligible again.
Limitations
Automatic improvements have boundaries:
- •They work best on simple overlays (text, small badges). Complex image layouts may not be cleaned up effectively.
- •The improvement is applied to how Google displays the image, not to your original image file on your server.
- •Google may still disapprove products where the promotional text is too integrated into the image or the original image quality is too low.
Is It a Substitute for Uploading Clean Images?
No. The best practice is still to upload compliant images without overlays in the first place. Automatic improvements are a fallback for existing inventory you can't immediately rephotograph.
If you're launching a new product line, upload clean images from the start. Don't rely on the feature for new uploads.
Monitoring Improvement Status
After enabling, check Products > Diagnostics to see if products that were disapproved for image issues are now approved. The status update takes 24–48 hours after enabling.