Missing attributes in Merchant Center: what Google requires
Google requires 7 attributes for every product: id, title, description, link, image_link, availability, price. Others depend on the product: brand for new products, a GTIN or MPN when the manufacturer assigned one, and colour, size, gender and age group for clothing in several countries. A missing required attribute means the product is not shown.
Upload your feed or shop export – the validator lists missing and invalid attributes for every product.
Open the feed validatorRequired for every product
Without these attributes Google rejects the product:
- id
- title
- description
- link
- image_link
- availability
- price
Required only for some products
These attributes are required depending on the product and the target country:
| Attribute | Required when | Allowed values |
|---|---|---|
| brand | New products, except films, books and music recordings. Leave it empty if there is no brand. | not: n/a, na, generic, no brand … |
| gtin | Strongly recommended whenever the manufacturer assigned one; never invent one. | 8, 12, 13 or 14 digits |
| mpn | If the product has no GTIN from the manufacturer. | up to 70 characters |
| identifier_exists | Optional (default yes). Set no only if the product really has no GTIN and no brand + MPN. | yes, no |
| condition | Used or refurbished products. | new, refurbished, used |
| availability_date | With availability preorder. | ISO 8601 date |
| item_group_id | Variants in Germany, France, the UK, the US, Brazil and Japan (and for free listings). | up to 50 characters |
| color, size | Clothing and shoes in those countries, and every product sold in several colours or sizes. | free text |
| gender | Clothing in those countries and gender-specific products. | male, female, unisex |
| age_group | Clothing in those countries and products for an age group. | newborn, infant, toddler, kids, adult |
Values Google does not accept
A field can be present and still count as missing or invalid. availability only accepts in_stock, out_of_stock, preorder, backorder – “In Stock” or “available” are not valid. Placeholder brands such as n/a, na, generic are rejected; leave brand empty instead. Identifiers must be real: an invented GTIN is worse than none.
Why shop exports have gaps
Shopify and WooCommerce product exports are not Google feeds: they have no product link (Shopify) and often no stock status, brand or GTIN. A feed app or plugin usually adds link and availability; brand and identifiers have to be maintained in the shop. The feed validator reads both formats and reports fields that an export cannot contain once per file instead of once per product.
Worked examples: A shirt row with gaps
id SH-104-M, title, description, image link, price 39.90 EUR, brand “N/A”, colour blue and size M – no link, no availability, no GTIN or MPN. What the validator reports:
- Required attributes present
- 5 / 7
- Errors (rejection)
- 2
- Warnings
- 2
- Rejection
- link is missing
- Rejection
- availability is missing
- Warning
- Placeholder brand (N/A, Generic …)
- Warning
- No GTIN and no MPN + brand
Two missing required fields mean rejection; the placeholder brand and missing identifiers make it likely. Fix the errors first, then the warnings.