Guides / Google Shopping

Google Shopping image requirements (2026)

Merchant Center rejects images for reasons that have nothing to do with resolution, and the most common one is something you added on purpose.

The rules, in one table

Overlays are the disqualifier

Google bans promotional elements outright: watermarks, brand names, logos, promotional adjectives such as best or cheap, anything covering the product, and borders around the image. This is the rule that suppresses more product listings than any size requirement, and it is usually broken deliberately by someone who thought a price badge would help. Photolint cannot verify this one for you: it is marked as a check you make, because software that guessed here would be guessing about your livelihood.

The floor moves on 31 January 2027

Images must currently be at least 500 by 500 pixels, and Google has announced that from 31 January 2027 the 500 by 500 minimum applies to every product. Google recommends around 1500 by 1500 for the best performance across listing formats, with a ceiling of 64 megapixels and 16MB. Photolint lints against the announced floor rather than the current one, so a batch that passes today still passes after the change.

White or transparent, but staged is allowed

Google advises a solid white or transparent background because those work against any design, and warns that a transparent background behind a light coloured product can render on black. It stops short of requiring white: staged and lifestyle images that clearly show the product are accepted. So the background is a decision here, not a rule, and Photolint treats it that way: it will produce pure white on request and will not fail your feed for a scene.

What no software can fix

Text or watermarks baked into the MAIN image, and products cut off at the frame edge. Photolint flags both as RESHOOT instead of pretending; a listing suppressed after upload costs more than a reshoot.