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Merchant Center issue

Fix image too small in Google Merchant Center

Merchant Center shows "Image too small" when the picture behind your image_link is below Google's minimum size. The minimum is about to go up: Google has announced that every product image must be at least 500 x 500 pixels, and it already warns about images that only meet today's rules. This page explains both limits and how to replace small images for one product or a whole catalog.

Diego Nijboer · WISEPIMLast updated:

Short answer

Replace the image with a larger original: at least 250 x 250 px for apparel and 100 x 100 px for other products today, and plan for 500 x 500 px for all products before January 31, 2027. Do not upscale a thumbnail. Update image_link one product at a time with Edit product, or in bulk with a CSV of the affected products.

What this issue means

Google sets a minimum size for the main product image. Today that is 250 x 250 pixels for apparel and 100 x 100 pixels for all other products; YouTube Shopping ads shown on TV need 500 x 500. Images may be at most 64 megapixels and 16 MB. Products with an image that does not meet the rules are disapproved.

Google has announced that all product images must be at least 500 x 500 pixels, with enforcement starting January 31, 2027. Since July 2026, images that meet the current minimums but are smaller than 500 x 500 get a warning called "Image too small for upcoming enforcement". You find it under View history on the Needs attention tab, where View fix lets you download the impacted products.

The product data specification also lists the accepted formats (JPEG, WebP, PNG, non-animated GIF, BMP and TIFF) and says images must be crawlable and free of watermarks, borders, promotional text and placeholders. For text on the image, see Text on image.

DetailValue
Issue in Merchant CenterImage too small
Attributeimage_link [image_link]
EffectProducts with an image below the minimum size are disapproved until you submit a larger image.
CheckedAgainst Google Merchant Center Help on 11 October 2026

Common causes

  • image_link points to a thumbnail or a resized copy instead of the original image.
  • The supplier delivered small images, and they were used as they came.
  • Your shop serves a scaled-down version at the URL that ends up in the feed.
  • Apparel images meet the 100 x 100 px minimum for other products but not the 250 x 250 px apparel minimum.
  • Images meet today's minimums but are below 500 x 500 px, which triggers the upcoming enforcement warning.

How to fix it, step by step

  1. In Merchant Center, open Products, go to the Needs attention tab and filter on Image too small. For the upcoming 500 x 500 rule, use View history, then View fix and Download impacted products.
  2. Get the original, full size image from your own photography or from the supplier. Scaling up a small image does not add detail, and Google asks you not to submit scaled-up images or thumbnails.
  3. Make sure the product fills about 75% to 90% of the image, with no watermark, border or promotional text.
  4. Aim for at least 500 x 500 px for every product, so you do not have to fix the same images again before January 31, 2027. Stay under 64 megapixels and 16 MB.
  5. For a few products, choose Edit product, change image_link to the larger image and save.
  6. For many products, download the affected products as a CSV file, update image_link with the URLs of the larger images and upload the data with your usual method.
  7. Check Needs attention again after 24 to 72 hours.

Free tool

Check a product against Google Shopping rules

Enter one product's title, description, price, GTIN and image link. The checker lists the errors and warnings Merchant Center's core requirements would raise, before you upload.

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How to prevent it

  • Ask suppliers for original, full size images and store them, not the resized versions your shop theme creates.
  • Make 500 x 500 px your own minimum for new products now, ahead of Google's enforcement date.
  • Check that the URL you send as image_link serves the full size file, not a thumbnail variant.
  • Keep one clean packshot as the main image of each product.

How WISEPIM helps

WISEPIM does not check image pixel sizes, so it will not warn you about this issue. The Google Shopping rule pack in Quality Guard blocks a product that has no image at all, and the free Google Shopping feed checker only checks that an image URL is present and uses https.

What WISEPIM does is keep your images in one place per product and send them through the Merchant Center connection: the main image plus up to 10 extra images. Bulk Image Actions has a Resize and Convert tab, but resizing a small image up does not create detail. The honest fix is to get the original from the supplier, store it in WISEPIM and let the next export send it.

Sources

Vendor documentation we read for this guide, as of October 2026. Features and names change, so check the current documentation before you decide.

Frequently asked questions

Today it is 250 x 250 pixels for apparel and 100 x 100 pixels for other products. Google has announced a minimum of 500 x 500 pixels for all product images, enforced from January 31, 2027.

Google asks you not to submit scaled-up images or thumbnails. Upscaling does not add detail, so get the original image from your photographer or supplier. Google mentions Product Studio as a way to increase resolution.

On the Needs attention tab, open View history. From there, View fix lets you download the impacted products so you can replace their images before enforcement starts.

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