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Merchant Center issue

Fix mismatched product availability in Merchant Center

Google compares the availability in your product data with what your product page says. When your feed says in stock and the page says sold out, or the other way around, Merchant Center flags "Mismatched product availability", also shown as "Mismatched value (page crawl) [availability]". This page explains why it happens, how to check it per variant and how to stop it coming back.

Diego Nijboer · WISEPIMLast updated:

Short answer

Make the availability value in Merchant Center match your landing page for the same variant, one product at a time or in bulk with a CSV of the affected products. Do not use out_of_stock to pause products; use the pause attribute or excluded_destination. Then request a website check, which can take up to 12 hours.

What this issue means

The availability attribute tells Google whether a product can be bought. Valid values are in_stock, out_of_stock, preorder and backorder, and preorder also needs an availability_date. Google checks this value against your landing page, and when they differ the product stops showing until the two match again. Too many products with incorrect availability can lead to an account suspension.

Often both sides were right at different moments: the site sold out after your last upload, or the stock came back before Google's last visit. Google also offers a troubleshooter for this issue, and a related notice, "Automatic updates: Mismatched availability", means Google has already updated the value from your site because automatic item updates are on.

DetailValue
Issue in Merchant CenterMismatched product availability
Also shown asMismatched value (page crawl) [availability]
Attributeavailability [availability]
EffectThe product stops showing until the availability matches your landing page; too many affected products can lead to an account suspension.
CheckedAgainst Google Merchant Center Help on 11 October 2026

Common causes

  • Your website and your Merchant Center data are updated at different times.
  • The comparison is stale: the values match now, but did not at Google's last check.
  • The feed and the page describe different variants, for example another size or color.
  • out_of_stock is used to pause a product that is still for sale on the site.
  • A preorder product has no availability_date, or the site shows a different status than the feed.

How to fix it, step by step

  1. In Merchant Center, open Products and the Needs attention tab, and filter on this issue to see every affected product.
  2. Open an affected product and its landing page, and compare the same variant (size, color) on both sides. Check the product's final attributes, not only what you uploaded.
  3. For a handful of products: choose Edit product, set availability to the value your page shows and save.
  4. For many products: download the affected products as a CSV file, compare them with your stock data, correct availability and upload them with your usual method.
  5. If you only wanted to pause a product, put availability back to its real value and use the pause attribute for up to 14 days, or excluded_destination for longer.
  6. For preorder products, add an availability_date and make sure the page shows the same status.
  7. Use Request website check once both sides match. It can take up to 12 hours and you cannot send a new request meanwhile. If you disagree with the flag, use I disagree with the issue and Request review.

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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

  • Schedule feed updates to coincide with your website stock updates.
  • Turn on automatic item updates if you change price or availability often.
  • Keep availability per variant, so a sold-out size does not mark the whole product as unavailable, or the other way around.
  • Pause products with the pause attribute or excluded_destination, never with out_of_stock.

How WISEPIM helps

WISEPIM does not crawl your landing pages, so it cannot tell what your product page shows. It does keep the availability you send to Google in one place. The Merchant Center connection sends availability with each product, and a daily check (for projects that exported in the last 14 days, up to 500 products) compares title, price and availability in Merchant Center with what WISEPIM would send, and stores the item issues Google reports.

With Feed Hub, a feed can regenerate on a schedule or whenever a product changes, so a stock change reaches your next Google feed sooner.

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

No. If the product is still for sale on your site, that creates a mismatch. Use the pause attribute for up to 14 days, or excluded_destination for longer.

Google compares against its last visit, so the values may have differed then. Request a website check, which can take up to 12 hours, and allow 24 to 72 hours for Needs attention to update.

in_stock, out_of_stock, preorder and backorder. A preorder product also needs an availability_date.

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