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Merchant Center issue

Fix missing size, color, gender and age group

Clothing and shoes need more product data than most categories. Google asks for color, gender and age group on apparel, and size on clothing and shoes, so shoppers can filter by them. When one is missing, Merchant Center shows a "Missing value" issue naming the attribute. This page lists what is required, which values are accepted and how to add them.

Diego Nijboer · WISEPIMLast updated:

Short answer

Add the flagged attributes to each apparel product: gender (male, female or unisex), age_group (newborn, infant, toddler, kids or adult), color, and size for clothing and shoes. Give variants a shared item_group_id. If the product isn't apparel at all, set the right google_product_category so Google stops asking.

What this issue means

Google's product data specification requires age_group, gender and color for apparel sold in Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US, and for all apparel in free listings. Size is required for clothing and shoes in the same cases. Variants need an item_group_id that ties them together. When any of these is missing, Merchant Center reports a "Missing value" issue with the attribute name in brackets.

The accepted values are fixed for two of them. gender takes male, female or unisex. age_group takes newborn, infant, toddler, kids or adult. color is free text up to 100 characters, with at most 40 per color. size is free text up to 100 characters, written in one consistent format.

Google decides which products count as apparel from the category. If it infers the wrong category, it can ask for attributes the product doesn't need. Setting google_product_category yourself fixes that.

DetailValue
Issue in Merchant CenterMissing value: size [size], color [color], gender [gender], age group [age_group]
EffectApparel products without the required color, gender, age group or size can't show in the countries that require them.
CheckedAgainst Google Merchant Center Help on 11 October 2026

Common causes

  • Your shop stores color and size as variant options, but they are not mapped to the color and size attributes in your feed.
  • Gender and age group are not stored anywhere, because the shop never needed them.
  • Variants are sent as separate products without a shared item_group_id.
  • A value is outside the accepted list, such as "women" instead of female.
  • Google inferred an apparel category for a product that isn't clothing.

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 which attributes are missing on which products.
  2. Check that the flagged products really are apparel. If not, set the correct google_product_category and skip the rest.
  3. For a handful of products: open the product, choose Edit product, add the missing attributes and save.
  4. For many products: download the affected products as a CSV file and match it against your product data by ID.
  5. Add gender and age_group with the accepted values, color as the color name shoppers would use, and size in one consistent format.
  6. Give every variant of the same product the same item_group_id.
  7. Upload the corrected data the way you normally do and check Needs attention again. Changes can take 24 to 72 hours to show.

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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

  • Make color, gender, age group and size required fields for new apparel products.
  • Use one size format per product type, for example always EU sizes for shoes.
  • Store gender and age group as product attributes, not only in the title or description.
  • Set google_product_category for every category, so Google doesn't have to guess.

How WISEPIM helps

Be aware of one limit first: the Merchant Center connection does not send color, size, gender or age_group, and the Google Shopping rule pack in Quality Guard does not check them. For apparel, publish through Feed Hub, whose Google channel maps gender, age_group, color, size and item_group_id from your WISEPIM attributes, or add the values in Merchant Center itself.

To fill the gaps, the catalog job "Get ready for Google and Meta ads" can suggest color, gender, age group and size from product photos for you to review. The connection does send item_group_id from the parent SKU, and the Category map sets google_product_category so Google applies the right requirements.

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

Google's specification requires them for apparel in Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US, and for apparel in free listings. Elsewhere they are still useful, because shoppers filter on them.

No. gender accepts only male, female or unisex, and age_group accepts only newborn, infant, toddler, kids or adult, whatever language your feed uses.

Google probably inferred an apparel category for it. Set the correct google_product_category on the product and the apparel requirements no longer apply.

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