Leaving your own shop logo on the feed image, which Google treats as a prohibited overlay even though the brand is yours.
Marketplaces · Google Shopping
Google Shopping Image Requirements
Every one of the 12 image rules below comes off a page Google Shopping publishes, with the source linked.
12 image rules12 read at Google ShoppingChecked 10 August 2026
The short answer
Google Merchant Center requires every product image to be at least 500 x 500 pixels, no larger than 64 megapixels, and no more than 16 MB. Google recommends 1500 x 1500 pixels or above. The image must show the entire product with minimal staging, and must carry no watermark, logo, border, price or call to action.
Updated
Check your file against this
What Google Shopping asks for
Every row states where it comes from. A rule read off a page Google Shopping publishes is marked as a primary source; a figure that circulates among sellers without appearing in the platform’s own documentation is marked and hedged, and it is never printed as though the two carry the same weight.
| Requirement | What Google Shopping asks for | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum size | At least 500 x 500 pixels | Primary source |
| Recommended size | 1500 x 1500 pixels or aboveGoogle states this size is needed "to ensure best performance" across the formats your product can appear in. | Primary source |
| Maximum resolution | No image larger than 64 megapixels | Primary source |
| Maximum file size | No image file larger than 16 MB | Primary source |
| Accepted formats | JPEG (.jpg/.jpeg), WebP (.webp), PNG (.png), GIF (.gif), BMP (.bmp), TIFF (.tif/.tiff)Products with unsupported image types will not show in ads or free listings until the image is updated. | Primary source |
| Image URL format | Starts with http or https, RFC 3986 compliant, ASCII characters only, 1 to 2,000 charactersSymbols and spaces must be replaced with URL encoded entities. | Primary source |
| Crawlability | The image URL must be crawlable by Google | Primary source |
| Additional images | Up to 10 additional images via additional_image_linkUndersized additional images do not disapprove the product, they simply do not display. | Primary source |
| Overlays | No watermarks, brand names, logos, price information or calls to action such as "buy" | Primary source |
| Borders | Do not use a border | Primary source |
| Placeholders | Do not use a placeholder or an image that does not show your product | Primary source |
| Staging | Accurately display the entire product with minimal or no product stagingApparel should be shown worn by people. Show a single unit unless the product is sold as a multipack. | Primary source |
Slide the table sideways to see every column.
- Primary source means the value is read off a page Google Shopping publishes, linked under Sources below. 12 of 12 rows here are primary.
- Platforms change these rules without announcing them. Every source below carries the date it was read, and the figures here were checked on 10 August 2026.
Why this matters on Google Shopping
An image that breaks the specification disapproves the product, and a disapproved product shows in neither Shopping ads nor free listings. The whole item leaves Google, not just the picture. Because a feed applies the same template across a catalogue, image disapprovals arrive in batches.
Recovery is slower than failure. Google fetches your image from the URL in your feed and caches what it fetches. Fix the picture but leave the URL unchanged and Google may keep serving the old version, because its own guidance says detecting and crawling a new image could take up to 6 weeks. Publishing the corrected file at a new URL is the difference between hours and weeks.
The walkthrough
How do you get a photo through Google Shopping?
6 things in order, each one answering a question a seller actually types.
Is your main image at least 500 x 500 pixels?
The floor for
image_linkis 500 x 500 pixels, and below it the product is disapproved. The floor is not the goal: Google recommends 1500 x 1500 pixels or above so the image holds up in the larger formats your product appears in. Make that your catalogue standard. It sits far inside the ceiling, since 64 megapixels is roughly 8000 x 8000 pixels, and gives Google a sharp source to downscale rather than a small file to stretch.Is the file inside 16 MB and 64 megapixels?
Two separate ceilings apply and a file can breach either. No image larger than 64 megapixels caps the pixel count; no image file larger than 16 MB caps the bytes on disk. A camera-original PNG at 6000 x 6000 pixels sits under the megapixel cap and still sails past 16 MB, so check both. Saving as high quality JPEG usually brings a 20 MB PNG down to two or three megabytes. Photomop is a photo studio that runs on your own device and its compressor does this while holding the dimensions Google wants.
Is the image free of every overlay?
This is where most Merchant Center disapprovals come from. The specification names what must not appear on the picture.
- Calls to action, for example "buy"
- Price information, including sale prices and percentage-off flashes
- Any overlay, for example watermarks, brand names, logos
- Borders of any kind
Two of these catch honest merchants out. A photographer's watermark left on a supplied image counts as an overlay, and so does your own shop logo: Google encourages branding on your site and forbids it in the feed image.
Does the image actually show the product being sold?
Google requires the image to accurately display the entire product with minimal or no product staging. Three rules follow.
- No placeholder and no image that does not show your product, so "coming soon" graphics disapprove.
- Show a single unit unless the product is genuinely sold as a multipack.
- Apparel should be shown worn by people, a requirement rather than a styling preference.
Props are the grey area. A mug photographed alone passes; a mug among beans and a linen runner risks a reviewer deciding the staging obscures it.
Is the image URL valid and crawlable?
A perfect photograph fails if Google cannot fetch it. The URL must start with
httporhttps, comply with RFC 3986, use ASCII characters only, and run to no more than 2,000 characters, with symbols and spaces URL encoded. Then confirm it is genuinely crawlable: images behind a login, blocked inrobots.txt, or served only to clients that pass a bot check fail for Google though they load perfectly for you.Are you using additional images properly?
Submit the main image in
image_linkand every other picture inadditional_image_link, where you may include up to 10 additional images under the same technical rules. Note the asymmetry: an undersized additional image will not disapprove your product, it will simply never appear, so nothing in Merchant Center tells you the slot is empty.
The settings, in one place
The Photomop preset for Google Shopping
Resize to a 1500 x 1500 pixel square, Google's recommended size, then export as high quality JPEG so the file lands well under the 16 MB cap. No border, no logo layer and no text is added at any stage.
Resize image runs on your own device, at full resolution, with no watermark on the export.
What goes wrong on Google Shopping
Every one of these is a real rejection or a real drop in placement, not a matter of taste.
Adding a sale flash or percentage-off badge, which trips the price information rule and disapproves the item.
Framing the product inside a thin white or coloured border, which the specification forbids outright.
Uploading a camera-original PNG that sits under 64 megapixels but well over the 16 MB file size cap.
Questions sellers ask
Google Shopping image requirements, answered
The questions people search for once a photo has already been refused.
What is the minimum image size for Google Shopping?
At least 500 x 500 pixels, with 1500 x 1500 or above recommended. Anything below the floor disapproves the product, removing it from both Shopping ads and free listings until the image is replaced.
Which file formats does Google Merchant Center accept?
JPEG, WebP, PNG, GIF, BMP and TIFF. Products with an unsupported image type will not show in ads or free listings until the image is updated.
Can I put my logo or a sale badge on the product image?
No. The specification bars any overlay, naming watermarks, brand names and logos, and separately bars price information and calls to action such as "buy".
How long does it take Google to pick up a corrected image?
Google says detecting and crawling a new image could take up to 6 weeks if you reuse the same URL. Publish the corrected file at a new URL and update the feed to prompt a fresh fetch.
How many images can I submit per product?
One main image in image_link plus up to 10 additional images in additional_image_link. An undersized additional image does not disapprove the product, it simply never displays.
Does the background have to be white?
Google does not mandate white. It requires the image to accurately display the entire product with minimal or no staging, and plain white is the reliable way to satisfy that.
Where these Google Shopping rules come from
Each link is the page the figures were read at, with the date it was opened and whether it could be read at all.
- Google Merchant Center Help, Image link [image_link] specificationOpened and read in full on .
- Google Merchant Center Help, Additional image link [additional_image_link] specificationOpened and read in full on .
- Google Merchant Center Help, Unsupported image typeOpened and read in full on .
- Google Merchant Center Help, Shopping ads policies, misrepresentation, checked for image rules and contains noneOpened and read in full on .
Same cluster
More platform guides
Neighbouring guides, so every platform in the set is one hop from every other.
Flipkart
Flipkart keeps its image guidelines inside the seller Learning Center. Here is what the QC check actually enforces, what sellers report, and how to pass first time.
Meesho
Meesho publishes its catalog image rules inside the supplier panel. The no-brand-logo rule, the square white spec sellers report, and how to pass QC first time.
Faire
Faire needs square product photos at 500x500 pixels minimum, hero images at 600x600 or higher on a clean light background. Full brand specs, and how to fix them.
From the studio
The tools this guide uses
Each one runs in the browser tab you are reading this in, on your own device.
Resize image
Exact pixels, or a marketplace preset that already knows the rules.
Compress image
Hit an upload size limit without watching the photo fall apart.
Upscale image
Double the pixels on a small product shot without the mush. The page for it is still in progress, so this card opens the toolbox.
Remove background
One clean cut-out, hair and all, at whatever resolution you brought.
Keep reading
Elsewhere on Photomop
Image glossary
A hundred photo editing terms, defined in plain words and filed by the job they do.
Read itResize image
Exact pixels, marketplace presets and an aspect lock, run on your own device.
Read itCompress image
Name a file size limit and the tool re-encodes until the photo fits it.
Read itAll the tools
The whole toolbox in three families, with what each one needs before it can run.
Read it
Get the file right before you upload it
Photomop is a photo studio that runs on your own device. Resize to the exact pixels Google Shopping asks for, compress to the weight limit, convert the format and batch the lot, all at full resolution with no watermark. The image glossary explains any word in the table above.