Google Merchant Center disapproved products from PrestaShop: what to check in your store
Google Merchant Center disapproves products from PrestaShop for four main reasons. These are a missing GTIN code (EAN) or brand, a feed price that differs from the page, mismatched availability, and images that break the rules. The feed only carries data over from the product page, so you make most fixes in the products themselves, not in the feed module.
Author: The TellMyShop team. A guide for PrestaShop store owners: the cause, the manual fix and the same work in a chat conversation.
Last updated: · 6 min read
Where does Merchant Center get your product data?
From the product feed created by the feed module in your store, and from the product page, which Google visits to compare. The feed module collects the name, description, price, stock, images, EAN and brand from PrestaShop. If something is missing on the product page, it will be missing from the feed too.
There is an honest limit here. TellMyShop doesn't create or send the feed to Google. It helps in the two places the feed draws from: product data and the structured data on the page. You set up the file itself and its field mapping in the feed module or with your integration provider.
Which disapproval reason, what to check?
The message in Merchant Center usually says plainly which field the problem concerns. This table links the most common messages to the place in your store you need to check.
| Message in Merchant Center | What to check in PrestaShop | Who fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Missing or invalid GTIN | the EAN field on the product page and in combinations | you in the admin, combination EANs also the chat |
| Missing brand | the brand assigned to the product | you in the admin or through an import |
| Price mismatch | the page price, the default combination price, the page's structured data | the chat checks the page, you decide |
| Availability mismatch | stock and the out-of-stock behaviour | the Sales switch or the admin |
| Missing image or placeholder image | whether the product has a cover image | the chat adds images from your links |
| Title too generic or too long | the product name | the chat suggests new names |
Google describes the requirements for the GTIN code, for products without an identifier and for price. Delante's overview covers other causes, including account-level problems.
Why doesn't the Merchant Center price match the store?
Because Google compares three price sources, and in PrestaShop they can easily drift apart. The first is the price in the product feed. The second is the price shown on the page. The third is the structured data in the page code, a description of the product for crawlers.
There are three typical causes. The feed updates once a day and you changed the price in the morning. The product has combinations, and the page shows the default combination's price while the feed shows the base price. Or the theme and an extra SEO module each add a separate product data block to the page, with different prices. That last case is hard to spot with the naked eye. Google explains how it reads product structured data.
How to fix names and images so Google accepts them
The product name in PrestaShop usually goes into the feed as the title. If the product is called “LMP-NR-40” in your store, Google gets the same code. That title doesn't break the rules outright, but a shopper in the results has no idea what it is. A good name starts with what the product is, then the brand, size or colour.
Images are similar. Google rejects placeholder images, a logo instead of the product, and images with promotional text on them. Every active product should have a cover image showing just the item. A photo with a price or “-20%” added onto the image is a common reason for disapproval in stores that make graphics for social media.
While you're at it, check the image descriptions, because they help with Google Images. We cover them in the post on image alt text in PrestaShop.
How to fix disapproved products, in order
Start with whatever affects the most products at once.
- Download the list from Merchant Center. In product diagnostics, sort the issues by number of products.
- Find the gaps in your store. A list of active products without an EAN, brand or images, with reference and category.
- Fill in codes and brands. You enter the EAN of simple products on the product page or through an import, and assign the brand in the same place. For products with no code, set in the feed module that no identifier exists.
- Check one product page with a price mismatch. You're looking for two product data blocks, or a price different from the one on screen.
- Improve names and images. A title with the name, brand and main feature is clearer to Google than a wholesaler's code.
- Regenerate the feed and request a review in Merchant Center.
Products that Google rejects and that you can't see in the store either are a different problem. We describe it in the post product not showing in the PrestaShop store.
What can you check in TellMyShop Free before fixing anything?
You ask your chat (Claude or ChatGPT) for a list of gaps and a check of the page with the price mismatch. Both work in TellMyShop Free, because they only read.
You: Merchant Center is disapproving the Nora lantern for a price mismatch. Check that product's page and list the active Lanterns products without an EAN or brand.
Your chat: The Nora lantern page has two product data blocks. One comes from the theme, the other from the SEO module.
Theme block: price €129.00, in stock.
SEO module block: price €109.00, from an old promotion.
Google may take the price from the second block. It is worth turning off product data in one of those places.
In Lanterns, 14 active products have no EAN and 3 have no brand. The list with references and prices is below.
You: Thanks, I'll fill in the codes from the invoices. Suggest new names for those 14, with brand and size.
Your chat: The preview of new names is ready. I'll save them only after your agreement.
The use case products without images, EAN or brand starts with the list of gaps, and the use case why Google stopped showing prices and stars starts with checking the price on the page. In TellMyShop Pro the chat saves new names, up to 50 products in one batch, and adds images from your links. Combination EANs need the Sales switch, which you first turn on in the module panel. Each of these writes can be reversed from the change history. Details are on the pricing page.
Where does TellMyShop's role in the feed end?
It won't change the feed settings, won't send the file to Google and won't reply in Merchant Center for you. It won't invent EAN codes, because a code has to come from the manufacturer. Nor will it enter an EAN or brand on an existing product without combinations. You do that on the product page or through an import, and the chat shows you what is missing.
Questions and answers
Does TellMyShop send products to Google Merchant Center?
No. The product feed for Google is created by a separate feed module or integration in your store. TellMyShop works on the data that feed is built from: it shows products without an EAN, images or brand, checks the structured data on pages and improves names. The feed picks up the corrected data at its next update.
What should I do with a product that has no EAN code?
If the manufacturer gave the product a GTIN code, which in Europe is usually the EAN, enter it on the product page. If there is no code, for example for handmade items or your own brand, you set in the feed that no identifier exists. An invented or borrowed code is worse than no code at all.
Why does Google report a price mismatch when the price in my store is right?
Google compares the price in the feed with the price on the product page and in its structured data. A mismatch appears when the feed is old, when the price depends on the chosen variant, or when the page has two product data blocks with different prices. Also check the page code that Google's crawler reads.
Who fills in the missing EAN codes?
For combinations, the chat in TellMyShop Pro can do it once the Sales switch is on in the module panel. For a product without combinations, the chat finds the gaps and prepares a list with references, and you enter the code on the product page or through an import. The chat never supplies invented codes.
What works in the free TellMyShop Free version?
The whole diagnosis. A list of products without an EAN, images or brand, a check of the structured data on the product and category page, and a comparison of the price in that data with the price in the store. Writes, meaning new names and images, need TellMyShop Pro, each with a preview and your agreement.
PrestaShop is a registered trademark of PrestaShop SA. Claude is a trademark of Anthropic PBC. ChatGPT and OpenAI are trademarks of OpenAI. TellMyShop is not affiliated with these companies.