What the Google Merchant Feed Optimizer does
This optimizer checks a Google Merchant Center feed against the product data specification, applies the fixes that have exactly one correct answer, and ranks what is left by how likely it is to get products disapproved. You download a corrected feed, a file of only the changed rows, and a change log that records every edit with its before and after value.
It deliberately does not rewrite titles, invent brands or repair GTINs. Those need knowledge of the product, and a plausible-looking guess in a feed is worse than a reported gap. Everything runs in your browser; the feed is not uploaded.
How to use it
- Paste the feed or drop the file: CSV, TSV, or RSS 2.0 / Atom XML with g: attributes, up to 20 MB.
- Choose the currency to assume for prices written without one, such as 89.00 or $12. Leave it at None and such prices are reported rather than changed.
- Select Check and optimise. The headline shows the error count before and after the automatic fixes; the risk table lists what remains, grouped by problem and ordered by severity and the number of products affected.
- Read the change log before you use the corrected file, then download the whole feed or only the changed rows (for a supplemental feed or a spreadsheet update).
Reading the results
A deterministic fix is one where the specification leaves a single valid reading: 89,00 EUR becomes 89.00 EUR, In Stock becomes in_stock, RefurbishedCondition becomes refurbished, No becomes no in identifier_exists, and 4006-381-333931 loses its dashes. A price like 1,234 is ambiguous (one thousand or one point two?) and is left alone.
Risk order puts blocking errors first - missing required attributes, invalid prices and availability, duplicate ids, broken URLs - weighted by how many products each affects. Warnings such as a missing brand or a sale price above the price follow.
The basis column says whether a rule is Google's documented requirement (spec) or an A2Z quality convention. Conventions are worth fixing but are not, on their own, reasons for disapproval.
Worked example: a four-lamp TSV feed
The first lamp has price 89,00 EUR, sale price 74,50 EUR, availability In Stock, condition New, a double space in the title and GTIN 4006-381-333931. All six are rewritten: 89.00 EUR, 74.50 EUR, in_stock, new, a single space, and 4006381333931.
The floor lamp's €149 becomes 149.00 EUR and out of stock becomes out_of_stock. The refurbished pendant's pre-order becomes preorder and RefurbishedCondition becomes refurbished - but preorder needs an availability_date, and the product has no brand, GTIN or MPN, so those stay as risks.
The bedside lamp's GTIN 4006381333932 has the wrong check digit and its sale price of 45.00 EUR is above its 39.00 EUR price. Neither has one correct answer, so both are reported, not changed.
Why the tool will not rewrite titles
Title optimisation advice usually means putting brand, product type and the attributes shoppers filter by (size, colour, material, quantity) near the start, within the 150-character limit. That is sound, but doing it automatically means guessing facts about each product. A title that says 100% cotton when the shirt is a blend is a policy problem, not an optimisation.
Instead, the risk list flags titles that are in capitals, contain promotional text such as free shipping, include HTML, or exceed the limit. Fix them at the source - usually the product catalogue - so the website and the feed stay consistent, which is what Merchant Center checks.
Limitations: what the result does not prove
- It sees only the feed. Price or availability mismatches with the landing page, image problems and policy issues are found by Google, not here.
- Fixes are limited to formats and spellings. It never adds values that were not in the feed apart from the currency you choose for bare prices.
- Country-specific and category-specific attributes (shipping, tax, apparel details, energy labels) are only partly checked.
- Fewer errors here does not guarantee approval, visibility or better performance in Shopping ads.
Privacy: where your data goes
Everything you paste, type or drop is processed in this browser tab. It is not uploaded, logged, stored or sent to analytics. Session recording and tag-manager scripts are switched off on this page.
Standards and sources
- Google Merchant Center product data specification - checked 19 Sep 2026
- Google Merchant Center - price attribute
- Google Merchant Center - availability attribute
Frequently asked questions
Why are my Google Shopping products disapproved?
Common causes are missing required attributes, invalid prices or availability values, wrong GTINs, and a feed that disagrees with the landing page. This tool finds the first three in the feed file; landing-page mismatches show in Merchant Center diagnostics.
Which feed errors can be fixed automatically?
Only those with one correct answer: price format and decimal commas, currency symbols with an unambiguous currency, availability and condition spellings (including schema.org names like InStock), identifier_exists capitalisation, GTIN spaces and dashes, and stray whitespace.
Will the optimizer change my product titles?
No. It reports titles that break conventions - capitals, promotional phrases, HTML, over 150 characters - but rewriting them needs facts about each product, so that is left to you.
Can I upload only the corrected rows?
Yes. Download Corrected rows only for a file containing just the products that changed, with all their original columns. It suits a spreadsheet update or a supplemental feed that overrides the main one.
What happens to an XML feed?
It is read, checked and fixed like a CSV, then exported as a tab-separated file with the same attribute names, which Merchant Center accepts as a file feed. If you need XML back, apply the change log to your source.
How do I know what the tool changed?
Every edit is in the change log with the row, product id, attribute, value before, value after and the rule that justified it. Download it as CSV to review or keep with your feed history.
Last reviewed by the A2Z.Tools team against the sources listed above.
