Google says poor images no longer block Merchant Center products

Google has changed the wording of its Merchant Center help document on low image quality. The help page now says products with blurry or pixelated images will keep showing in ads and free listings, wording that was public by 12 October.

The change matters for any Australian retailer running Google Shopping campaigns. Until now, a poor image was a reason Google could keep a product out of ads and free listings. That hard gate appears to be gone.

Products with pixelation keep showing

Screenshots of the two versions make the shift clear. The older text warned that a product with low image quality "may be prevented from showing in ads and free listings until the image quality improves".

The updated note still flags the problem, listing blurriness, pixelation and low resolution as examples, but now adds: "Your product will continue to show in ads and free listings."

The change appears in the help document itself. Google's page, titled "How to fix: Low image quality [image_link]", now treats a weak image as a problem to fix rather than a reason to withhold the product. It tells merchants that improving the image gives shoppers a better experience and "may increase performance of your ads and free listings".

That is a different stance from the neighbouring "Image too small" issue, where Google's help text still says it disapproves products that do not meet the required dimensions. Low image quality no longer keeps a product out. An image below the size minimum still does.

Weak images can still cost clicks, and the floor becomes 500 by 500

Being eligible to show is only the first step. Listings with weak images can still run, but Google's own help page says high image quality correlates strongly with engagement and clicks, so a listing running on a weak image is likely to lose clicks.

Google has also announced that product images must be at least 500 by 500 pixels from 31 January 2027, and Merchant Center is already warning on smaller images. An image can clear the quality note and still fall short of the size rule.

Until that date the old minimums still apply: 100 by 100 pixels for most products and 250 by 250 for apparel, with 500 by 500 already required for YouTube Shopping ads to serve on TV. Google says the warnings on images that meet the old minimum but fall under 500 by 500 began in July 2026, and that it may serve an optimised version of a small image in some cases. Google also recommends the product fill between 75 and 90 percent of the frame.

Three things worth doing:

• Open Merchant Center diagnostics and check whether products previously held back for image quality are now live and competing on a weak image. Google's help page points to the Needs attention tab under Products, filtered by the issue title "Low image quality [image_link]".
• Find every product image under 500 by 500 pixels and replace it before enforcement starts on 31 January 2027. In the same tab, View history shows orange warnings labelled "Image too small for upcoming enforcement". Google notes Product Studio can increase resolution and remove backgrounds, and that fixes can take 24 to 72 hours to clear from the list.
• Prioritise new photography for the products that carry most of the ad spend, since those are the listings where a sharper image pays back fastest.

If Shopping performance has moved in recent days, a batch of products rejoining the auction is one explanation to rule out before changing bids.