File health
UTF-8, delimiter, unique headers, XML structure, row alignment and explicit processing limits.
Google Merchant Center feed checker
Find product field, price and identifier errors, with fixes by SKU.
What the Google Merchant Center feed checker tests
Required fields
ID, title, description, link, image link, availability and price with evidence by SKU.
Identifiers
Duplicate IDs across the whole file, GTIN length and check digit, with manufacturer identifier combinations left for review.
Prices and enums
Price syntax, selected currency, sale-price relationships, availability and condition values.
Conditional context
Preorder dates, variant group length and explicit category/market review items.
Quality opportunities
Short or repeated titles are advisory findings, separate from eligibility-format errors.
Supported formats and visible limits
Upload or fetch uncompressed UTF-8 XML/RSS, CSV or TSV. The public rate limit is 3 validations/hour and 10/day per IP. The public limit is 20 MB and 10,000 items; up to 100 columns and 20,000 bytes per field. XML uses Google's product namespace. CSV/TSV must use exact Google attribute headers such as id and image_link; we reject ambiguous delimiters and duplicate headers instead of guessing a mapping.
Archives, DTDs and external entities are rejected. Parsing has a 90-second bound per pass, and stored report evidence is capped at 128 MB. A limit ends the run explicitly; unchecked rows are never marked as passed. Reports show 25 items per page and provide a full CSV for completed runs.
Sample rule and SKU findings
Illustrative results from a fictional product feed.
FAIL · price:price · SKU BAG-42
Source price: “29 dollars”. Expected: amount and ISO currency. Fix: 29.00 USD, matching the actual offer.
REVIEW · conditional:market
Source category: Apparel & Accessories, market US. Confirm the product's applicable variant, age and gender requirements.
PASS · identifier:gtin
Source GTIN: 4006381333931. Length and check digit are valid; ownership and product identity still require verification.
Reference: Google product data specification.
Eligibility errors vs feed quality opportunities
Required-field, format and checksum failures identify specific data problems. Short or repeated titles are quality observations, not predictions of impressions or revenue. Conditional manufacturer, category and market requirements remain REVIEW when the feed alone cannot establish which exception applies. A green subset does not certify complete Merchant Center eligibility.
Feed, landing page, and Product schema consistency
This first parsing release validates submitted data only. Sampling coverage is 0 products: it does not fetch product pages, images or Product/Offer schema. A valid URL or price format is not proof that the live page agrees. Use the page audit to investigate representative products; automatic sample comparison is a separate next phase.
How it works and methodology
- Select country, language, expected currency and destination, then provide one feed URL or file.
- A background worker parses the feed, builds a whole-file ID index and validates each product. Progress stays visible.
- Inspect by issue or SKU, export fixes, update the source and validate again.
Catalog 2026-09-19.1; specification reviewed 19 September 2026. Supported context countries: US, GB, DE, FR, CA, AU, JP, IN, BR and MX. Destinations: Shopping ads and free listings. The catalog is a documented subset, with format and identifier checks plus explicit manual requirements. It does not validate shipping, tax, every category rule, account settings or policy decisions.
Uploads and reports use private server storage. An unguessable bearer link expires 24 hours after submission; anyone holding that link can read it before expiry. Inputs are removed after processing. Expired evidence is deleted by hourly cleanup, normally within the following hour. Report pages have no third-party analytics scripts. Do not upload personal data or include secrets in URLs.
Fix examples
Unparseable price → amount and currency
<g:price>29.00 USD</g:price>
<g:sale_price>24.00 USD</g:sale_price>Missing preorder date → explicit availability timestamp
<g:availability>preorder</g:availability>
<g:availability_date>2026-12-01T09:00:00+00:00</g:availability_date>Use the actual expected date and offer values for your product; examples are not suggested business data.
Frequently asked questions
Is it free, and do I need Merchant Center access?
One-off validation is free and requires no signup or Merchant Center account access. Public rate and processing limits apply.
Are uploaded files private, and when do they expire?
Inputs are stored outside the public directory and removed after processing. Report links expire after 24 hours; hourly cleanup removes expired files. Protect the bearer link like a private document.
What happens above the file or item limit?
The run ends with an explicit limit message. It does not report partial data as a completed validation. Split the feed and retry.
Does a pass guarantee product approval?
No. Merchant Center evaluates account settings, policy, live destinations and other requirements outside this subset.
Which markets and formats are supported?
The supported country context is listed in the form. Use UTF-8 XML/RSS, CSV or TSV with Google attribute names. Country-specific exceptions and account-level settings remain manual review.
When should I recheck, and can I schedule a feed?
Recheck after a catalog export, mapping, price, identifier or variant change. Scheduled feed validation and feed-diff alerts are not included in this version.