Google’s product data specification is a long, detailed list of formatting requirements — how to format a GTIN, what counts as a valid availability value, how shipping weight should be expressed — and a spec violation notice usually points to one specific rule your feed doesn’t follow, even when the actual product itself is perfectly legitimate.
Match the exact violation text against Google’s own spec page
Copy the exact violation text from Merchant Center’s Diagnostics and search for it directly in Google’s Merchant Center product data specification documentation. The spec defines precisely what format or value is expected for that attribute, which is more useful than guessing at what “invalid” means in context.
Product data spec violation remediation
A data specification violation matched exactly against Google's own spec and corrected.
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This or something else?
| Merchant Center cites a specific data specification violation | This fix covers it |
| The violation is specifically about GTIN, MPN, or brand | GTIN, MPN & brand attribute errors, a more targeted version |
| You’re not sure if this is a spec violation or a policy violation | This fix covers it; we clarify which it actually is |
| Products are disapproved for multiple different reasons at once | Product feed disapproval diagnosis & fix, the broader version |
What you are seeing
- A specific data specification violation cited for one or more products
- The underlying product itself being entirely legitimate, with correct real-world information
- The violation referencing formatting, not content — a value in the wrong format rather than wrong information
- Possibly affecting many products at once if the violation stems from your feed’s overall structure
Common causes
- A date, weight, or dimension value formatted differently than Google’s spec requires
- Currency or price formatting not matching the expected structure for your target country
- An attribute using a custom value where Google requires one from a fixed, specific list
- Special characters or encoding issues in text fields causing a parsing failure
- A feed structure issue (like a missing required column) rather than a per-product content issue
What we do
- Identify the exact specification requirement being violated
- Determine whether the cause is per-product or structural across the whole feed
- Correct the data formatting to match Google’s specification precisely
- Verify the correction against the specification before resubmission
- Resubmit and monitor for the violation clearing
- Check for the same formatting issue elsewhere in the feed
What is included
- The specific specification violation identified and corrected
- Verification against Google’s stated requirements
- A check for the same issue elsewhere in your feed
- A written note on what was wrong and the correct format going forward
Not included
- Guaranteeing approval, which remains Google’s own review decision
- Restructuring your entire feed beyond the specific violation identified
- Ongoing monitoring as Google updates its specification over time
- Fixing an unrelated policy violation, distinct from a data specification issue
Questions about this fix
Is a spec violation the same as a policy violation?
No, and the distinction matters — a spec violation is about data formatting (how something is written), while a policy violation is about content or conduct rules; we confirm which one you're actually dealing with.
Why does Google require such a specific format for something like weight or dimensions?
Consistent formatting lets Google's systems process millions of feeds automatically without manual interpretation — a value it can't parse confidently gets rejected rather than guessed at.
Could this be affecting products I haven't even noticed are disapproved?
Possibly, if the cause is structural rather than isolated to one product — we check your broader feed for the same pattern once we've found it in one place.
Will Google's specification change again and cause this to recur?
It can, since Google does update its requirements periodically — we fix what's current now, though staying current with future changes would need periodic review.
Is this something I could have caught myself before submitting?
With very close reading of Google's own documentation, sometimes — but the specification is lengthy and detailed enough that this kind of formatting mismatch is a common, easy thing to miss.
Related fixes
If this is the second time this year
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