Google Shopping image rules for Shopify stores: no overlays, no watermarks

Google Shopping's image rules ask for the product alone with nothing added: no promotional overlays, prices, badges, borders, watermarks, barcodes or logos added in editing, with the product filling 75% to 90% of the image, ideally at 1,500 by 1,500 pixels or more. Most Shopify feeds send each product's first image as its main image, so keep that first image clean and put designed images with words after it.

A Shopify store can show any image you like. Google Shopping cannot. When your store sends its products to Google Merchant Center, Google checks each product's image against its rules, and an image with a badge, a price, a border or a line of text over it can get the product disapproved. The image that looks best on your product page is often the one that fails in the feed.

This guide covers what Google counts as a promotional overlay, why designed images fail, what Google's automatic image improvements remove, how to keep a clean image for the feed and a designed one for your store, and how to fix disapproved products.

What are Google Merchant Center's image requirements?

Google's image requirements for Merchant Center set the technical rules:

And it asks for "an image that shows a clear view of the main product being sold".

What does Google count as a promotional overlay?

Google counts post-production text, marketing callouts and added graphics as promotional overlays, and its page lists what it does not allow on product images:

• Promotional overlays: "Adding post-production text, marketing callouts, or graphics distracts shoppers", including calls to action, price or shipping details, and promotional adjectives.
• Condition and compatibility text, such as "New" or "2-piece set".
• Watermarks and stamps: stock photo watermarks, copyright symbols or graphic stamps.
• Barcodes: UPC barcodes, QR codes or serial tags laid over the photo.
• Logos added afterwards: brand or retailer logos superimposed in editing, unless they are part of the product.
• Placeholders: "Don't use a placeholder, generic image, or graphic that doesn't show your product."
• Borders.
• Other products: "Don't include any product that's not sold together with the main product."

In short: the image must be the product, as it is, with nothing added on top. Anything a shopper could mistake for part of the product, or that sells rather than shows, is an overlay in Google's eyes. Treat anything borderline as an overlay, and send the image without it.

Why do designed images fail in the Google Shopping feed?

Designed images fail because most Shopify stores send the product's first image to Google as its main image. If that first image is a designed image, such as the product with a "best seller" badge, a feature callout, a discount sticker or a brand frame, it carries exactly the overlays Google lists.

Three common cases:

Each is a fine image for a product page. None is a feed image, and each can take a best-selling product out of Google Shopping until it is replaced.

What do Google's automatic image improvements remove?

Google offers a setting that tries to fix images with promotional elements by removing "text, watermarks, overlays, or logos detected in the image". If the fix works, Google replaces the image, and the product may then be approved. The setting is off by default; you turn it on in Merchant Center, under the Automations tab of Products.

It does not fix everything. If Google cannot fix an image without lowering its quality, the original stays, and Google names complex collages, heavy text over the product's main features and dense watermarks as examples. You then need to upload a compliant image.

Automatic improvements are a useful safety net, but they change your image without asking each time, and they cannot restore what an overlay covered. A clean image that you made is better.

How do you keep a clean image for the feed and a designed one for the store?

Make the first image on every Shopify product clean, and put designed images after it:

1. Main image: the product on a plain background, framed to fill 75% to 90% of the image, with no words, badges, borders or logos added.
2. Designed images after it: feature callouts, lifestyle scenes with words, size charts, comparison images. They show on your product page and can be sent to Google as additional images only if they also meet the rules.

That order also suits marketplaces: Amazon, Walmart and others ask for a clean main image too, so the same first image works everywhere.

If your theme or brand calls for a designed first image on the store, some feed apps let you choose a different image for the feed. Check what your Shopify feed app offers, and keep a clean version of each product's main image ready for it.

How much of a Google Shopping image should the product fill?

The product should fill 75% to 90% of a Google Shopping image. Google's framing advice gives a range rather than a single figure: the product should take up no less than 75% and no more than 90% of the image. Too small, and the product is hard to see in a results grid; too large, and it touches the edges and can be cut off.

That range sits close to what marketplaces ask: Amazon's main image asks for 85% or more of the frame. A main image framed at about 85% to 90% suits both, which is one more reason to make a single clean main image and use it everywhere.

How do Shopify images reach Google?

Most Shopify stores connect to Merchant Center through a sales channel or a feed app, which reads each product from your store, images included, and sends it to Google. That is why a change to a product's images on Shopify reaches Google with the next update of the feed, and why an image you never meant for Google can end up there. Check which image your connection sends as the main one, and keep that image clean.

Does Google need an image for each variant?

Yes. Google asks for a unique image for each variant, showing only one variant per image. On Shopify, assign each variant its image, and make sure the image shows that colour or size only. A main image showing all six colours together is a fine image for the store, but in the feed each colour needs a clean image of that colour.

What additional images does Google Shopping accept?

Beyond the main image, Google takes additional images for "alternative angles or detailed shots". They follow the same rules: the product, with nothing added. Good additional images for the feed:

• the back and sides
• a close-up of the material or a key part
• the product in use, as long as nothing is written over it and no unrelated products appear

Feature callouts and infographics with words are for your store, not the feed.

How do you fix products disapproved for their images?

When Merchant Center flags an image problem, fix it in six steps:

1. Read the reason Merchant Center gives for the product.
2. Open the image it names and compare it with the list above: text, badges, borders, logos, barcodes, other products.
3. Replace it with a clean image on your Shopify product, as the first image or the one your feed app sends.
4. Check the size: 1,500 pixels a side or more is recommended; below 500 will not be accepted for any product from 31 January 2027.
5. Wait for the feed to update, then check the product's status again.
6. Turn on automatic image improvements for products where an overlay is light, knowing it will not fix heavy text or collages.

Fix the products that sell first. A disapproved best seller costs more than a disapproved slow mover. Then make the clean main image a habit for every new product, so the problem does not come back: it is quicker to shoot one plain image at the start than to fix a feed later.

A Google Shopping image checklist

1. The first image is the product alone, nothing added.
2. The product fills 75% to 90% of the image.
3. 1,500 by 1,500 pixels or more; never under 500.
4. No text, price, badge, border, watermark, barcode or added logo.
5. One variant per image, each variant with its image.
6. No products in the image that are not sold with it.
7. A file under 16MB, in a format Google accepts, with the right extension.

Does Shopify have the same image rules as Google?

No. Shopify itself accepts almost any image, up to 5,000 by 5,000 pixels and under 20MB, in most formats. The rules above are Google's, not Shopify's, which is why a store can look perfect and still have products disapproved in the feed. Our guide to Shopify product image size covers the store side.

How Commicorn helps

• A clean main image on pure white for every product, with your product's pixels never redrawn and nothing added, which meets Google's rules as well as the marketplaces'.
• Designed images with words on a separate layer, so the callouts that suit your store never need to be your main image.
• Square images at 2,000 pixels or more, above Google's recommended 1,500.

Commicorn gives every product a clean main image for your feed and designed images for your store. Start free.

Questions sellers ask

Does Google Shopping require a white background?

No. Google's rules ask for a clear view of the product with nothing added; they do not insist on white. A plain light background is the safest way to give that clear view, and it matches what the marketplaces ask for.

Are words printed on the product allowed in Google Shopping images?

Yes. Words printed on the product or its box are part of the product, not an overlay. Google's rule on logos makes the same distinction: a logo that is a physical part of the product is fine; one added in editing is not.

Can a Google Shopping main image show the product in a room?

A room shot can work if the product is clearly the subject and nothing is added, but a cluttered scene, or other products not sold with it, can break the rules. Use the room shot as an additional image and keep a plain main image.

Will Google's automatic image improvements damage my images?

Google says it keeps the original if it cannot fix an image without lowering its quality. Where it does remove an overlay, check the result on a few products before relying on it.

What is the minimum image size for Google Shopping?

500 by 500 pixels for all products from 31 January 2027, with 1,500 by 1,500 pixels or above recommended.