Fix Google Merchant image too small (500×500 min)
Image too small [image link]What's happening
The image_link URL points to an image smaller than the 500×500 pixel minimum. From January 31, 2027 this becomes a hard rejection; the warnings began on April 14, 2026. Until enforcement, 100×100 (non-clothing) and 250×250 (clothing) remain the active minimums, but anything smaller than 500×500 already gets a warning.
image_linkadditional_image_linkManual fix
Replace the source image with a higher-resolution version (Google recommends 1500×1500 or larger). Google's image guidelines also say not to scale up an image or submit a thumbnail, so enlarging the small file does not count as a fix. For thousands of products this means re-shooting or sourcing larger originals, and each upload has to propagate through your CMS / PIM / feed export.
Fix it with Emberfeed
For Google, Emberfeed cannot fix a photo that is too small. A render cannot add detail the source image does not have, and Google says not to scale images up, so rendering a small photo at 1500×1500 does not solve this. Keeping the photo small and filling the rest of the image with graphics does not work for Google either: the product has to fill most of the frame, and borders, logos and promotional overlays are not allowed. (For Meta catalog ads that design is a valid fix.) The fix is a larger source image. Once your store serves it, Emberfeed picks up the new image URL on the next hourly refresh and the served feed points Google at a fresh render.
Full platform spec
Related guide
Related rejections
Catch Google Merchant Center feed issues before they do.
Emberfeed checks every product against Google Merchant Center's required fields and format rules, and most problems come with a fix: a field rule for the whole feed or an override for one product. It also measures your product photos, while rendering them and in the background after each refresh, and flags the ones that are too small for Google Merchant Center.
Emberfeed is a hosted tool: it imports your existing product feed, renders every product image through one template and serves a new feed URL for Meta, Google, TikTok, Heureka, Zboží.cz and Glami. It costs 25 € per feed per month, and the first 3 months are free on one feed up to 1,000 products.