Why does Google show incorrect product images in shopping results?

Google usually shows an outdated or wrong product image because it is still serving the last image it crawled: if you replace a picture but keep the same URL, Google may not notice the change for weeks. Other causes of incorrect product images are links that point to the wrong file, products Google took from your website instead of your feed, and automatic edits Google makes to images.

Each cause can be checked in Merchant Center. For the first one, a new file name and URL typically gets the new image processed within three days. If your products are disapproved rather than showing the wrong picture, read why products are rejected in Merchant Center.

Why does Google show incorrect product images?

• Same URL, new picture. Google keeps a copy of each product image. According to its help page on image processing delays, an unchanged URL can mean up to three weeks before Google detects the change; another help page gives up to six weeks until the new image appears in the listing. Until then the old image keeps serving.
• Wrong file behind the link. The image_link points to a placeholder, a logo, the parent product or one photo used for several products. Google’s image link rules forbid placeholders and one general photo reused for distinct products, and ask for a unique image per variant that shows its distinguishing details.
• Products from your website, not your feed. Merchant Center can add products automatically by reading structured data on your product pages. They appear under “Found by Google” in your data sources, and their data, image included, comes from your pages.
• Automatic edits. With automatic image improvements switched on (it is off by default), Merchant Center removes text, watermarks, overlays or logos and replaces the image. Google may also test subtle cropping to frame the product better.
• Google cannot fetch the new file. Your robots.txt must allow Googlebot and Googlebot-Image, and your firewall or CDN must let them through. Headers that forbid caching can block processing, and URLs with changing timestamps or session IDs trigger needless recrawls.

How do you check which image Google uses?

1. Go to Products (under “Products & store”), tab All products, open the product and compare its image with your shop.
2. Open the Needs attention tab and filter for image issues such as “Unable to show image” or “Low image quality [image_link]”.
3. If automatic improvements are on, look for “Automatic improvement: image quality [image_link]” in the history view of Products.
4. In Settings → Data sources, check whether the product comes from your feed, an app or “Found by Google”.

Which image rules matter now?

• Formats: JPEG, WebP, PNG, GIF, BMP or TIFF, at most 64 megapixels and 16 MB.
• Size: from 31 January 2027 every product image must be at least 500 × 500 pixels, and Merchant Center has been warning about smaller images since July 2026. Google recommends 1500 × 1500 pixels or more.
• Framing: the product should fill no less than 75% and no more than 90% of the image.
• Not allowed: promotional text, watermarks, added logos, borders and placeholders.
• Up to ten extra views via additional_image_link, under the same rules.

What have we seen in client accounts?

We have not had a client case in 2026 where Google showed the wrong picture. The only image finding in our accounts came from a retail client: a website crawl nobody had set up added 29 products to Merchant Center, all disapproved for free listings for policy and shipping reasons. One of them also carried a low image quality notice. According to Google, that issue on its own does not stop a product from showing. The real lesson was another one: products from a source you don’t control arrive with images you never chose. Check your data sources before you blame the image.

How do you fix a wrong product image?

1. Upload the new image under a new file name, so it gets a new URL.
2. Update image_link and, if used, additional_image_link at the source: shop system, app or feed file.
3. Keep the old file online until the new one shows. If the new URL fails, Google lets you point back to the old one to trigger a fresh crawl.
4. Check robots.txt, firewall and CDN for Googlebot-Image.
5. If you don’t want Google editing images: Products → Automations, open the image improvements setting, View details, switch the toggle off.
6. Wait. Google typically recrawls a new image URL within three days, but it can take up to 30. If the new image can’t be processed in that time, the product is disapproved.

Treat every image change as a new file: new name, new URL, updated at the source. Give each variant its own photo, and leave automatic image improvements off unless you accept Google editing your pictures. The fastest fix for an outdated image is a URL Google has never seen.

Sources

• Merchant Center Help: Image processing delays
• Merchant Center Help: Image link [image_link]
• Merchant Center Help: Automatic image improvements

Wrong images in your Shopping results? We check your feed, data sources and image settings and correct what Google picks up. Book a free initial call or see how we handle Google Ads and Merchant Center for our clients.