Can't Identify Placeholder Images/Titles Blocking Merchant Center Verification

Technical Q&A
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1

Hi there,

I’ve received a notification from Google Merchant Center indicating my website “https://orthovard.com/” contains “placeholder images or titles” that prevent successful verification and approval. However, after careful checking, I’m unable to locate these placeholders myself.

Could someone please help identify exactly where these placeholder images or titles are on my site? Any specific guidance or examples would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help!

2

Hi @sanomazo

Google Merchant Center flags placeholder content when it detects missing or default images, titles, or descriptions, often from product feeds. Here’s what you can do:

  • Check your product feed: Go to Google Merchant Center > Products > Diagnostics to see which specific products are affected.
  • Even if products look fine on your site, placeholders might exist in your Shopify product titles, descriptions, or images; especially if you’ve imported them from another platform.

If you still can’t find the issue, try re-syncing your product feed with Google and clearing cache.

3

hi @sanomazo

Google Merchant Center most often flags the placeholder images or titles when you have generic content such as “Image Coming Soon” or “Product Title Here.”

Here is what you should do to discover and resolve the issue:

Review Your Product Feed – Download from Google Merchant Center and examine blank or generic title/descriptions.
Check Your Images – Make sure each product has an actual image and not a placeholder (e.g., empty images or default thumbnails).
Utilize Google’s URL Inspection Tool – Test individual product URLs in Google Search Console to view what Google is seeing.
Manually Check Your Store – Check for missing product names or images on collections and product pages.
Check Your Theme & Apps – Oftentimes, dynamic content or translation apps create placeholders.

4

Here is a real reply, based on your question.

Your images contain logos, ie the 30 days, free gift, xxx happy customers. These are not allowed.

Also the images should be on a solid white background.

Just a sidenote, Google does not accept businesses that fake details. Your website is registered on 17th of January 2025, however you claim 5000+ happy customers and 1140 reviews on one of your products.

Google will never approve businesses, that mislead consumers, or Google.