How do I handle GTINs for Google Ads with varying sneaker sizes?

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Topic summary

Handling GTINs (barcode identifiers) for sneaker size variants in Google Merchant Center. The seller has GTINs for some sizes and lacks them for out-of-stock sizes.

Key guidance:

  • Provide GTINs for in-stock sizes; those variants will be approved and eligible for ads.
  • Leave GTIN fields empty for out-of-stock sizes rather than using incorrect values; Google won’t show out-of-stock variants, and missing GTINs trigger warnings or “limited performance,” not disapproval.
  • Expect reduced performance for variants without GTINs, but this is moot if they’re out of stock.
  • When sizes come back in stock, add the correct GTINs. Consider requesting barcodes from distributors or using a specialized app.
  • Avoid restricted GTIN ranges with prefixes 02, 04, or 2.

Merchant Center behavior:

  • Some products may not show “limited performance” because Google doesn’t have data on every product or hasn’t checked all items.
  • UI warnings/banners can persist temporarily; Google may take time to update and clear messages. Issues may appear under “examination required” even if the top banner says none.

Status:

  • No disapproval; products should run, with warnings affecting performance. Open UI warning inconsistency remains; proceed while monitoring and add GTINs as stock returns.
Summarized with AI on December 23. AI used: gpt-5.
4

Hey JustinCoziness,

Ideally the products with different sizes should have different GTIN values.
But since you don’t have GTINs for all the sizes, what you can do is leave the GTINs empty.

It’s better to leave it empty rather than filling it up with incorrect values.
By leaving it empty, you will only get a warning but your products will not get disapproved in the Merchant Center.

Secondly, don’t submit GTINs in the restricted ranges.
Certain ranges of GTINs are restricted and should not be used by manufacturers or retailers. These restricted ranges have the prefixes 02, 04, or 2, and they are reserved for internal use by certain organizations.

We have a blog where we have mentioned all the GTIN errors and explained in detail about the solutions which you can try out and fix these errors ASAP.

GTIN Blog - https://blog.adnabu.com/google-merchant-center/how-to-fix-gtin-errors/

Best Regards,
Harsh
Team Adnabu

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