Low image quality stopped blocking products in Merchant Center; 500x500 pixel minimum lands January 31, 2027

Google updated its 'How to fix: Low image quality' help page so products with blurry, pixelated or low-resolution images continue to show in ads and free listings rather than being held back. Separately, from January 31, 2027 all product images must be at least 500 x 500 pixels, a threshold Google began warning about in July 2026.

Promotional overlays remain a strict disapproval factor, so calls to action, prices, shipping details and promotional adjectives should stay out of product images. Google's automatic image improvements may not resolve complex problems such as heavy text or dense watermarks.