https://gadschangehistory.com/?product=Merchant%20Center&range=alltime Changes to Merchant Center, from Google Ads Change History. en-us info@brandonmangan.com (Brandon Mangan) Fri, 11 Sep 2026 07:48:19 GMT https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-09-07-merchant-center-ai-insight-prompt-glitch/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-09-07-merchant-center-ai-insight-prompt-glitch/ Mon, 07 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterReporting & UI Instead of the AI-generated summary of top-performing products, the Merchant Center insight panel displayed the working instructions used to generate it, including analysis rules, product selection criteria and response templates. Vipul Kumar spotted it on LinkedIn; it appeared to be a temporary glitch and exposed nothing sensitive. Source: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-merchant-center-ai-prompts-42023.html — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-09-03-merchant-center-ai-insights-four-more-markets/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-09-03-merchant-center-ai-insights-four-more-markets/ Thu, 03 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterReporting & UI Google updated its Help documentation to say AI performance insights are available for English-language queries in Merchant Center accounts in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and the United States. The report was previously US-only. Source: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-expands-merchant-center-ai-performance-insights-42005.html — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-09-01-business-agent-enabled-from-shopify/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-09-01-business-agent-enabled-from-shopify/ Tue, 01 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Google added Shopify as a third way to enable Business Agent, its AI shopping assistant. Merchants open the Google & YouTube app in the Shopify admin and use the Business Agent recommendation card; the app imports the logo, brand colors and support contact details automatically. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16410382 — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-31-popular-products-report-enhanced/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-31-popular-products-report-enhanced/ Mon, 31 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterReporting & UI Google enhanced the Popular products report in Merchant Center Analytics (and the equivalent Merchant API and BigQuery data) to give a more accurate and comprehensive view of product and brand popularity, which may shift rankings and expand coverage across regions. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/18080698?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-28-short-title-used-in-performance-max/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-28-short-title-used-in-performance-max/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterCreative & Assets Google updated the short title [short_title] guidance so the attribute is used in Performance Max visual placements (YouTube and Discover) as well as Demand Gen, recommending under 40 characters with a 65-character maximum to avoid mobile truncation. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/11551083?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-25-shopper-incentive-maximum-amount-cap/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-25-shopper-incentive-maximum-amount-cap/ Tue, 25 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch A new setting in Merchant Center Promotions lets merchants choose whether to cap the maximum amount a customer can receive from a shopper incentive, for example on percentage-off or cashback offers. Source: https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2026-08/shopper-incentive-gets-limit-maximum-amount-money-customers/ — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-24-event-section-in-promotions/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-24-event-section-in-promotions/ Mon, 24 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Merchant Center Promotions gained an Event section that lets merchants create sale-event promotions with a dedicated event URL, up to three images and assigned product categories, so the event can appear in Search and listings without being tied to individual products. Source: https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2026-08/event-section-added-promotions-merchant-center/ — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-20-native-commerce-attribute-documented/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-20-native-commerce-attribute-documented/ Thu, 20 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Google published the spec page for the native_commerce attribute and its checkout_eligibility boolean sub-attribute, which controls whether a product shows the Buy button for checkout inside Gemini and AI Mode. It is optional, supported in text, XML and Merchant API sources, and typically set via supplemental feeds. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/17251586?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-19-vehicle-ads-landing-page-no-extra-clicks/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-19-vehicle-ads-landing-page-no-extra-clicks/ Wed, 19 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterPolicy Google's vehicle ads activation and data quality review documentation now states that dealership name, dealership location, vehicle price, VIN and availability must be clearly visible on page load without the user clicking elements such as 'More Details' or 'Vehicle Specs', or scrolling. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/15312145 — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-18-shopping-ads-14-market-expansion-quietly-reversed/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-18-shopping-ads-14-market-expansion-quietly-reversed/ Tue, 18 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterPolicy PPC News Feed found that the 14 countries added on July 14 had vanished from the supported-countries table and the announcement page returned a 404, with no explanation from Google. Source: https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2026-08/google-merchant-center-removes-support-14-countries/ — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-18-content-api-for-shopping-sunset-reached/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-18-content-api-for-shopping-sunset-reached/ Tue, 18 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterDeprecation Effective Sep 1, 2026. The Content API for Shopping v2.1 officially sunset on August 18, 2026. From September 1, 2026, requests from Google Cloud projects without an approved extension intermittently fail with HTTP 410 Gone (reason content_api_sunset), escalating until full decommissioning in early 2027; developers can request an extension while completing Merchant API migration. Source: https://developers.google.com/shopping-content/guides/deprecation-and-sunset — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-14-merchant-center-for-agencies-1000-account-limit/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-14-merchant-center-for-agencies-1000-account-limit/ Fri, 14 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterPolicy Google's help documentation now states an agency account can link up to 1,000 client Merchant Center accounts. The cap already existed but had not been published; it is unclear whether a linked multi-client account counts as one or by its sub-accounts. Source: https://searchengineland.com/google-merchant-center-for-agencies-now-supports-up-to-1000-linked-accounts-485018 — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-11-performance-reporting-updates-august-24/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-11-performance-reporting-updates-august-24/ Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterReporting & UI Effective Aug 24, 2026. Google changed Merchant Center performance reporting so YouTube affiliate traffic is reported separately from organic, YouTube organic click and impression definitions match YouTube reporting, product-level Google Ads reporting includes Performance Max, Video, App and Demand Gen, and a new Network segmentation dimension is added later. Organic traffic may show a one-time drop. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/17103877?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-06-deal-ends-experimental-annotation/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-08-06-deal-ends-experimental-annotation/ Thu, 06 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch A new Merchant Center help page explains the experimental Deal Ends annotation, which automatically adds countdown badges such as '3 days left' under product prices on Product Listing Ads, generated from existing promotions and sale_price data. Deals must expire within 7 days; there is no opt-out and no dedicated reporting yet. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/17371375 — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-07-25-ask-advisor-rolling-out-merchant-center/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-07-25-ask-advisor-rolling-out-merchant-center/ Sat, 25 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Ask Advisor, Google's Gemini-built agent spanning Google Ads, Analytics and Merchant Center, started appearing in selected Merchant Center accounts to diagnose account issues and help with tasks, in a phased rollout. Source: https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/shopping/shopping-updates-google-marketing-live/ — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-07-24-ai-summary-insights-search-suggestions-chats/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-07-24-ai-summary-insights-search-suggestions-chats/ Fri, 24 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterReporting & UI Merchant Center added AI-generated summary insights, a search box with suggested queries and a section for previous AI chats on the dashboard, building on Merchant Advisor and AI performance reports introduced earlier in 2026. Source: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-merchant-center-ai-features-41736.html — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-07-15-shopping-ads-and-free-listings-policies/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-07-15-shopping-ads-and-free-listings-policies/ Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterPolicy Effective Sep 1, 2026. Google will merge the Shopping ads and free listings policies into one set of Shopping policies from September 2026 for clarity, with no substantive or more restrictive changes. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/17263064 — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-07-09-merchant-center-next-renamed-merchant-center/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-07-09-merchant-center-next-renamed-merchant-center/ Thu, 09 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterReporting & UI Google began removing the "Next" label from Help Center articles, emails and the Merchant Center interface, nearly two years after the Merchant Center Next migration completed. Accounts, product data and campaigns were unaffected and no action was required. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/17252069?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-07-06-shopify-app-reinstall-resets-product-ids/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-07-06-shopify-app-reinstall-resets-product-ids/ Mon, 06 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterAPI & Tools Emmanuel Flossie warned that reinstalling the Shopify app for the Merchant API migration changes IDs like Shopify_US_123_456 to Shopify_ZZ_123_456. Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin said Google was looking into it, and a fix was later confirmed. Source: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-youtube-shopify-app-sync-merchant-concerns-41627.html — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-07-01-checkout-links-expanded-seven-countries/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-07-01-checkout-links-expanded-seven-countries/ Wed, 01 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Effective Jul 1, 2026. Merchants based in these seven countries can now enable checkout links in Merchant Center, adding a Buy now call-to-action that sends ready-to-buy shoppers straight from a listing to the merchant's cart or checkout page. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/17061047?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-06-26-merchant-center-for-agencies-user-access-controls/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-06-26-merchant-center-for-agencies-user-access-controls/ Fri, 26 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Google added security controls to Merchant Center for Agencies: clients link to the agency rather than individual users, Agency Admins control linking and permissions while Standard users get restricted access, and custom labels let agencies group clients by brand, vertical or team. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/17101837?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-06-24-controlling-found-by-google-products-guidance/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-06-24-controlling-found-by-google-products-guidance/ Wed, 24 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterReporting & UI Google documented two ways to remove unwanted crawled products: set the pause attribute to 'all' via an attribute rule so they are archived after 14 days, or add the data-nosnippet HTML attribute on the site to stop Google discovering them. Source: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-remove-found-by-google-products-41555.html — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-06-04-gmc-mass-product-page-unavailable-notices/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-06-04-gmc-mass-product-page-unavailable-notices/ Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterPolicy Arpan Banerjee saw the false disapprovals across more than ten accounts and Chelsea Harding confirmed the same on LinkedIn; the glitch may have been tied to a Shopify outage. Source: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-merchant-center-mass-product-page-unavailable-41450.html — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-06-01-vehicle-ads-japan/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-06-01-vehicle-ads-japan/ Mon, 01 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Google made Vehicle ads available to all vehicle advertisers in Japan, who can upload vehicle data sources to Merchant Center and run Performance Max campaigns; clicks lead to the Vehicle Description Page. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/17118636?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-31-attribute-rules-automatically-found-products/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-31-attribute-rules-automatically-found-products/ Sun, 31 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Attribute rules, previously limited to products supplied through feeds, now apply to products Google discovers automatically from a merchant's website. Merchants are being prompted to apply rules to these crawled products. Source: https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2026-05/gmc-expands-attribute-rules-automatically-found-products/ — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-27-merchant-center-terms-of-service-update/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-27-merchant-center-terms-of-service-update/ Wed, 27 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterPolicy Effective Jun 15, 2026. Google issued updated Merchant Center Terms of Service (the first since October 2022) effective June 15, 2026, expanding what content Google may access, crawl, analyze and cache, including merchant marketing emails and content linked from feeds, and adding forward-looking language for future products. Continued use constitutes acceptance. Source: https://www.searchen.com/2026/05/27/google-expands-merchant-data-usage-in-new-merchant-center-terms-as-ai-shopping-evolves/ — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-27-ai-performance-insights/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-27-ai-performance-insights/ Wed, 27 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterReporting & UI Google announced AI performance insights in Merchant Center covering share of voice versus similar brands on AI surfaces, shopping-funnel performance, product term insights and product attribute completeness, rolling out over the following months in the US, Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/17117204?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-21-conversational-attributes/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-21-conversational-attributes/ Thu, 21 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Google introduced question_and_answer, document_link, related_product, item_group_title, variant_option and popularity_rank as optional attributes that help AI shopping surfaces answer conversational queries. They can be submitted via a supplemental data source (recommended), the primary source or the Merchant API and do not affect approval status. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/17085370?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-20-universal-cart-and-ucp-checkout-expansion/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-20-universal-cart-and-ucp-checkout-expansion/ Wed, 20 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch At Google Marketing Live 2026 Google introduced Universal Cart, a cross-retailer cart spanning Search, Gemini, YouTube and Gmail with Google Pay checkout, and said UCP checkout would extend to Canada and Australia, later the UK, plus YouTube in the US, with buy-now-pay-later via Affirm and Klarna. Merchants remain merchant of record. Source: https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/shopping/shopping-updates-google-marketing-live/ — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-13-merchant-advisor-chatbot-spotted/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-13-merchant-advisor-chatbot-spotted/ Wed, 13 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Tamara Hellgren found an AI assistant inside Merchant Center offering setup, troubleshooting and optimization guidance in a limited beta. Google later folded it into Ask Advisor. Source: https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2026-05/merchant-advisor-spotted-google-merchant-center/ — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-11-merchant-center-for-agencies-global-ga/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-11-merchant-center-for-agencies-global-ga/ Mon, 11 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Two months after the US and Canada launch, Google made Merchant Center for Agencies generally available to agencies globally. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/17072077?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-11-automatic-ads-merchant-center-linking-notice/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-11-automatic-ads-merchant-center-linking-notice/ Mon, 11 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterPolicy Effective Jun 6, 2026. Marcin Wsol shared a notification that accounts not yet running product ads will be auto-linked to Merchant Center starting June 6, 2026, with a 'Connect now' option to link earlier. Source: https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2026-05/automatic-linking-google-ads-merchant-center/ — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-04-gmc-use-ai-to-add-products-beta/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-04-gmc-use-ai-to-add-products-beta/ Mon, 04 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch First spotted on X and reported by Search Engine Roundtable on May 4, the option runs a one-time AI scan of a website to build product listings without a structured feed. Adriaan Dekker confirmed it on LinkedIn the next day. Source: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ads-use-ai-to-add-products-41255.html — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-01-vehicle-ads-atv-utv-trailers-us/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-01-vehicle-ads-atv-utv-trailers-us/ Fri, 01 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Google expanded US Vehicle ads to include all-terrain vehicles, utility task vehicles, RVs and non-motorized trailers such as travel trailers and campers, submitted through vehicle data sources in Merchant Center. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/17091241?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-01-merchant-api-mcp-alpha-and-conversational-attributes/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-05-01-merchant-api-mcp-alpha-and-conversational-attributes/ Fri, 01 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch May 2026 updates added an alpha MCP service giving AI agents authorized, read-focused access to Merchant Center data and insights, a mapi-developer-assistant agent skill in the Code Assist Toolkit, new conversational attributes (question_and_answer, document_link, related_product, item_group_title, variant_option, popularity_rank), a full vehicle ads attribute set, UCP checkout product status notifications, a YouTube sub-API v1alpha and low-latency price/availability patches for allowlisted merchants. Source: https://developers.google.com/merchant/api/latest-updates — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-04-28-pickup-cost-minimum-order-value-required-eea-uk-ch/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-04-28-pickup-cost-minimum-order-value-required-eea-uk-ch/ Tue, 28 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Effective Sep 30, 2026. Google added a pickup cost [pickup_cost] attribute and, from September 30, 2026, requires merchants in the UK, Switzerland and EEA countries to supply pickup cost and minimum order value for in_store products enabled for pickup, so local inventory ads and free local listings show accurate total costs. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/17036057?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-04-14-video-link-attribute/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-04-14-video-link-attribute/ Tue, 14 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Effective Jun 30, 2026. Merchants can submit direct links to product videos (up to 10 per item, YouTube URLs not supported) via the new video link [video_link] attribute. Technical validation started April 14, 2026; serving plus policy and quality validation began June 30, 2026. Video errors do not block the underlying product offer. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16989427?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-04-14-new-shipping-attributes-cutoff-minimum-order-loyalty/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-04-14-new-shipping-attributes-cutoff-minimum-order-loyalty/ Tue, 14 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Effective Apr 14, 2026. The 2026 product data specification update added product-level handling cutoff time [handling_cutoff_time] and minimum order value [minimum_order_value] attributes and new loyalty program label [loyalty_program_label] and loyalty tier label [loyalty_tier_label] sub-attributes of shipping [shipping] so merchants can express loyalty shipping benefits per product. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16989427?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-04-14-image-minimum-500x500-enforcement-2027/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-04-14-image-minimum-500x500-enforcement-2027/ Tue, 14 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterDeprecation Effective Jan 31, 2027. Google raised the minimum resolution for image_link and additional_image_link to 500x500 pixels across all product categories and marketing methods. Warnings began April 14, 2026 and products with smaller images will be disapproved from January 31, 2027. Google recommends 1500x1500 or larger. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16989427?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-04-01-vehicle-ads-data-quality-in-account-issues/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-04-01-vehicle-ads-data-quality-in-account-issues/ Wed, 01 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterReporting & UI Effective Apr 15, 2026. Merchant Center began highlighting Vehicle ads data-quality problems, such as availability, condition, price, mileage, VIN and landing-page mismatches between the data source and the website, in the account issues interface. Vehicles with mismatched data are disapproved. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16911068?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-27-vehicle-ads-spain-italy-germany/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-27-vehicle-ads-spain-italy-germany/ Fri, 27 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Effective Mar 1, 2026. Google opened Vehicle ads to all vehicle advertisers in Spain, Italy and Germany, who can upload vehicle data sources to Merchant Center and run Performance Max campaigns. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/17003740?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-25-shopping-ads-15-new-european-markets/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-25-shopping-ads-15-new-european-markets/ Wed, 25 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Google announced Shopping ads availability in 15 more European countries (including Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia, Serbia, Moldova, North Macedonia, Liechtenstein, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro), rolled out in two phases aligned to seasonal shopping periods. Source: https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2026-03/google-expands-shopping-ads-15-european-markets/ — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-25-loyalty-features-expanded-14-countries-ai-surfaces/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-25-loyalty-features-expanded-14-countries-ai-surfaces/ Wed, 25 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Google expanded Merchant Center loyalty features so member pricing and member shipping benefits show on standard Shopping ads, local inventory ads, regional Shopping ads and AI surfaces (AI Mode and Gemini) across 14 countries. Customer Match lists in Google Ads are required for member shipping and green strikethrough member pricing. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16986038?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-12-recurring-billing-policy-expanded-to-certified/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-12-recurring-billing-policy-expanded-to-certified/ Thu, 12 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterPolicy Effective Mar 31, 2026. From March 31, 2026, certified US online pharmacies may promote prescription drug subscriptions, bundled prescription-plus-service offers and prescription consultation services in Shopping, subject to feed and fee-transparency requirements. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16940854 — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-12-physical-goods-subscriptions-policy-extended-to/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-12-physical-goods-subscriptions-policy-extended-to/ Thu, 12 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterPolicy Effective Mar 31, 2026. From March 31, 2026, qualifying US sellers may offer alcohol subscriptions such as wine clubs in Shopping, provided they comply with alcohol policies, use the correct category and include subscription cost data. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16941451 — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-11-merchant-center-for-agencies-ga-us-canada/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-11-merchant-center-for-agencies-ga-us-canada/ Wed, 11 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Google made Merchant Center for Agencies, a dedicated command center for managing an entire client portfolio, generally available to agencies in the United States and Canada, with a global pilot continuing elsewhere. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16944668?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-02-ucp-checkout-help-page-native-commerce/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-02-ucp-checkout-help-page-native-commerce/ Mon, 02 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Google published the merchant help page for Universal Commerce Protocol checkout, explaining that only listings carrying the native_commerce (checkout_eligibility) attribute display the Buy button in AI Mode and Gemini, that Google Pay tokens are used with the merchant as merchant of record, and that merchants apply for early access. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16837055?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-01-shopping-ended-cross-border-certification-for/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-01-shopping-ended-cross-border-certification-for/ Sun, 01 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterPolicy Effective Mar 1, 2026. Merchant Center discontinued the certification program that allowed UK online pharmacies to advertise in Germany and Austria, matching the Google Ads change from October 2025. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16938359 — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-01-shopping-ads-political-content-policy-required/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-03-01-shopping-ads-political-content-policy-required/ Sun, 01 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterPolicy Effective Apr 16, 2026. From April 16, 2026, Shopping ads with political content targeting Argentina, Australia, Chile, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK and the US require election advertiser verification, and certain political content in Shopping ads is prohibited in India. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16891967 — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-02-24-gmc-video-assets-section-auto-populated/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-02-24-gmc-video-assets-section-auto-populated/ Tue, 24 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterCreative & Assets Hana Kobzova noticed the video section, empty since its September rollout, is now filled with automatically imported videos. Google did not announce the change. Source: https://searchengineland.com/gmc-video-assets-section-now-showing-populated-content-470126 — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-02-17-gmc-destinations-renamed-marketing-methods/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-02-17-gmc-destinations-renamed-marketing-methods/ Tue, 17 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterReporting & UI Hana Kobzova noticed the Destinations control in Merchant Center now appears as 'Marketing methods'; the support page was updated to match. Source: https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2026-02/google-renames-destinations-marketing-methods-gmc/ — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-02-05-product-description-recommendations/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-02-05-product-description-recommendations/ Thu, 05 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterReporting & UI Merchant Center began showing recommendations listing additional product attributes merchants could include in descriptions, many of which are not current Shopping feed attributes, hinting at attributes used by AI shopping surfaces. Source: https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2026-02/new-merchant-center-recommendations-focus-on-product-descriptions/ — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-01-25-logo-settings-moved-to-marketing-brand/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-01-25-logo-settings-moved-to-marketing-brand/ Sun, 25 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterReporting & UI Merchant Center relocated logo management from the Business information section to a new Brand area under Marketing; only Admin or Super Admin users can see the new section. Source: https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2026-01/google-moves-logo-settings-in-merchant-center/ — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-01-17-product-data-experiments-ab-testing-spotted/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-01-17-product-data-experiments-ab-testing-spotted/ Sat, 17 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch A Product data experiments section in Merchant Center let a limited group of advertisers A/B test alternative product titles and images for Shopping ads, with results expected in three to four weeks. Source: https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2026-01/shopping-ads-get-product-title-image-a-b-testing/ — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-01-14-business-agent-rollout-merchant-center/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-01-14-business-agent-rollout-merchant-center/ Wed, 14 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Business Agent, a branded conversational assistant on Google Search, started rolling out to US retailers with a verified Merchant Center account, at least 50 approved free listings and a claimed brand profile. Merchants customize tone, welcome message, conversation starters, colors and support contacts under Marketing > Business Agent. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16410382?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-01-12-universal-commerce-protocol-announced/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-01-12-universal-commerce-protocol-announced/ Mon, 12 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Google unveiled the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard for agentic commerce that lets shoppers buy directly from product listings in AI Mode and the Gemini app using saved Google Pay credentials while the merchant stays merchant of record. Merchants opt in via Merchant Center and product attributes. Source: https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2026-01/google-launches-agentic-shopping-tools-and-ai-features-for-retailers/ — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-01-07-subscription-promotions-and-new-promotion-types/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-01-07-subscription-promotions-and-new-promotion-types/ Wed, 07 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterLaunch Effective Jan 1, 2026. Merchant Center promotions now support amount-off or percent-off discounts and free trials on subscription costs (eligibility "Subscribe and save" / redemption_restriction subscribe_and_save), common shorthand such as BOGO and MSRP in promotion text, and, in Brazil, promotions requiring a specific payment method. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16796881?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-01-06-multi-channel-products-separate-ids/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-01-06-multi-channel-products-separate-ids/ Tue, 06 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterDeprecation Effective Mar 1, 2026. From March 2026 Merchant Center manages products sold both online and in store as a single product, with online attributes as the default. Merchants needing different price, availability or condition per channel must submit two products with distinct IDs. Content API local-channel updates for multi-channel products are rejected. Source: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16529073?hl=en — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-01-01-merchant-api-v1beta-discontinuation/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2026-01-01-merchant-api-v1beta-discontinuation/ Thu, 01 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterDeprecation Effective Feb 28, 2026. Google set February 28, 2026 as the shutdown date for Merchant API v1beta across the Accounts, Conversions, Data sources, Inventories, Products, Promotions and Reports sub-APIs; the May 2026 release notes confirmed v1beta was discontinued. January 2026 also added the FREE_LISTINGS_UCP_CHECKOUT reporting context, YouTube Shopping Affiliates reporting (v1alpha), ErrorInfo error metadata and InventoryLoyaltyProgram. Source: https://developers.google.com/merchant/api/latest-updates — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2025-12-17-product-studio-animate-background-upscale/ https://gadschangehistory.com/changes/2025-12-17-product-studio-animate-background-upscale/ Wed, 17 Dec 2025 12:00:00 GMT Merchant CenterCreative & Assets Product Studio in Merchant Center gained three tools: animate a static product image into a short video from a text prompt, one-click background removal, and image upscaling, complementing the existing Generate image feature. Source: https://searchengineland.com/google-adds-animation-and-image-editing-tools-to-product-studio-466369 — From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan, https://gadschangehistory.com