How To Fix Limited Performance Due To Missing Value [gtin] In Google Merchant Center

A step-by-step written guide using feed rules is explained further in this article. Reading all the other info is recommended to ensure you know what to do.

General Recommendation

When submitting product identifiers, the following should be applied.
If a manufacturer has assigned a bar code, then submit brand, mpn (if available), GTIN, and set identifier exists to yes.
If the manufacturer has not assigned a bar code, remove the values brand, mpn, gtin, and set identifier to no.
One more option can be done, and that is to add the brand + MPN; this sometimes works, which means, in this case, you do not need to remove all product identifiers. So, testing is recommended.

Googles Rule

While the official documentation does mention that you can submit brand + mpn and ignore GTIN, in most cases, this will cause issues and generate warnings, such as limited performance due to missing identifiers. This applied to warnings before June 2021.
As of June 2021, if the manufacturer has not assigned bar codes and your brand, gtin, and mpn values are removed, you will still get the “limited performance” warning. This is because Google now adds another check depending on which categories your products belong to.
This means that you may still get flagged regardless of adding accurate data.

However, if everyone selling the same product is in the same boat as you are, technically, you are staying caught up. Nobody with that specific product will have barcodes so that the performance will be the same among competitors.

What You Can Not Do!

Bar codes

Only submit GS1 barcodes, any other barcodes you generate are not allowed and will get your products disapproved.

MPN

The most common misconception is that most merchants use SKU as the MPN values, which needs to be corrected.

SKU stands for “stock keeping unit” and — as the name suggests — it is a number (usually eight alphanumeric digits) that retailers assign to products to keep track of stock levels internally.

An MPN, or manufacturer part number, is a manufacturer-assigned, unique, alphanumeric value used to identify a product from the same manufacturer.

How To Find The Bar Codes?

Check the product packaging or contact the manufacturer.
A secondary reason for the issue is that most merchants use SKU as the MPN values, which needs to be corrected.

Why Is Google Doing This?

Most likely to reduce scammers on Google Shopping.

What If I Can’t Do Any of The Above?

Great question. In this case, you will have to accept the limited performance. Consider registering your products with GS1 bar codes if you are the manufacturer.

Remove All Values & Set Identifier Exist to No

If you want to easily remove all values.

You can use feed rules in Google Merchant Center to remove the values Brand, MPN and GTIN (assuming GTIN has wrong values) then set Identifier Exists to the value of No.

Google Merchant Center Next

First ensure you have enabled attribute rules in Google Merchant Center Next by going to the cog icon > add ons > add > Advanced data source management

Now go to the cog icon > data sources > click on your feed

Click on the tab Your attribute rules

Click on Add Attribute rule

Type gtin, and now select the processed attribute gtin

Cancel the edit source option, and instead click on add modification

Now click on the pencil for your condition, and begin typing gtin. And select gtin.

Change contains to does not match regular expression

With the value: ^\d{12,14}$

Click on advanced for the modification rule and choose clear as your action to perform

And click ok

Now save as draft.

Create another rule for mpn

Again create a modifcation instead of a data source

Now set if gtin (make sure to select GTIN located under processed attributes) has no value

Choose the Clear operation, click on OK and save as draft

Repeat the same steps you did for MPN as for the Brand attribute

Now create another rule for product identifiers

We now want to add a modification with the following rule

If GTIN (processed attribute) has no value

Set to no

You can now apply the feed rules you just created

Google Merchant Center Classic

1. Log in to Google Merchant Center
2. Click on Products
3. Click on Feeds
4. Click on your feed

5. Select the Feed rules tab
6. Click on the blue plus icon
7. Type gtin, and now select the processed attribute gtin

8. Change the data source, and instead add a modification

9. Now slect your condition by clicking on type or select, and begin typing gtin. And select gtin.
10. Change contains to does not match regular expression
11. With the value: ^\d{12,14}$
12. Choose clear as your action to perform
13. And click ok
14. Now save as draft.

15. Create another rule for mpn
16. Again create a modifcation instead of a data source
17. Now set if gtin (make sure to select GTIN located under processed attributes) has no value
18. Choose the Clear operation, click on OK and save as draft

19. Repeat the same steps you did for MPN as for the Brand attribute
20. Now create another rule for product identifiers
21. We now want to add a modification with the following rule
22. If GTIN (processed attribute) has no value
23. Set to no

24. You can now apply the feed rules you just created

In some cases the feed rules will not apply immediately, and you may want to reprocess the feed.

More info:

• https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/9545238
• https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324351
• https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324461
• https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324482
• https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324478

Need Help?
Do you have a question or need specialist support? Get in touch!