Google is raising the minimum size for product images in Merchant Center to 500 x 500 pixels, and the requirement takes effect January 31, 2027. Google is also recommending 1500 x 1500 pixels or larger for best performance across listing formats. You have about five months of warning, which sounds like plenty until you find out how many of your products are undersized.
What Google Announced
Google updated its Merchant Center documentation and emailed advertisers in August 2026. Here is the wording straight from the updated help doc.
"We recently announced new image size requirements of at least 500 x 500 pixels for all products beginning January 31, 2027. However, to ensure best performance in all listing formats, we recommend that you provide images 1500x1500 pixels or above."
- The new minimum. 500 x 500 pixels for all products, starting January 31, 2027.
- The recommended size. 1500 x 1500 pixels or larger, which is what Google says performs best across every listing format.
- The scope. All products in Merchant Center, not one specific category or product type.
The Warnings You Will Start Seeing
Non-compliant images trigger warnings in your Merchant Center account, and there are two to watch for.
"Image too small" is the one that means the image is already a problem today. "Image too small due to upcoming policy changes" is the new one, and that is Google telling you the image passes right now but will not pass after January 31, 2027.
The good news? That second warning is your work list, already built for you. Pull it now while it is still a warning instead of finding out in January when it turns into a disapproval during your best selling season.
Why 1500 x 1500 Is The Number To Aim For
If you are going to touch every product image once, hitting the 500 x 500 minimum is the wrong target. Go for the recommendation instead.
Google uses the same product image across Shopping ads, free listings, Performance Max placements, and formats that keep getting more visual. A 500 x 500 image technically satisfies the rule and then gets stretched or cropped into placements it was never big enough for. A 1500 x 1500 source image gives Google room to work with everywhere your product shows up.
Image quality is also one of the few feed inputs you fully control. Your titles and prices get compared against competitors whether you like it or not. A sharp, well lit, correctly sized image is a straightforward way to look better in the results, and it feeds right into how you should be structuring your Shopping campaigns in the first place.
What To Do Before January 31, 2027
- Open Merchant Center and filter your Diagnostics for the "Image too small due to upcoming policy changes" warning. That is your exact list of products to fix.
- Check where your images come from. If your feed pulls from your ecommerce platform, the fix usually happens once at the platform level instead of product by product.
- Start with your revenue drivers. Fix your best sellers first and work down from there. A disapproved image on a product that makes you no money can wait.
- Re-export at 1500 x 1500 or larger rather than the 500 x 500 minimum so you are not doing this again in two years.
- Recheck your Diagnostics after the feed refreshes to confirm the warnings actually cleared.
While you are in there, this is a good time to look at which products are earning their spend at all. Plenty of catalogs are carrying products that would be better off paused than re-photographed, and knowing how to spot underperforming products tells you where the effort is worth spending. The same thinking applies across Google Ads generally.
Question to Answer:
How many of your products are currently under 500 x 500 pixels, and can you fix them at the platform level instead of one at a time?
In Summary
Google is requiring product images of at least 500 x 500 pixels starting January 31, 2027, and recommending 1500 x 1500 or larger. The warnings are already showing in Merchant Center, so you can build your fix list today.
If you are updating images anyway, I would go straight to 1500 x 1500 and be done with it. Start with the products that actually drive revenue and let the feed handle the rest.
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