Guide

Text on Image in Merchant Center: Promotional Overlays Fix

What Google Merchant Center's text on image issue means, which overlays, watermarks and logos cause it, what is allowed, and how to replace the affected images.

Shown in Merchant Center as Text on image

Last verified · 5 min read

Google Merchant Center reports Text on image when a product image contains promotional text, logos added in editing, or watermarks that block the view of the product. Google requires an unobstructed, clean view of the item for sale (Google Merchant Center Help, How to fix: Text on image). To fix it, point image_link at a clean image of the product, or let Merchant Center's automatic image improvements edit the image for you.

What counts as an overlay

As of October 2026, Google lists these elements as overlays that put a product at risk of disapproval (Google Merchant Center Help, How to fix: Text on image):

  • Calls to action, such as "Buy" or "Shop now"
  • Mentions of price, discounts or shipping
  • Service or warranty claims
  • Promotional adjectives, such as "Best" or "Cheap"
  • Condition or compatibility labels, such as "New" or "2-piece set"
  • Barcodes, QR codes or serial tags placed on the photo
  • Watermarks, copyright symbols or graphic stamps
  • Brand, manufacturer or retailer names and logos added in post-production

Google's image link rules add more image types to avoid: borders, single-colour images, and placeholder or generic images (such as "Coming soon" or "No image available") that don't show the product (Google Merchant Center Help, Image link [image_link]).

What is allowed

A brand or retailer logo that is a physical part of the product itself, such as a logo printed on a bag, is not an overlay (Google Merchant Center Help, How to fix: Text on image). The problem is text and graphics added on top of the photo afterwards.

How to fix text on images

Google offers three routes (Google Merchant Center Help, How to fix: Text on image):

  1. Automatic: turn on automatic image improvements, and Merchant Center applies changes to your product images automatically (see the next section for its limits).
  2. A few products: open Products > Needs attention, select Edit product, click the main image, change the image_link URL to a valid image without overlays, and select Save.
  3. Many products: download the .csv list of affected products, make sure each image_link leads to a clean, overlay-free image, and upload the corrected data again.

Changes may take 24–72 hours to show on the Needs attention page. If the issue persists after a fix or you disagree with it, you can request a review; review limits may apply (same source).

Automatic image improvements: what they can and can't fix

With automatic image improvements on, Merchant Center tries to fix images that contain promotional elements by removing text, watermarks, overlays or logos it detects (Google Merchant Center Help, Allow Merchant Center to improve your product images). As of October 2026, Google says:

  • The setting is turned off by default. Turn it on under Products > Automations, find the image improvements setting, select View details and use the toggle.
  • It may not resolve all issues. Complex multi-panel collages, heavy text over key product features and dense watermarks are examples it may not fix.
  • If the system can't fix an image without lowering its quality, the original image remains, and you can upload a new image without the overlay instead.

Automatic improvements deal with overlays, not size. Images below Google's minimum dimensions need a larger original; see image too small.

Keep clean images in the feed

Stores often have both a clean product photo and a marketing version with a badge or price. If your store export has more than one image column, map the clean one to image_link in Product Feed Master's field mapping so every sync sends the right file. Additional images in additional_image_link should follow the same rules. If a product has no usable image at all, Merchant Center reports a different issue: see missing product image.

Frequently asked questions

Can I show my logo on Google Shopping images?

Only if the logo is physically part of the product. Logos and store names added to the photo in editing count as overlays.

Are watermarks allowed on Google Shopping images?

No. Google lists watermarks, copyright symbols and graphic stamps as overlays.

How long until the text on image issue clears?

Google says changes may take 24–72 hours to show on the Needs attention page after you update the images.

Sources