Google for WooCommerce says your product images are too small: what changes on 31 January 2027
Updated 2026-10-13 · by Hieu Tran, written with AI agents and checked against the sources below
Google for WooCommerce 3.9.6 (12 October 2026) added a notice: "Starting January 31, 2027, Google requires main product images to be at least 500 × 500 pixels. Some of your synced products don't meet this requirement and may stop appearing in ads and free listings." Google's own pages confirm the date. The notice counts the products but doesn't say which ones.
Reads the store's public product data and a few product pages. A WordPress plugin version is in review.
What Google changes
Until 31 January 2027: the minimum is 100 × 100 pixels, or 250 × 250 for clothing.
From 31 January 2027: at least 500 × 500 pixels for all products. Google has shown warnings since July 2026 on images above the old minimum but under 500 × 500.
Google disapproves products without an image of the right size, with the message "The image submitted for this product is too small to be used in an ad or a free listing."
Google recommends 1500 × 1500 or larger for every listing format, with the product filling 75–90% of the image.
Which image counts on WooCommerce
Google for WooCommerce sends the full-size file of the product image (the one you uploaded, not a thumbnail). A large thumbnail on the product page doesn't help if the original upload is small.
For a variation, the variation's own image is used; without one, the parent product's image.
If a product has no main image, the plugin uses the first gallery image instead.
The plugin's count covers synced products and variations. It's recalculated in the background, at most hourly after products sync and at least once a day, so it can lag behind your edits.
How to find the products
Run the free check below on your store address. It reads the public product list (up to 300 products) and measures each product's main image in your browser, then lists the ones under 500 × 500 with their size. It doesn't see variation images.
Or in WordPress, click an image in Media → Library: its attachment details show the file's dimensions, one image at a time.
In Merchant Center, the Diagnostics section lists the items Google already warns about.
Fixing them
Replace the main image with a larger original (WordPress keeps the full-size file you upload, and scales anything over 2560 pixels down to that). Upscaling a small image in an editor passes the size check but looks soft; where you can, re-export from the source photo. Saving the product queues it for Google for WooCommerce's next sync, which sends the new image.