Merchant Center Promotional Overlay Error: What to Remove

A product image shows a bottle with its brand printed on the label. The creative team has also added a red “25% OFF” circle, a “FREE SHIPPING” strip, the retailer’s logo in one corner, and a colored frame. Merchant Center flags the offer with a promotional-overlay complaint.

Do not erase every word in the photograph. Remove the sale badge, shipping message, retailer mark, and frame. Keep the branding and product information that are physically printed on the bottle. Then point the product’s image_link to the clean file.

That is the central repair. Google’s current issue page calls this problem “Text on image,” although merchants and feed tools often describe it as a promotional overlay. The page says promotional text, retailer logos, calls to action, and watermarks can obstruct the product; affected products remain disapproved until their images are updated. See Google Merchant Center Help’s “How to fix: Text on image”.

The important word is added. Text that belongs to the real product is not the same as text composited onto the photo for marketing. A second distinction matters too: not every image rejection is caused by promotional copy. Confirm the exact issue before rebuilding a catalog.

Before-and-after fictional bottle image. The rejected version includes a 25 percent off badge, free shipping strip, and retailer watermark; the corrected version keeps only the bottle and its printed label. — Original fictional example: remove offer copy and retailer marks, but retain the label printed on the product.

The one-sentence rule: submit the product, not the promotion

Google’s image_link specification prohibits promotional elements or content that covers the product. Its examples include calls to action, warranty and shipping information, prices, promotional adjectives, condition or compatibility claims, watermarks, added brand or retailer names and logos, barcodes, and other overlays. The same page separately says not to use an image with a border.

A practical decision rule is:

If an element was added to sell, label, frame, protect, or explain the photograph rather than being part of the actual item, remove it from the Merchant Center product image.

The reverse is also useful:

If the text, logo, or artwork is genuinely printed, molded, stitched, engraved, or attached to the product or its real packaging, it can generally remain—provided the image still gives an accurate, unobstructed view.

This is why “remove all text” is poor production guidance. It can lead a designer to retouch a cereal box, skincare bottle, book cover, or electronics package until the image no longer represents the thing being sold. The goal is not a wordless object. The goal is a faithful product image without an advertising layer baked into the pixels.

What to remove, what can stay, and where the message should go instead

Image element	Remove from submitted product image?	Why	Better place for the information
“20% OFF,” “SALE,” coupon value, or a price badge	Yes	It is offer or price copy added to the image	Submit accurate price and `sale_price` data; use an eligible promotion when appropriate
“Buy now,” “Shop today,” or another CTA	Yes	It is a call to action, not the product	Let the listing and landing page provide the action
“Free shipping,” “2-year warranty,” or service claims	Yes	Google lists service-related information as promotional content	Use Merchant Center shipping settings, a promotion, and the landing page
“Best,” “cheap,” “new,” “2-piece,” or “compatible with…” badge	Yes when added to the photo	It is promotional, condition, quantity, or compatibility copy	Use accurate product data and landing-page content
Retailer logo in a corner	Yes, unless it is physically part of the item sold	It is an added retailer mark	Keep retailer identity in the listing and destination page
Brand watermark across the photo	Yes	It is an overlay and obstructs the product view	Protect source files operationally rather than watermarking the submitted image
Decorative frame or colored border	Yes	Borders are independently disallowed in the image guidelines	Let Google place the image within its own layouts
Added barcode or QR-style callout	Yes	Google lists barcodes among prohibited elements	Keep codes in product data or operational packaging records
Brand printed on the bottle, shoe, device, or real box	Usually no	It is inherent to the product	Leave it intact and accurate
Flavor, model, origin, net weight, or instructions printed on real packaging	Usually no	It helps show the actual product being sold	Keep it if naturally visible and not digitally enlarged into a callout
Google-supported AI disclosure label	Do not treat it like a sale badge	Google documents a narrow exception for supported AI labels	Follow the applicable disclosure process and preserve required metadata

Google’s “Text on image” page explicitly notes that supported AI-content disclosure labels are not violations of the text-overlay and watermark prohibition. That is a narrow compliance exception, not permission to add “NEW,” “BEST SELLER,” or discount artwork.

Decision matrix listing promotional and decorative elements to remove, and inherent product labels that can stay. — Use the physical-product test: remove composited selling layers; keep genuine product and packaging information.

First confirm that this is actually a text-on-image problem

The image may look promotional, but the status shown in Merchant Center is the diagnosis you should act on. Open the affected product under Products & store → Products → Needs attention and read the issue details.

If the issue is Text on image, inspect the file for copy, logos, watermarks, badges, or a border. If the issue is different, removing a sale badge may accomplish nothing. Google’s image specification also covers unsupported formats, inaccessible URLs, placeholders, generic graphics used instead of the product, logo-only images, incorrect variants, cropping, and quality problems. Those require different fixes.

This matters at catalog scale. A blanket “strip text from every image” job can consume days, damage packaging accuracy, and leave the real technical problem untouched. Start with the affected item list, group products by exact issue, and only then choose a repair.

Google’s issue page lets merchants filter affected products in Needs attention and download a CSV for bulk work. Cross-reference that list with the source data that supplies each image_link; do not assume the image visible in a storefront theme is necessarily the one Merchant Center is fetching.

Before-and-after fix 1: sale copy, shipping copy, and a retailer mark

In the first fictional example, three separate additions are risky:

“25% OFF” is promotional price language.
“FREE SHIPPING” is service information.
“SHOPVAULT” is a retailer mark stamped onto the photo.

The printed “FENNEC AERO · 650 ml” label stays because it is part of the represented bottle. The corrected image does not hide the product’s identity; it only removes the marketing layer.

Do not move the same artwork to an additional_image_link and assume it becomes compliant. Google’s additional image specification says additional images must meet the requirements for image_link, although they may show staging, use, close details, bundle parts, or a full multipack. Additional images are a place for useful views, not a loophole for discount badges and watermarks.

Before-and-after fix 2: the invisible problem is sometimes the frame

A designer may remove every word and still leave a purple outline around the canvas. That can remain a problem because Google’s main image guidelines prohibit borders separately from promotional text.

A watermark and a frame are removable treatments; the small LOOMA mark printed on the lamp is inherent.

The repair should remove both the border and the diagonal retailer watermark. Cropping just inside the frame can work if it preserves the full product at useful resolution, but rebuilding from the clean master is safer. Cropping a small marketplace thumbnail may create a new low-quality or cut-off-product issue.

Also check for border-like artifacts that are easy to miss: a colored strip along one edge, a drop-shadowed card placed inside a larger canvas, a white frame around a transparent export, or a repeated template background that creates a visible box. The rule is not limited to a one-pixel Photoshop stroke.

Before-and-after fix 3: packaging text is not automatically an overlay

The third example is a coffee bag with its brand, origin, and net weight printed on the real package. Those elements stay. The added “NEW” sticker, “2-PACK” callout, and barcode card go.

Before-and-after fictional coffee package. The rejected version includes added NEW and 2-PACK badges plus a barcode callout; the corrected version keeps only the text and artwork printed on the package. — Do not retouch away genuine packaging. Remove the labels that were composited into the product photograph.

This distinction is especially important for packaged goods, books, media, toys, cosmetics, supplements, and electronics. The product may be mostly typography. Replacing it with a generic unbranded shape would be less accurate, not more compliant.

Use three questions when the boundary is unclear:

Would the shopper see this text on the delivered item or its real retail package? If yes, it is likely inherent.
Does the element float in a corner, sit on a ribbon, repeat across unrelated products, or use the retailer’s campaign template? If yes, it is likely an overlay.
Does it communicate a temporary offer, urgency, shipping benefit, subjective claim, compatibility, condition, or pack quantity? If it was added to the photograph, remove it from the pixels and submit the fact through the appropriate data or promotion surface. This does not override the first question about genuine product packaging.

When a false positive appears plausible—for example, an automated system mistakes dense package typography for an added overlay—preserve the unedited original, verify that no template layer is present, and use the available review route rather than erasing real product information without evidence.

Fix the source of truth, not just the visible product record

The durable fix is usually upstream. Identify which system owns the URL in image_link:

the ecommerce product record;
a product information management system;
a feed-management rule;
a marketplace or app integration;
a supplemental source;
a manually edited Merchant Center product;
or a CDN transformation that adds campaign artwork.

Edit the clean master or the rule that generates it, then update the product data. A one-off manual correction may be overwritten by the next scheduled sync. It can also leave future operators unable to explain why the storefront, feed platform, and Merchant Center show different image URLs.

For one product, Google’s current “Text on image” instructions allow you to open the product, edit it, select the main image, and replace the image_link URL. For many products, download the affected list, correct the URLs in the source data, and re-upload or re-sync the data source.

Publish the corrected file at a new, stable URL

Google’s image_link guidance recommends a new, unique URL when replacing an existing product image. A new URL signals that the content changed and typically prompts a faster recrawl, often within about three days. If you overwrite the bytes at the same URL, detection can take much longer—Google says up to six weeks.

A useful naming pattern is versioned but stable:

https://cdn.example.com/products/fennec-aero-650-main-v2.jpg

Avoid timestamped URLs that change on every feed build. The aim is one deliberate new URL for the corrected asset, not continuous cache-busting.

Automatic image improvements can be a safety net, not your only workflow

Merchant Center offers automatic image improvements. Google says the feature is off by default and can be enabled from the Automations area under Products. When it detects promotional text, watermarks, overlays, or logos, it may try to remove them; if the change succeeds, Google can replace the image and approve the product. See “Allow Merchant Center to improve your product images”.

You can review the improved and original versions on affected product detail pages. If the result is not acceptable, upload your own clean image.

That inspection is essential for products with typography-heavy packaging or marks that are genuinely part of the item. Automatic cleanup is useful for catching an old campaign badge across a large catalog, but it should not replace an owned, accurate source image. Your team still needs a clean master that can be used consistently across feeds, marketplaces, and future refreshes.

Put the promotion in product data, not inside the photo

Removing a discount badge does not mean giving up the promotion. It means moving it to a surface designed to carry changing commercial information.

For a straightforward temporary price reduction, submit the normal price with price and the active lower price with sale_price. You can also provide the sale period. If the offer and price history meet the relevant requirements, Google may display the original and sale prices and add a sale annotation. The annotation is not guaranteed, so do not promise the creative team that every eligible item will show a badge.

For offers such as percent off, amount off, free gifts, free shipping, discount ranges, or cashback, use Merchant Center’s Promotions feature where it is available and appropriate. Google’s current promotion creation guide describes the builder, promotions data sources, API options, and supported incentive types. This separates the stable product image from an offer that may change tomorrow.

The operating model should be:

Image: what the shopper receives.
Product data: what the item is, its price, variant, availability, and other structured facts.
Promotion: the temporary incentive and redemption conditions.
Landing page: the complete, current commercial context.

When those layers are separated, a sale can start or end without generating a new image for every SKU, and an expired badge cannot remain trapped in a cached product photo.

A safe repair workflow for one item or a full catalog

1. Read the exact issue

Open the affected product in Needs attention. Confirm that the issue is “Text on image” or an equivalent text/overlay diagnosis rather than a URL, format, crop, quality, or mismatch problem.

2. Inspect the full-resolution source

Do not judge only the Merchant Center thumbnail. Open the exact URL submitted in image_link and look for corner badges, translucent marks, strips, frames, barcodes, campaign templates, and text hidden in the background.

3. Mark every element as inherent or added

Use the physical-product test. Preserve genuine printed or attached product information. Remove composited sales, service, urgency, compatibility, quantity, retailer, watermark, and decorative elements.

4. Export a clean, accurate master

Keep the complete product visible. Do not solve an overlay by aggressive cropping, blurring package text, replacing the product with a generic illustration, or switching to the wrong variant.

5. Publish it to a new stable HTTPS URL

Use a unique filename or path for the corrected image so Google can recognize the change faster. Confirm that the URL returns the intended image and can be crawled without authentication or blocking.

6. Update the system that owns `image_link`

Correct the ecommerce platform, PIM, feed rule, supplemental source, or other upstream record. Then re-sync or re-upload the data. Document any manual exception so the next feed refresh does not restore the rejected file.

7. Verify the result before requesting repeated reviews

Google’s issue page says changes may take 24–72 hours to appear in Needs attention. First confirm that the new URL is present and allow processing time. If the issue remains, the image is genuinely compliant, and a review option is available, follow Google’s review process. Reviews can take time, and Google may limit review opportunities, so do not use an appeal as a substitute for checking the actual asset and feed.

Final pre-upload checklist

Before submitting the corrected image, confirm all of the following:

No discount percentage, price, coupon, “SALE,” or urgency message is baked into the image.
No “Buy now,” shipping, warranty, or service claim is baked into the image.
No retailer logo, photographer mark, supplier watermark, or repeated campaign stamp remains.
No decorative border, colored frame, card outline, or edge strip surrounds the image.
No added “NEW,” condition, compatibility, pack-count, barcode, or QR-style callout remains.
Brand and product text that genuinely belongs to the item or package remains accurate.
The corrected image still shows the right product, variant, color, and bundle contents.
The product is clear and unobstructed rather than hidden by cleanup artifacts.
The clean asset is stored as an owned master, not only as a Merchant Center override.
image_link points to the corrected file at a stable, crawlable URL.
The upstream product source has been updated so the next sync will not reverse the fix.
After processing, the exact issue—not merely the thumbnail—has disappeared from Needs attention.

A promotional-overlay repair is usually simple once the layers are separated. Remove what was added to market the photograph. Keep what belongs to the real product. Put prices and incentives into Merchant Center’s data and promotion systems, publish the corrected image at a new URL, and verify the specific issue after Google recrawls it.

Merchant Center Promotional Overlay Error: What to Remove—and What Can Stay