Seeing “Limited performance due to missing value: GTIN” in Google Merchant Center? It doesn't disapprove your product, but it can limit how often it shows. Here's what it means, and how to fix it on Shopify.
Google expects a barcode
Google thinks your product belongs to a category that normally has a manufacturer barcode, called a GTIN, like a UPC or EAN, but you didn't send one. Products submitted without their GTIN may get limited visibility.
- Issue: Limited performance due to missing value: GTIN
- Effect: Not disapproved, but limited visibility
- GTIN: The manufacturer's barcode: UPC, EAN, ISBN
Add it in Shopify
If the product has a barcode, add it in Shopify. Open the product, and in the Inventory section, enter it in the Barcode field for each variant. Put the brand in the Vendor field. Google syncs both through the Google and YouTube channel.
- Product → Inventory → Barcode (each variant)
- Organization → Vendor = your brand
- Let the Google & YouTube channel sync
Custom or handmade?
If it's genuinely custom or handmade, with no manufacturer barcode, don't invent one. Mark it as a custom product in the Google and YouTube channel instead, or submit the brand and MPN if you have them.
| Don't | Do |
|---|---|
| A made-up barcode | Mark it as a custom product (no GTIN exists) |
Don't make it worse
One warning. Never use a fake or reused barcode, and don't mark a manufactured product as custom just to make the warning go away. Incorrect identifiers can get the product disapproved.
- ❌ Fake or reused barcodes
- ❌ Marking manufactured items as custom
- ✅ The manufacturer's real GTIN
Doing this at scale
FeedFix checks every product against the Google Merchant Center and Meta Catalog rules, including missing GTINs and brands, scores each one from 0 to 100, and gives you a fix queue you can work through in bulk. See FeedFix.