Selling channels
Google Shopping product images
Google's rules are short and strictly enforced: a clean product image, no promotion, nothing that could be mistaken for something else.
The rules Google actually enforces
Google Merchant Center will disapprove a product for an image that breaks its policy, and a disapproved product does not appear in Shopping results at all. The rules are mostly about honesty and clarity: the image has to show the product you are selling, without anything added that could mislead.
- Show the actual product. No stock illustration standing in for a real item, and no lifestyle-only image as the main shot.
- No promotional text: no 'sale', no price, no discount badge, no call to action.
- No watermarks, no borders, no logos other than the product's own branding.
- No collage or multi-pack image where a single product is being sold.
What earns the click in Shopping results
Shopping results are a wall of white-background thumbnails, so the differentiators are the ones a buyer perceives in a fraction of a second: how well lit the product is, how much of the frame it fills, and whether the image is sharp at small size.
That means the main image should be the product, filling most of the frame, evenly lit, with no shadow falling across the part that matters. Coloured and lifestyle images can be added as additional images in the feed, and they do improve click-through in the more visual placements.
- Fill the frame — a small product floating in white space reads as low quality at thumbnail size.
- Even, soft light. A hard shadow across the product is the most common reason an image looks amateur.
- Sharp at 200 px wide. Check the thumbnail before you upload, not after.
Producing compliant images at catalogue scale
The bottleneck for a feed is not the rule, it is the volume. Zenith AI – Product Photo takes a phone photo, removes the background to a clean white, relights the product and exports a square image, which is what a Merchant Center feed needs for every variant.
Shoot the catalogue in one session on a plain surface, generate the white-background versions, and the feed has consistent images across every SKU — which is also what makes a brand look coherent in a results page.
How it works
Three steps from a phone photo to a finished image
Scan or upload
Take a photo in the app, or pick one you already shot on your iPhone.
Let the AI work
The app removes the background, relights the product and builds the scene.
Export and list
Save a marketplace-ready image at the size your listing needs.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What size image does Google Shopping want?
At least 100 x 100 px, and Google recommends around 800 x 800 px. In practice, images of 1000 px or more on the long side are what get the larger placements, so shoot once at high resolution and export at 1000 to 1200 px square.
Why was my product disapproved for its image?
The usual causes are promotional text or overlays, a watermark or border, a stock illustration instead of the real product, or an image that does not match the title. Fix the image, then request a re-review in Merchant Center.
Can I use a lifestyle image as the main Google Shopping image?
The main image should be the product itself, cleanly presented, because that is what Google shows in the grid and what its policy expects. Add lifestyle images as additional images — they help in the more visual placements without risking disapproval.
Do I need a white background for Google Shopping?
Not strictly — Google requires the product to be clearly visible and the image to be free of added elements, not a white background specifically. White is still the safest choice, because it is what the surrounding results look like and it makes the product stand out.
Try it on your next photo
Free to download on the App Store. iPhone and iPad only.