How to Resolve Mismatched Product Availability Error in GMC?

For running successful Google Shopping ads, you must keep your product listings and Merchant Center account error-free. However, sometimes, even when things appear to be fine on your end, Google may throw some unexpected errors that may impact your products’ visibility. 

One such issue many merchants run into is mismatched product availability in GMC. 

If you have faced this GMC error or want to avoid it but don’t know what it is, then you are not alone. And to help you out, we have created this guide. 

In this blog, we will discuss in detail the mismatched product availability error in GMC, its common causes, how to resolve it, and some best practices for preventing it. 

Understanding Mismatched Product Availability Error in GMC 

The mismatched product availability error occurs when Google detects that the value of the availability [availability] attribute for an item in your feed, and the item’s actual availability on your landing page do not match. 

For example, if your feed data says that a product is ‘in stock’, then Google expects to see the same stock status on your website. But if, upon checking, it finds that the item is ‘out of stock’, then it will trigger the mismatched product availability error. 

Now, you might wonder why Google randomly crawls your website like this. 

It isn’t specific to any one merchant. Google regularly checks the websites of all merchants to review and ensure that the product data they have submitted in Merchant Center is consistent with the information they display on their sites. During these checks, Google also reviews whether the availability status in your feed matches both the visible content on your landing page and the structured data (if available) in your HTML. 

If inconsistencies are found, then Google considers it a reliability issue. As a result, you get the mismatched product availability error in your GMC account.

Common Causes of Mismatched Product Availability

In the section above, we discussed one common cause of the mismatched product availability error in GMC. Let’s now look at other reasons why you might face the mismatched product availability error in GMC: 

1. Time Gaps Between Website Product Data and Feed Updates: If there is a time gap between when your feed and website data are updated, you may encounter this error. 

For example, after a busy sale, some items may sell out. Your website might reflect these changes right away, with the “Out of Stock” label. But your feed may not as its frequency of scheduled updates is set to ‘Weekly’ or ‘Monthly.’ During this gap, Googlebot can crawl your website, spot the inconsistency, and flag the error. 

2. Incorrect Structured Data: Google also reviews your website’s structured data to review if the item’s availability in your feed and website match. If the availability value of an item in your structured data contradicts the data submitted in your feed, Google can flag that as an error even if your landing page looks correct to the users.

3. Product Variant and URL issues:  If a single landing page URL displays multiple variants of an item on your site, Google can get confused about which variant’s availability applies.

For example, you sell a shirt in sizes M and L. Now size M is in stock, and your feed accurately reflects that. But by default, your product page shows size L, which is sold out. Thus, whenever Google’s crawler visits your product page (which shows the size L variant by default) via the generic product URL, it will take into consideration the size L variant’s availability, spot the inconsistency, and flag the error.

4. Caching and Delayed Updates: If your website uses caching or a content delivery network (CDN), the cached pages may display outdated information. When Googlebot reviews your product pages, it may spot the issue and flag your item(s) for the mismatched product availability error. 

Note: Even for local inventory ads and free local listings, your product page must display the same in-store availability that you have submitted with your feed. If it doesn’t, then Google will notice the inconsistency and flag it via the “Inconsistent value: availability [availability] for in-store product page” error.  Read more about it on this Google help page.

Impact of Mismatched Product Availability Error 

This particular GMC error can hurt the performance of your entire Google Shopping campaign and your account’s overall health. 

When Google spots a mismatch in availability, it disapproves your product(s). Till the time you fix the issue, the disapproved item(s) cannot be advertised via Shopping ads, free product listings, or even Local inventory ads. This means you miss out on potential clicks, impressions, and sales. 

If too many items get disapproved from your Google Shopping feed, then Google reserves the right to even suspend your Merchant Center account. 

Google treats the mismatched product availability error as a serious reliability issue. It wants users to have a smooth, fair, and reliable shopping experience every time they browse through Google Shopping or interact with an ad. 

If a shopper clicks on your Shopping ad, expecting a product to be in stock, then it should be in stock on your website. If shoppers land on your page and find the item unavailable, it creates frustration and reduces confidence in both your store and Google Shopping. Repeated product availability mismatches send a signal to Google that your product is unreliable and that you are engaging in misleading practices.

As a result, this error can even translate into a Misrepresentation policy warning, which can further get your Google account suspended!

Thus, keeping the item availability data accurate will help you avoid disapprovals and protect your e-commerce store’s reputation. 

How to Fix Mismatched Product Availability in GMC?

We will now look at the step-by-step process to fix the mismatched product availability in the GMC error: 

Step 1: Identify the Products Affected Due to the Error 

• Go to your GMC account. 
• Then, click on ‘Products’. 

• Click on ‘Needs Attention.’ 

• Click on the filter icon. 
• Select ‘What needs attention’ and click on ‘Mismatched value (page crawl) [availability]’. 

• Apply the filters to see a list of all products that the system has not approved due to this error.

Step 2: Identify the Source of the Mismatched Product Availability Issue

In the previous step, we were able to segregate those items in our Google Shopping feed that are affected by this error. 

The next step will be to identify the source of this issue. By a source, we mean to say that you will have to analyze:

1. Is the availability status incorrect on your landing page? 
2. Or is it your feed that is outdated? 
3. If both are in sync, then is there some issue with your landing page’s structured data? 

• To identify that, click on any affected product’s link. 

• Scroll down and expand additional details. 
• Expand ‘Raw data source attributes’ and ‘Information found on your site.’
• Review the availability attribute in both. Basically, ‘Raw data source attributes’ indicates the item’s data in your feed. And ‘information found on your site’ indicates the item’s data on your landing page.
• In our case, we have a Shopify store, and our products sync to the GMC via a data feed solution. As we can see in the images below, the product is out of stock in the feed, but it is in stock in the store. 

• In our case, the next step would be to check this product on our Shopify store and see if the item’s availability is correct.
• On Shopify, we find that the product is indeed available. 

Also, the same availability is reflected accurately on the landing page.

This means that the Shopify data hasn’t been updated in GMC. 

Step 3: Review Structured Data and OpenGraph

In addition to reviewing the visible content on the landing page, we will also review its structured data and OpenGraph tags to check if we can get some additional insights. 

• You will have to use the rich results test to verify your product page’s structured data. 
• Copy the product’s URL from the product details page.  
• Go to the rich results test page. Paste the product URL and click on ‘Test URL’. 

• Within the detected structured data, verify if the availability matches your landing page’s value. 
• For our product, as we can see, the availability value – ‘InStock’ – in the structured data is in sync with our landing page. 

• Thus, we can conclude that there are no issues with the page’s structured data. 

You must also check the OpenGraph tags of the product page. 

• Go to your product page. 
• Open its source code. 
• Search for ‘og: availability’. And for our item, we find that even the OpenGraph tags value is correct: 

Step 4: Resolve the Issue

In steps 2 and 3, we found that the product’s availability is consistent across our Shopify store, website, structured data, and OpenGraph tags. This means that we just need to update our Shopify product data to Merchant Center again. 

• We are using AdNabu, a ‘Built for Shopify’ certified feed management software, to sync our Shopify product data to GMC. Within the app, we will use the instant Shopify sync feature. Using that, the app’s smart algorithm will easily sync the current version of our Google Feed to GMC swiftly and accurately. 

• Once the sync is complete, we will review the same item in GMC and check if we were able to resolve the issue. 

• Tada! The item’s availability attribute in our feed is now in sync with the information on our site! 

Step 5: Request a Review (Optional) 

Once you resolve the issue, you can request a website review. This review can speed up the entire reapproval process for the disapproved item(s). But remember, even if you don’t request a review, Google will perform one anytime and automatically. 

After you request Google’s review, it may take up to 12 hours to complete it. You can easily track any changes under the ‘Needs attention’ in Products.

If Google’s system confirms the fix, it will start showing your products again in free listings and Google Shopping ads. But if it doesn’t and the issue still persists, you can request another review. 

There are some important points you must note:  1. If multiple products are affected due to this error, and you need a list of them for cross-referencing data with your original product data source, then Google allows you to also download a CSV file.  2. Once you update your product feed data to fix the mismatched product availability error, update your product data on Merchant Center using the original method you had employed earlier. This means if you have a connected partner platform where you used a sales channel app to sync data, then use that. If you used Google Sheets, then just update the sheet, and Google will automatically fetch the updates.  But avoid mixing the product update methods. Doing so can cause inconsistencies in your data.  3. Also, avoid using the GMC editor for updating items and their availability attributes. Updates made via the editor are permanent and can’t be undone.

Confusing Backorder with Out of Stock 

One common mistake that many merchants make is that when a product is out of stock, they add the backorder value instead of out of stock for the availability attribute. But remember, if you are not accepting orders for any item and it is not in stock, then you must use the [out_of_stock] value.

On the other hand, if the item is currently available, but you are still accepting orders for it and will be able to ship it when it’s available again, then use the [backorder] value in your feed. However, remember that for using the backorder value, you will also need to provide the availability date [availability date] in your feed to highlight on which date you will ship the order. Moreover, the availability date should also be visible on your landing page.

Preventing Product Availability Mismatches 

Here are some tips that can help you avoid the mismatched product availability in the GMC error: 

1. Align Feed Data with Your Website in Real Time: You must increase the frequency with which your feed gets updated in Merchant Center. This is to ensure there isn’t a huge time gap between when you update your website data and your feed. As we learned, Google spots the mismatched product availability errors mostly during these time gaps. 

So, for example, if you have currently set the frequency of scheduled fetches to “Weekly”, it’s recommended that you change it to “Daily.”

2. Leverage Automatic Item Updates: Google also recommends using automatic item updates to avoid availability, condition, and even price mismatches in GMC. When you enable this add-on feature, Google will automatically use your landing page data to keep your feed updated and accurate. 

Note: You should only use this feature to avoid mismatches and not as a permanent replacement for those methods you employ to update product data.

3. Maintain Accurate Structured Data: Make sure your schema markup (JSON-LD) always reflects the current status of an item’s availability. Moreover, always ensure that you reflect the stock status using ItemAvailability schema values like InStock, OutOfStock, PreOrder, etc.

You can always use Google’s rich results to check what availability value Google reads on your landing page. 

4. Specific Variant URLs: If you want to submit variants in your feed, then submit specific URLs for each variant. Moreover, those URLs should be preloaded with the product information specific to that variant. 

For Shopify and similar platforms, this means including a variant ID in the URL (e.g., https://yourstore.com/products/product-handle?variant=1234567890)

5. Reduce Cache: If your site uses caching or a CDN, you must configure cache settings in a way that product pages update quickly whenever there is a stock change. Additionally, you should use shorter cache times so that Googlebot always views the updated availability of an item. 

6. Use Feed Tools: Data feed solutions like AdNabu (for Shopify merchants) can help you spot such mismatch errors in advance. Additionally, using advanced features such as bulk editing, instant Shopify sync, etc., you can ensure that your store and feed data are always in sync. 

Conclusion 

Fixing the product availability mismatch error in GMC is important to ensure that your products stay active and that your product listing ads continue to perform well. 

To avoid this error, focus on keeping your product data and website information in sync. If possible, you can employ some basic checks that you perform frequently to catch mismatches early and avoid disruptions to your advertising efforts.

FAQs

1. What is an example of mismatched product availability in GMC? 

You had 100 units of product A in stock in the morning. Your feed gets updated at 6 a.m. daily, and at that time, product A was in stock. By noon, all units sold out due to a promotion, and your website shows that now product A is “out of stock.” However, your feed won’t update until the next morning. 

In the meantime, Googlebot crawls the page, which says that the product is out of stock, and compares it to your feed data, which says the product is in stock. And based on these findings, it triggers the mismatched product availability error. 

2. How can I identify and fix mismatched product availability issues in Google Merchant Center?

You can go to ‘Products’, and then click on ‘Needs attention’ in your Google Merchant Center account. Further, use the filter icon and in ‘What needs attention’ search for the error message ‘Mismatched value (page crawl) [availability]’. Google will provide you with a list of all products affected by the error. 

3. How can I automate product availability updates in Google Merchant Center?

You can use scheduled uploads (for eligible product upload methods) to ensure that Google automatically fetches the correct availability values for items from your data source. 

Apart from that, you can feed solutions, or even add-on features in GMC, like automatic item updates. 

4. What is the availability date [availability date] attribute in GMC? 

This attribute is useful for informing your customers when you will be able to ship a preordered or backordered item. 

5. How can I prevent mismatched product availability across multiple sales channels?

The best way will be to use a feed management software that supports feed creation and management for different marketplaces. 

For example, a software like AdNabu here can be helpful. It allows merchants to sync their Shopify feeds to Merchant Center and also use the same information on different marketplaces via feed URLs. 

So, the different availability statuses of items will get synced to all marketplaces accurately and keep your store data and feed consistent across all channels. 

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