5 common Google Ads feed issues and how to fix them

If you’re running Google Search Ads with dynamic ad customizers, page feeds, or inventory-based campaigns, your success depends on one thing: a clean, accurate feed.

When feed issues happen, they’re often invisible at first — until you notice lower impression share, poor ad performance, or disapproved ads. Fixing these problems early can save you from wasted spend and help you scale campaigns more confidently.

Here are the 5 most common feed issues in Google Search Ads — and how you can catch and fix them before they impact performance.

1. Mismatch between feed data and landing pages

One of the most common (and damaging) feed issues is a discrepancy between your ad content and your landing page. If Google detects inconsistent prices, availability, or product names, it may reduce ad eligibility or stop showing your ads entirely.

This often happens when:

• Your feed isn’t updated as often as your website

• Your site loads content with JavaScript (which Googlebot may not read)

• You manually upload outdated spreadsheets

✅ How to fix it:

• Set up regular, automatic feed updates — ideally every few hours

• Add structured data (like schema.org or JSON-LD) to your landing pages

• Use a tool like G-MOS to monitor for mismatches and keep feed data in sync with your site

🟨 Example: Your website shows “$129.99” for a pair of shoes, but the feed lists it as “$119.99”. Google flags the ad for inconsistency, and it stops serving.

🛠 G-MOS solves this by syncing feed updates in real-time using scheduled feed and ads comparison.

2. Policy violations in feed content

Google’s ad policies apply not just to your ad copy, but to every word in your feed. That includes dynamic values pulled into ad customizers, which can trigger disapprovals or even account suspensions.

Common violations include:

• Prohibited phrases like “best deal” or “guaranteed lowest price”

• Incomplete or misleading claims about features or pricing

• Disallowed product categories or content (e.g. tobacco, adult products)

  
  

✅ How to fix it:

• Regularly audit your feed values (titles, descriptions, custom parameters)

• Use Google’s policy manager to identify flagged content

• Clean feed content with a bulk editor or automation tool like G-MOS that can flag risky phrases and filter them out

  
  

3. Missing or incorrect custom attributes

Many advertisers use custom attributes in feeds to control their ads — like dynamically showing product names, locations, or inventory levels in headlines. But if those attributes are missing or formatted incorrectly, your dynamic ads won’t render as expected.

Examples of issues include:

• Typos in attribute names (e.g. product_color vs productcolour)

• Blank values in fields like {=Feed.price}

• Using the wrong feed format (e.g. Google Sheets vs business data feeds)

  
  

✅ How to fix it:

• Standardize your attribute naming conventions

• Fill in missing values with default fallbacks

• Use G-MOS or feed validation tools to test dynamic ad rendering before going live

  
  

4. Feed not syncing with real-time inventory

For industries like travel, events, or retail, having real-time inventory reflected in your ads is critical. If you promote items that are already out of stock or unavailable, not only do users bounce — Google may penalize you for a bad user experience.

This typically happens when:

• Inventory changes faster than your feed refresh cycle

• Stock availability is not included in the feed at all

• Delayed imports cause feed lag during peak hours

  
  

✅ How to fix it:

• Increase feed refresh frequency to match your inventory update rate

• Add availability or custom stock fields in your feed

• Connect G-MOS or another real-time data source to sync with your backend

  
  

5. Incorrect feed formatting or upload errors

Sometimes, the problem isn’t what’s in the feed — it’s how the feed is structured. Uploading files with wrong delimiters, missing headers, or broken links can cause Google to reject the entire file.

Typical formatting problems:

• CSV files saved with semicolons instead of commas

• Line breaks or special characters that break parsing

• Missing required columns like id, final_url, or custom_label

  
  

✅ How to fix it:

• Use Google’s feed specs as your checklist before uploading

• Test feeds in preview mode inside Google Ads or Merchant Center

• Automate formatting with a tool like G-MOS that validates structure before upload

Final thoughts

Feed issues in Google Search Ads can quietly drag down your performance — or shut your campaigns down altogether. Fortunately, most problems are preventable with the right automation, regular audits, and feed management practices.

Tools like G-MOS make it easier to manage, validate, and monitor feed-based campaigns at scale — whether you’re running 50 dynamic ads or 5 millions of them.

Keep your feeds clean, and your ads will follow.