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    Field: link

    Invalid Product URL in Google Shopping Feed

    Your product has an invalid or malformed URL. Product links must be valid, publicly accessible URLs that lead to the product page.

    Use our free Feed Validator to check for this and other errors automatically.

    What This Error Means

    The link field in your feed contains a URL that doesn't meet Google's requirements. This could mean the URL is malformed, inaccessible, or doesn't follow proper URL structure.

    Common issues include missing protocols (http/https), broken links, URLs with special characters that aren't properly encoded, or links that require authentication.

    Products with invalid URLs cannot direct customers to your site, so they will be rejected from Shopping ads entirely.

    How to Fix It

    1. Use complete URLs — Include the full URL with protocol (https:// or http://), domain, and path.
    2. Prefer HTTPS — While HTTP works, HTTPS is strongly recommended for security and may improve ad performance.
    3. URL-encode special characters — Spaces, non-ASCII characters, and special symbols must be properly encoded.
    4. Verify links are accessible — Test that the URLs work and don't return 404, 500, or other errors.

    Examples

    Incorrect
    <!-- All of these are incorrect: -->
<link>www.example.com/products/shoes</link>
<link>example.com/products/shoes</link>
<link>/products/shoes</link>
<link>https://example.com/products/blue shoes</link>
<link>htp://example.com/products/shoes</link>
<link>https://</link>
    Correct
    <!-- Correct format: -->
<link>https://www.example.com/products/shoes</link>
<link>https://example.com/products/blue-shoes</link>
<link>https://shop.example.com/item/12345</link>
<link>https://example.com/products/shoes?color=blue&amp;size=10</link>
<link>https://example.com/products/blue%20shoes</link>

    Additional Tips

    • Use hyphens (-) instead of spaces in URL paths for better SEO
    • Keep URLs as short and clean as possible while still being descriptive
    • Ensure your landing pages are mobile-friendly
    • Avoid session IDs or user-specific parameters in product URLs
    • Use canonical URLs to avoid duplicate content issues
    • Test your links with Google's URL Inspection tool

    Related Issues

    HTTP Instead of HTTPSMissing Product LinkInvalid Image URL

    Validate Your Feed Now

    Use our free Google Shopping Feed Validator to check for this and other common errors before uploading to Merchant Center.

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