Merchant Center variant errors: IDs, grouping, and landing pages

The product ID identifies one submitted offer. item_group_id connects offers that are variants of the same product family. Reusing one ID across sizes or colors can overwrite products; giving every variant a different group ID prevents correct grouping.

Only group true variants. Unrelated products should not share a group merely because their titles are similar.

Use the attributes that genuinely distinguish the variants, such as color and size. Gender and age group may be relevant for applicable apparel products. Values should match the exact purchasable variant rather than only the parent product.

• Stable, unique ID per variant
• Shared item_group_id for the true variant family
• Accurate color, size, pattern, or material where applicable
• Relevant gender and age_group values
• Variant-specific GTIN, price, availability, and image
• Landing URL that opens or clearly allows selection of that variant

Open the submitted URL and confirm the offer's variant is selected or can be unambiguously reached. Compare the visible price, availability, image, and structured data for that selection. Defaulting to another variant can produce price and availability mismatches even when the feed row is correct.

Parent and child exports often lose attributes at different stages. Check whether the platform generates distinct rows, whether the integration preserves IDs and grouping, and whether a later transformation replaces child values with the parent. Avoid manual ID changes that break historical continuity.

CommerceVigil never chooses arbitrarily between variants when an offer identifier is ambiguous. Performance context is used only for deterministic matches. The app can surface Google's variant-related issue and affected offers, but it does not edit catalog relationships.