Google Merchant CenterSEO
Title longer than 150 characters
Google allows up to 150 characters in title.
What is this issue?
Google allows up to 150 characters in title.
Affected field:
titleWhat it looks like in your file
| id | title | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | MUG-01 | Handmade Ceramic Coffee Mug 12oz Speckled Glaze Stoneware Tea Cup Gift for Him Her Coffee Lover Birthday Christmas Present Office Kitchen Home Decor Set (180 characters) |
| id | title | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | MUG-01 | Acme Handmade Ceramic Coffee Mug, 12 oz, Speckled Stoneware |
Upload your CSV to check for this issue and export a clean file.
Fix nowWhy Google Merchant Center rejects this
Text over the limit is cut off, and shoppers usually see only the first 70 characters or so.
Valid values / expected format
- ✓Maximum 150 characters
- ✓Count includes spaces and punctuation
Fix in StriveFormats
StriveFormats flags every row where the value exceeds the platform limit so you know exactly which cells to shorten.
Fix in Excel
- 1In Excel, right-click the column header next to title and choose 'Insert' to add a blank helper column.
- 2In the first data row of the helper column, type =LEN(X2), replacing X2 with the cell in your title column.
- 3Copy this formula down to all rows by double-clicking the fill handle (the small square in the cell's bottom-right corner).
- 4Go to Data > Filter. On the helper column, use a number filter for 'Greater Than 150'.
- 5For each flagged row, click into the original column's cell and shorten the text until the helper column shows a number at or below the limit.
- 6When done, select the helper column, right-click, and choose Delete. Save as Text (Tab delimited) (*.txt).
Fix in Google Sheets
- 1In Google Sheets, click the column letter next to title and insert a blank column (right-click > Insert 1 column left/right).
- 2In the first data row of the helper column, enter =LEN(X2), replacing X2 with the cell in your title column.
- 3Copy the formula down to cover all data rows.
- 4Go to Data > Create a filter on the helper column. Use the filter to show only rows where the value is greater than 150.
- 5For each flagged row, shorten the original column's text until the helper column shows a number at or below the limit.
- 6Delete the helper column. Go to File > Download > Tab Separated Values (.tsv), then rename the file to end in .txt.
Prevent it next time
- ✓Know the platform's character limits before writing titles and descriptions.
- ✓Use =LEN() in Excel or Google Sheets to count characters as you type.
- ✓Focus on high-impact keywords rather than full sentences in title fields.
- ✓Check title lengths before exporting. It's much faster to fix them in the source sheet.
How StriveFormats detects this
StriveFormats measures the character length of every cell in the title column and compares it against Google Merchant Center's documented limit. Rows exceeding the limit are individually flagged with the actual character count.
►Technical detail
Google Merchant Center limits the title field to 150 characters. Longer values are either cut off without warning, so they look different on your storefront, or the whole row is rejected. The count includes every space, punctuation mark and special character. It's a character count, not a word count.