What is Image Audit?#

Image Audit is a free tool available at image-validator.com that checks the product images in your feed and evaluates their technical and visual quality. The result is an overview of errors and recommendations sorted by severity, covering both the requirements of price comparison sites and ad platforms and general recommendations for image quality and performance beyond those requirements.

The tool requires no registration or installation. Just enter your feed URL, select the ad platforms you want to audit for, and provide your email address. You will receive the results within 24 hours.

Why image quality matters

Product images are one of the most important factors for success in online advertising. Ad platforms and price comparison sites have strict rules on how images should look. Images that do not meet these rules are rejected, and the affected products never make it into the ads at all. The most common reasons for rejection include watermarks, unsuitable backgrounds, low resolution, unsupported formats, or incorrect dimensions.

At the same time, images that do meet the technical requirements are not necessarily good enough. A poorly aligned product, too tight a crop, or low contrast directly affects whether a customer clicks on the ad.

What the audit checks

The audit evaluates images against the requirements of more than 30 ad platforms and price comparison sites, including Google Shopping, Meta, Heureka, Zboží.cz, Allegro, Amazon, eBay, Kaufland, GLAMI, Pinterest, and others. You can run a single audit for multiple platforms at once and then filter the results by platform.

The audit also evaluates general technical and content parameters beyond the requirements of specific platforms, such as file size in terms of loading speed and SEO, compression level, the position and size of the product in the image, or whether you can add alternative images. These recommendations are not tied to advertising conditions, but they directly affect image quality and the overall impression customers get.

Relationship to Feed Image Editor

Image Audit and Feed Image Editor are connected tools. The audit reveals where problems exist and what they are, and Feed Image Editor then resolves them in bulk and automatically. Most of the error categories the audit identifies can be fixed directly in Feed Image Editor, without having to touch the original images or your online store platform.

What is it for?#

Image Audit serves two main purposes.

Finding out where the problems are. Most online stores do not know exactly how many of their product images fail to meet ad platform requirements or suffer from quality issues. The audit finds out for you. It goes through the entire feed and gives you concrete numbers: how many products have missing images, how many contain watermarks, how many do not meet the required dimensions, and so on. Without this overview, image optimization is guesswork.

Prioritizing fixes. Not all problems have the same impact. The audit sorts the results by severity into issues, warnings, and recommendations, so you immediately know what to fix first and what can wait. Feed Image Editor then lets you fix the most serious errors across dozens or hundreds of products at once.

The audit also provides two comparison perspectives that a standalone feed check cannot give you:

Comparison across platforms. Different ad platforms have different requirements. An image that is fine for Heureka may be rejected on Amazon. The audit shows how your feed performs against each platform individually and helps you spot issues specific to a particular platform.

Comparison with other online stores. The audit results include a percentile comparison with other online stores that use the tool. This way, you not only know where your problems are, but also how you compare to the competition.

How does Image Audit work?#

Image Audit works with a feed in XML or CSV format — the same file your online store uses to export product data to Mergado or to ad platforms. It reads the image URLs from the feed, downloads each image, and evaluates its technical and visual parameters.

How to run an audit#

1. Go to image-validator.com.

2. Enter your feed URL (a direct link to the XML or CSV file).

3. Select the ad platforms you want to audit for. You can select multiple platforms at once, and the audit will then check the requirements of all the platforms you selected.

4. Enter the email address the results should be sent to.

5. Run the audit. The results will arrive within 24 hours.

The audit is free and requires no registration or extension installation.

What the audit checks#

For each image in the feed, the tool evaluates several groups of parameters:

Availability — whether the image URL is valid and the image is accessible. This reveals missing images, broken URLs, and server errors (403, 404, 500).

Technical parameters — file format, dimensions in pixels, file size, file name, and the presence of disallowed characters in the URL.

Visual properties — background color and type, the presence of watermarks, the position and size of the product in the frame, image sharpness and quality, and background transparency.

Alternative images — the number of alternative product images and whether it meets the target platforms’ requirements or recommendations.

Content recommendations — parameters beyond ad platform requirements, such as file size in terms of SEO, compression level, or the option to add alternative images.

Results#

The results are delivered by email and remain available online for 14 days. They include a summary dashboard with the overall feed status and a detailed breakdown of errors sorted into three severity categories: issues, warnings, and recommendations. Each category shows the number of affected products, and you can click through to see the specific list of products with a description of the error.

If you ran the audit for multiple ad platforms at once, you can filter the results by platform. Only the errors relevant to that platform will be shown.

How to read the results#

The audit results are organized into two levels: a summary dashboard and a detailed error overview.

Summary dashboard#

The dashboard shows the overall feed status at a glance. It includes four main indicators:

Overall status — the percentage of products with at least one error that limits or blocks advertising. This number tells you how much room for improvement your feed has.

Errors found — the total number of errors in the feed, broken down by severity. A pie chart shows the ratio between issues, warnings, and recommendations.

Price comparison sites and ad channels — the percentage of products that fail to meet requirements, broken down by platform. This lets you quickly identify which ad platform your feed is least ready for.

Comparison with other online stores — a percentile comparison of your feed’s results with other online stores audited by the tool. It shows what percentage of online stores have better results than you. The lower the number, the better. This chart is only available in the results if you consent to the processing of personal data for analytical purposes in the audit form.

Below the dashboard, you will find basic audit statistics: the number of products in the feed, the number of unique image URLs, the total number of errors found, and the date the audit was run.

Three severity levels#

The detailed error overview is divided into three color-coded sections by severity:

Issues (red) — errors that directly block images from appearing in ads. A product with this kind of issue either will not appear on the ad platform at all, or will appear without an image. These errors need to be fixed first.

Warnings (orange) — errors that do not fully block advertising but limit it or increase the risk of rejection. Images with a warning may not display correctly on all platforms or in certain ad formats. We recommend fixing these as soon as possible after addressing the issues.

Recommendations (yellow) — parameters that do not fail to meet ad platform technical requirements, but improving them will increase image quality, campaign performance, or loading speed.

Error detail

Each error category shows the number of affected products. Clicking through to the detail shows the specific list of products with that error, including an image preview and a description of the problem. You can use this list directly as the basis for setting up a product query in Feed Image Editor and processing only the affected products.

Filtering by ad platform#

If you ran the audit for multiple ad platforms at once, you can filter the results by platform. Only the errors relevant to that platform will be shown, since different platforms have different requirements — the overall error overview and the platform-specific overview can differ significantly. Filtering is especially useful when you want to prioritize fixes for your most important ad channel.

Overview of the most common errors and how to fix them#

The audit sorts errors into three severity levels. For each category, it explains what the error means and how to fix it — most often directly in Feed Image Editor.

Issues#

Issues block images from appearing in ads. Fix these first.

Missing images — the product has no image URL element filled in in the feed. Feed Image Editor does not work with such products; missing images need to be added on the online store or feed side.

Unavailable images (403/404/500 error) — the image URL is filled in in the feed, but the image is not accessible. The server returns an error: the file does not exist, access is denied, or the server is not responding. The cause needs to be fixed on the online store or hosting side. Feed Image Editor skips unavailable images.

Corrupted file — the image file is accessible, but its content is corrupted and cannot be read or displayed. The image needs to be replaced with a working file on the online store side.

Warnings#

Warnings do not fully block advertising, but they limit it or increase the risk of rejection. Fix these after resolving the issues.

Unsupported format (MIME type) — ad platforms generally only accept JPEG and PNG, and in some cases WebP. Images in other formats (BMP, TIFF, GIF, and similar) are rejected. The solution is to convert to a supported format. Feed Image Editor sets the output format automatically as part of the template.

Unsupported dimensions — the image does not meet the minimum or maximum dimensions required by the target platform. The solution is to adjust the dimensions using a preset or custom format in Feed Image Editor (see the Output image dimensions chapter).

Invalid URL / disallowed characters in the URL — the image URL contains characters that ad platforms do not accept, such as spaces, accented characters, or special characters. Feed Image Editor fixes this automatically in the background.

Image file name — the file name contains disallowed characters or does not meet the conventions required by some platforms. As with the URL, Feed Image Editor fixes this automatically in the background.

File size — the image file exceeds the maximum size allowed for the platform. The solution is to compress the image. Feed Image Editor lets you set the compression level for output images.

Image background — the image has an unsuitable background: colored, transparent, or containing distracting elements. Most platforms require a white or neutral background. The solution is the Background removal feature in Feed Image Editor, followed by setting a replacement background color (see the Background removal and Background settings chapters).

Alternative images — the feed contains more alternative images than the platform allows, or the alternative images do not meet its requirements. You can adjust the number and selection of alternative images in Mergado, or using the alternative image template in Feed Image Editor (see the Template for alternative images chapter).

Watermarks — the images contain watermarks, supplier logos, or other graphic elements overlapping the product. The solution is the Watermark removal feature in Feed Image Editor (see the Watermark removal chapter).

Identical images — multiple products share the same image. This may be a feed error, or a deliberate use of a generic image where a product-specific image should be. This needs to be fixed on the online store side by adding the correct images for the relevant products.

Recommendations#

Recommendations are not directly tied to advertising conditions, but addressing them improves image quality and campaign performance. Fix these on an ongoing basis, based on priority.

Recommended dimensions — the image technically meets the minimum requirements but does not reach the recommended dimensions for the platform. Larger images display in higher quality and look better on high-resolution displays. The solution is the Resolution enhancement feature (see the Resolution enhancement chapter).

Product position, alignment, and size in the image — the product is not centered, is too small, or is poorly placed in the frame. Customers may overlook it or not be able to see it well. The solution is the Autocrop feature in Feed Image Editor (see the Autocrop chapter).

Image quality — the image is blurry, overexposed, underexposed, or has other visual defects. Poor-quality images reduce product credibility and conversion rates. You can partially correct this using brightness, contrast, and gamma filters, or automatic color balancing, in Feed Image Editor (see the Filters and Automatic color balancing chapters).

File size for SEO — the image file is unnecessarily large, which slows down product page loading and negatively affects SEO. The solution is to set a higher compression level for output images in Feed Image Editor.

Option to add alternative images — products have fewer alternative images than the platform allows. More alternative images give customers a better idea of the product and generally increase conversion rates. Alternative images need to be added on the online store side. Existing alternative images can then be edited in bulk using the alternative image template in Feed Image Editor.

Person detection — the image shows a person (a model), which some platforms either prohibit or apply specific rules to. It is worth identifying images with a person and replacing or supplementing them with purely product images where necessary. On some platforms, on the other hand, it is worth using these lifestyle photos, since they increase conversions.

Use of graphic templates — the product image contains no graphic elements (logo, label, CTA) to visually differentiate it from the competition. You can add graphic elements in bulk using graphic templates in Feed Image Editor (see the Template chapter).

Compression level — the image is compressed more than optimal and suffers from compression artifacts that reduce its visual quality. The solution is to set a lower compression level for output images in the template.

Product size in the image — the product takes up too small a portion of the image. Customers cannot see it clearly enough, which reduces the likelihood of a click or purchase. The solution is the Autocrop feature, possibly combined with adjusting the overflow width (see the Autocrop and Overflow width chapters).

Filtering results by ad platform#

Every ad platform and price comparison site has its own set of requirements for product images. What works for one platform may be rejected on another. That is why the audit does not just show a single combined overview of the results — it also lets you filter them by ad platform.

How filtering works#

After running an audit for multiple platforms at once, the results are available in two views:

Overall overview — shows all errors found, regardless of which platform they are relevant to. This is the broadest view of your feed’s status, and an error appears here if at least one of the audited platforms detects it.

Overview by platform — after selecting a specific platform, only the errors relevant to that ad platform are shown. The number of affected products and the list of errors can differ significantly from the overall overview, since each platform checks different parameters and has different limits.

Why results differ from platform to platform#

Differences between platforms are common and can be significant. Typical examples:

• Minimum image dimensions vary. What Google Shopping accepts, Amazon may reject.

• Some platforms prohibit images with a person (a model), while others prefer them.

• The maximum file size varies from platform to platform.

• Each platform has a different number of allowed alternative images.

As a result, the overall overview may show more errors than actually prevent advertising on your primary platform, and conversely, it may hide errors specific to a platform that the overall overview does not cover in enough depth.

How to use filtering in practice#

If you advertise primarily on one platform, filter the results by that platform and focus first on the errors relevant to it. Errors from the overall overview that disappear after filtering are not relevant to your primary channel and can be addressed with lower priority.

If you advertise on multiple platforms, we recommend reviewing the results for each one separately and building a list of fixes ranked by how many platforms a given error affects. Errors common to multiple platforms generally have the highest priority.

FAQ#

Is Image Audit really free, or does it have some hidden limit?
The audit is free and requires no registration.

How long does it take to get the results?
The results are delivered within 24 hours of running the audit. Smaller feeds are usually processed faster.

Do I need to have my feed connected to Mergado to use the audit?
No. Image Audit is a standalone tool and only needs your feed URL in XML or CSV format, regardless of whether the feed goes through Mergado. However, connecting to Mergado is required to bulk-fix the detected errors using Feed Image Editor.

Can I audit a feed for multiple ad platforms at once?
Yes. When you run an audit, you can select any number of platforms at once. You can then filter the results by a specific platform, or view them as an overall overview across all the platforms you selected.

What does it mean if a product has a “warning” but otherwise seems fine?
A warning means the image fails to meet a requirement that may limit how it is displayed or increase the risk of rejection, even though it will not be blocked from advertising immediately. We recommend fixing these errors, since their impact can vary from platform to platform and may become stricter over time.

How often should I run the audit?
It is a good idea to run the audit after every major change to your images or feed structure, and then regularly, to catch new errors that arise when adding products from new suppliers or making changes to your online store.

I received the audit results by email, but the link no longer works. How do I access them again?
The audit results are available online for as long as the link sent by email is valid, which is 14 days. If the link has expired, the easiest solution is to run the audit again. The process is free and takes no more than a few dozen minutes.