How to force google merchant center to recrawl bigcommerce store for updated GITNs
We linked our bigcommerce store to google merchant center about a month ago. was pretty easy. got about 2800 products listed no problems. the remaining 5600 had bad GITN errors. we contacted BC and they say its not their problem.
so we downloaded the affected products from GMC and noticed that MPN’s were in our bigcommerce fields for UPC’s, which obviously is causing that error.
we have since fixed the fields in bigcommerce data feed but cannot figure out how to indicate to the GMC crawler to re-check the GITN fields and apply fixed data to those product listings.
we set up GMC to “update” our products daily – which it does – but it does not check the GITN / UPC fields, so the GITN / UPC’s are not updated with our fixes. so we are looking to see if there is a way to do that.
someone had mentioned that we could just delete those 5600 products from GMC and they “may” add them back properly the next day. But that sounds kind of scary.
anyone have any ideas about this? thanks in advance!
The short answer is:
Your assumption that GMC is not recrawling the GTIN field is correct for the specific way you are updating.
When using a scheduled fetch or a basic API connector, Google often caches identifiers like GTIN and will not re-process them unless you change the product ID itself, or, crucially, submit the data via the Content API for Shopping with an explicit update request.
The quickest, least scary fix is to use a supplemental feed in Merchant Center to overwrite the bad GTIN/UPC values with the correct ones.
You can create a Google Sheet with only the column headers “id” and “gtin”, paste the IDs and corrected GTINs for the 5600 products, and link that sheet to your primary BigCommerce feed.
Once the supplemental feed is processed, the errors should clear up.
The long answer is:
That is a classic Merchant Center behavior, and the BigCommerce app is likely just sending a basic product data update that doesn’t trigger the deep GTIN validation check.
Deleting 5600 products and hoping they come back is too risky.
The solution lies in how you force the update.
Your most immediate fix is the supplemental feed route described above, as it is a safe, non-destructive, and quick way to fix one specific field without touching your main BigCommerce feed structure.
Looking to the future, this is precisely the type of headache that is eliminated by moving to a professional, API-based feed solution.
Platforms like BigCommerce have robust APIs and webhooks that signal an item has changed.
A modern feed management system uses the Content API for Shopping to directly update your product data.
For example, when you change a GTIN in BigCommerce, the platform’s webhook instantly notifies a third-party service (like Stape or a custom solution on Google Cloud Platform) which then uses the Content API to send an explicit, targeted “Products: update” call to Merchant Center for only that single product ID.
This process is instant and guaranteed, unlike relying on Google’s sometimes sluggish daily scheduled fetch.
It also allows for complete control and error-proofing: before the data even hits Merchant Center, you can use the Content API to check for valid GTIN formats or map your confusing MPN-in-UPC-field scenario correctly and consistently.
This architecture, which leverages BigCommerce’s API, the Content API for Shopping, and a lightweight server like a Google Tag Manager Server Container, is an excellent, cheap, and long-term solution.
It completely bypasses the limitations of the standard BigCommerce feed connector, prevents caching issues on crucial identifier fields, and provides real-time updates for things like price and inventory.
Furthermore, by integrating your advertising via the Google Ads API and using the server environment for tracking events, you can create a complete, resilient system that handles product feeds, conversion tracking via enhanced purchase events, and campaign reporting all with a single, reliable architecture, making frustrating, manual fixes like this one a thing of the past.
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