Warning Affects: description data quality

Fix “HTML content in description” on Google Merchant Center

Description contains HTML tags. Google accepts plain text only — HTML doesn't render as formatting; the raw tags display in some surfaces.

What you see in Google Merchant Center:

HTML content in description

API identifier: html_in_description

HTML in description doesn't render as formatting; the raw tags display in some surfaces and break layout. Plain text only — paragraphs separated by newlines, no markup beyond basic punctuation.

The exception is Shopify and similar platforms where descriptions are stored with HTML for storefront rendering. The feed-generation step needs to strip HTML before output. Standard HTML-to-plain-text conversion handles this; many feed tools do it automatically but some pipelines miss the step.

For description content needing visual structure (bullet points, headings), use the product_highlight field or rely on the description's plain-text paragraph breaks. Don't try to encode visual structure in description itself.

Top causes

  • 1

    Shopify or WooCommerce exports including HTML formatting

  • 2

    Manufacturer descriptions with embedded markup

  • 3

    Bullet point formatting using <li> instead of plain text

  • 4

    Affiliate or tracking link tags accidentally inserted

How to fix it

  1. 1

    Strip HTML in feed generation

    Run descriptions through an HTML-stripper before output. Convert <br> to newlines, drop other tags.

  2. 2

    Re-export feed

    Force-fetch. Items typically clear within 30 minutes.

Related fields

FAQ

Can I keep formatting in the description?

Plain newlines for paragraphs, plain hyphens for bullets. Anything that needs markup gets stripped.

Last reviewed: 26 May 2026

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