Low image quality no longer pulls Merchant Center products from ads and free listings, months into removing manual placements Meta shows advertisers four ways to keep control, and Ahold Delhaize takes some systems offline after a cyber incident
Today's 3 verified stories: Google added a note to a Merchant Center help page saying products with blurry, pixelated or low resolution images stay eligible for ads and free listings, while enforcement of a 500 x 500 pixel minimum for every product image starts on January 31, 2027. Having removed manual placement selection from engagement, leads, app promotion and sales ads over recent months, Meta now points advertisers to creative customization, value rules, account-level exclusions and partnership ads. Ahold Delhaize switched off some systems after a security issue on its network on October 12, 2026, and on October 13 said it was starting a controlled restart of certain systems. The detailed look at each story, its sources and what it means for your business lives on its own page.
Low image quality no longer pulls Merchant Center products from ads and free listings
On October 12, 2026, Search Engine Roundtable reported that Google had edited the Merchant Center help document behind the Low image quality [image_link] issue. A new note on the page says products whose images are blurry, pixelated or low resolution keep showing in ads and free listings. The edit was first noticed by Hana Kobzova of PPC News Feed; the earlier version warned that such a product could be held back until its image got better. In practice the flag turns from a delivery block into a performance warning, while Google still ties image quality to engagement and clicks on the same page. Enforcement of a 500 x 500 pixel minimum for every product image starts on January 31, 2027.
Months into removing manual placements, Meta shows advertisers four ways to keep control
Writing in Social Media Today on October 12, 2026, Andrew Hutchinson reported that Meta has shared guidance on the changes to its placement settings. Meta has spent recent months phasing out manual placement options: controls are gone for engagement, leads, app promotion and sales ads, while awareness and traffic campaigns keep them for the time being. The guidance points to four routes: media customization that sets aspect ratio, copy, URL and delivery settings for each asset, placement value rules that push bids up or down, account-level placement exclusions defined per objective, and partnership ads running with Advantage+ placements. PPC Land reported that advertisers had noticed on August 25 that the placements control had vanished from Ads Manager.
Ahold Delhaize takes some systems offline after a cyber incident
Ahold Delhaize, which runs over 9,400 stores in Europe, the US and Indonesia, said on October 12, 2026 that it was dealing with a security issue on its network and pulled some systems offline to protect them. Stores stayed open, but according to BleepingComputer shoppers at Albert Heijn, Etos and Gall & Gall in the Netherlands and at Delhaize in Belgium could not get websites, apps or customer service channels to work, and Stop & Shop employees struggled to reach their schedules and pay stubs. In its October 13 update the company acknowledged disruption for customers, employees and partners and said a controlled re-launch of certain systems was getting under way.
The agenda moves fast, the system stays calm.
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