Sale, but no one sees it? Discount prices show at Google
We show you when Google actually displays sale prices, which mistakes you should avoid, and how you can get clean, visible discounts with Label Up.
‘Why is the sale price not showing as crossed out in my listings?’ is a question that our Google CSS customers at Label Up have asked us several times.
Because many merchants stumble at exactly this point: they lower their prices, expect visible discounts in their Shopping ads – and Google remains silent. What looks like a technical error at first glance is in truth often a small but decisive misconception in the feed setup.
In this article, we will show you what requirements must be met so that Google actually displays your sale prices, why an incorrectly maintained feed makes your offers invisible – and how you can do it better with Label Up.
The difference strike-through prices make in Google Shopping Ads
In the Google Shopping feed, every detail is crucial – and the crossed-out price (‘strike-through’) is one of the strongest conversion drivers of all. It makes the discount visible at a glance. Users immediately recognise that they are saving – and are more likely to click. Studies show that offers with clearly visualised price advantages achieve significantly higher click-through rates.
Google rewards this as well, by the way: ads with high relevance and CTR perform better in the auction system. Concretely, this means: when your sale is visible, it pays off twice – more traffic, better rankings.
But here lies the catch: the strike-through display is not automatically guaranteed. Even if a product is discounted, Google does not always show it.
Basic requirements for the sale price in Google Shopping
Simply adding the sale_price to the feed is not enough – Google has clear conditions for when the crossed-out price is displayed at all. And they are stricter than many think.
For the strike-through to work, the following criteria must be met:
The sale price must be lower than the regular price.
The discount must be at least 5% – but not more than 90%.
The regular price must have been active for at least 30 days in the last 200 days.
The price and the sale price must be visible on the landing page. Transparency is mandatory – otherwise Google will reject it.
And yet: even if you do everything right, the display is not guaranteed.
Google decides dynamically which annotations are shown – depending on relevance, performance, and data quality.
With the right setup, you can ensure that you even get the chance of visibility in the first place.
How Google evaluates your sale: how to avoid invisible discounts
In order for your offer to be considered a genuine discount, your original price must have been active for at least 30 days within the last 200 days. These days do not have to be consecutive – but they must appear in the system.
With this, Google wants to protect users from fake deals. If you simply enter a fantasy price as an ‘RRP’ and then generously discount it, the algorithm checks this – and won't even display your ‘deal’ as a deal in the first place.
Sale prices in practice:
Imagine you want to start a discount campaign for a product.
Normal price: £59.99, sale price: £39.99
You think: ‘Easy’, just change the price in the feed to £39.99 & think you are done.
But what happens? -Google does not show a crossed-out price. No sale tag. No visibility.
Why? -Because you never used the sale_price attribute.
Google saved the cheaper price directly as the new standard price. In the price history, it looks as if the product was never more expensive. No discount. No strike-through.
If you now try to correct the whole thing – i.e. change price back to £59.99, sale_price to £39.99 – it is unfortunately too late. Google no longer recognises a ‘genuine’ discount and will not play out your ad as a sale.
Google Shopping Tip: If you plan to discount products, stick to a clean price history. Work with price + sale_price from the start, instead of messing with the price value directly. This keeps your discount credible – also for the algorithm.
Other common Google Shopping mistakes that you should definitely avoid can be found here: How to avoid the top 10 Google Shopping mistakes |
Other reasons for missing strike-through prices on Google Shopping
Even if price and sale_price are maintained correctly – Google is not showing your discount? Then it could be due to one of these points:
1. Never listed the full price?
Many shops rely on cheap prices from the very start – clever for conversions, bad for the algorithm.
If your product never had the regular price in the feed, Google lacks the reference value to recognise a discount. No ‘strike-through’, no sale display.
2. Have you always adjusted the price directly?
If you have previously managed your discounts simply via the price attribute (instead of sale_price), Google has no comparison data. If you switch to sale_price now, you will need patience – it takes time for the historical data basis to be met.
3. Landing page does not match the feed
Google checks whether the specified price and the sale price are also visible on the product page.
Is the comparison missing or does the discount not seem credible? → No annotation.
4. Technical inconsistencies in the feed
Missing currencies, faulty updates, contradictory details – all of this can confuse Google.
The motto is: Clean feed = Visible sale.
Other Google Shopping annotations for more visibility:
Free & Fast Delivery
Possible display texts:
Free delivery
Free 2-day delivery
What you need for this:
Free delivery must be correctly stored in the Merchant Center – either directly or via the feed attributes.
Your landing page and the checkout must clearly reflect this.
Delivery times must be realistic and precisely specified in the feed as well as on the website.
Google Shopping Tip: The more transparent and consistent your delivery information, the higher the chance of the display. |
Price Drop
The ‘was’ price below the current price – a visual eye-catcher.
Conditions:
The current price is at least 5% below the average price of the last 60 days.
Is detected automatically – no sale_price needed.
Also shows a small ‘Price Drop’ badge.
Important: Consistency and feed hygiene count here as well. Erratically fluctuating prices without a clear history? → No display.
Other product attributes
Material, size, colour, special features – Google can display additional information with complete product data.
Prerequisite: All relevant attributes must be present in the feed and appear on the landing page. The more relevant fields you maintain cleanly, the more annotations you can trigger.
Special caution applies to the returns policy. You must correctly store your return policies in the Merchant Center under ‘Delivery & Returns’ – and they must match the details on your website 1:1.
The best practice formula is:
Clean policy = Trust building + higher click opportunities.
In summary: Google Shopping tips to take away
Discounts that nobody sees do not bring you any revenue. And especially in the highly competitive Google Shopping environment, it is not the highest discount that decides, but the most visible.
In order for your deals to perform, you need more than a cheap price – you need a cleanly maintained, data-strong setup.
Always use price + sale_price, not just a single price value.
Pay attention to the 30-of-200-days price history before you start sale campaigns.
Keep your feed & your landing pages in sync – for prices, attributes & policies.
Understand that Google only shows sale displays and annotations when the algorithm has trust in your data quality.
With tools and the SetUp from LabelUp, you can improve your Google Shopping ads, structure your sale logic cleanly and, with smart labels, ensure that exactly the products are visible that really deserve it.
Further tools & articles:
The Labelizer – automated product segmentation for your PMAX campaigns
Google CSS explained: how to become a partner yourself – with white label CSS from Label Up
About
Label Up is a tech provider from Vienna that helps agencies and shops achieve better results with its own Google Shopping CSS and smart label-based optimization.
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