Questions · Evaluate
Is an old feed a problem if my catalogue rarely changes?
A genuinely unchanged catalogue with old timestamps is a weaker signal than a changed one, which is why this is reported at medium severity rather than high. It is still worth confirming the feed reflects current prices, because the case where it silently stopped regenerating looks identical from outside.
Why it happens
A feed is a promise that the fields in it are current. Agents treat it that way, which is the point of publishing one. When the promise is broken, the agent quotes a price you no longer charge or recommends an item you no longer have, and the shopper discovers it at your checkout.
Stale feeds are usually a scheduling artefact rather than a bug. A feed regenerated nightly is up to a day wrong, and a feed regenerated weekly cannot survive a sale.
This comes up at the Evaluate stage. The full treatment, including how to reproduce it and what to change, is on Product feed is out of date with the storefront.
Related questions
Run a free scan and find out which of these your store actually hits.