Avada SEO Image Optimizer and similar speed apps add JavaScript lazy-loading that moves the real image URL into a data-src attribute and leaves a placeholder in src until a shopper scrolls. If the lazy-load lacks native loading="lazy" or a <noscript> fallback, Googlebot can crawl the placeholder and never see the real image, so your product photos quietly disappear from Google Images. Nothing is deleted — the images still render for visitors — and because the change lives in injected theme markup with no version history, there is no one-click revert.
If you didn't already have a backup, those old values are gone — Shopify keeps no history.
The steps below recover what you can. To make the next time a 1-click undo instead of hours of CSV work: a daily snapshot of every SEO field. Free to monitor, no card — and SEO Vault only reads your store unless you click restore.
Protect my SEO free — never lose it again →Source: Google Search Central — "Fix lazy-loaded content" (lazy-loading best practices) and "Google Images SEO best practices".
Never lose your SEO to an app again
SEO Vault keeps a daily snapshot of every SEO field on your store — meta titles, descriptions, alt-text, tags, handles (products AND collections) — and emails you the moment something changes in bulk, with the likely app responsible. One click restores yesterday's state, just the SEO fields. Free to monitor and get alerted; $14/mo for 1-click restore.
Protect my SEO — free →