Google Merchant Center Suspended? Here’s Why & How To Fix It

It’s another day for your eCommerce venture. You are all set to begin your day with a hot cup of coffee and your emails. However, one specific email has you triggered. Sent by Google, this email informs you that your Merchant Center account has been suspended. 

Just like that? Where did I go wrong?

Yes, we understand the many questions that have popped up in your head by now. Understanding Google Merchant Center is already difficult, and now this. Unfortunately, there are barely any in-depth explanations available on what went wrong or how to fix it.

Relax, we have a solution! 

This Google Merchant Center suspended guide walks you through the reasons why your account might have been suspended and suggests the steps to correct it. 

You can quickly examine the different aspects of suspension and, more importantly, fix them without much hindrance.

Continue reading to know more. 

What is Google Merchant Center Suspension? 

Google’s search engine and partnering websites aim to provide visitors with a secure shopping experience. The search engine has a well-defined set of rules, policies, and regulations to ensure that its aim aligns with its services. 

If any merchant account violates these rules more often, it might be suspended from the Google Merchant Center.

Common Reasons for Google Merchant Center Suspension and How You Can Fix Them

While there might be numerous reasons for your account’s suspension, we have tried to compile a list of the most common reasons why Google Merchant Center accounts get suspended. Let’s have a look. 

💡Note: If your product data on your Merchant Center account violates any Google Shopping policies, Google will send you a warning mail. A warning will also be visible in your Merchant Center account under the diagnostics tab. In certain circumstances, Google may suspend your account immediately without prior notice.

Copyrighted Trademarks or Content:

Reason: One of the most common reasons for suspension is the use or sale of copyrighted content. Violations of copyrights can include using images from other websites or product descriptions that your competitors are already using. 

If you are not authorized to sell a product as a vendor of another company or a third-party retailer, your account might face suspension. 

Solution: Go organic. Avoid using the same images or text as your manufacturer or distributor. Additionally, when you create your own product data, it can be customized and tailored to better fit your audiences, thus improving the quality of your ads and making them highly impactful. 

You can also attach a form for each certified product (if any). This is one of the primary areas to notice while working on your Merchant Center account.

Violation of Google Ads Policy or Shopping Ads policy

Reason: Google Ads Policy or Shopping Ads policy is highlighted by Google and is another common reason why Google Merchant Center accounts get suspended. You can check out Google’s Shopping ad policies to ensure your products align with the requirements. 

Google has strict policies for paid and free ad listings (including products crawled from the web or displayed in search results). Some of these policies include avoiding sexual content in your ads and prohibiting the sale of alcohol. 

If your account is found to be continuously breaking these rules, Google will suspend it. 

Solution: Google reviews Merchant Center accounts regularly. If your account does not comply with its policies, Google will email you with details about the problem, a simple guide on how to fix it, and a deadline. This period is known as the ‘warning period.’

Your account will be re-reviewed automatically at the end of the warning period. During this period, ensure you remove the products that are causing issues.

If you have made the necessary changes to your account, you can also request a review. 

To request a review (Google Merchant Center Classic): 

Step 1. On your Google Merchant Center account, click ‘Products’ in the navigation menu. Select ‘Diagnostics’.

Step 2. Navigate to the ‘Account Issues’ tab.

Step 3. Next, click ‘Request Review’ once you have located the issue. click on ‘I fixed the issue.’ 

To request a review (Google Merchant Center Next):

If you have upgraded to Google Merchant Center Next, you can follow these steps to request a review: 

Step 1. On your products page, navigate to the ‘Needs attention’ tab. 

Step 2. Click on ‘Request Review’ and ‘I fixed the issue’. 

Alternatively, if, for any reason, your products do not align with Google’s identification of the issue (for example, Google informs you that you are selling prescription medication while you are actually selling handmade candles), you must provide detailed product information and reach out to Google’s support before the warning period expires.

To provide feedback on Google Merchant Center Classic and Next: 

Step 3. Click on ‘I disagree with the issue.’ You might be required to provide additional information to support your claim. 

Please note that you can only request a disagreement twice before your account is pushed under cooldown. During the cooldown period, the request review button will be disabled, and you cannot request a review for one week. 

Each time you attempt to fix your issue and request a re-review after the cooldown period, your next cooldown period might be extended by another week. 

💡Google may take up to seven business days to finish reviewing your account; you will be notified via email once the review process has begun and once it has been completed.

Misrepresentation of Product or Self 

Reason: Misrepresentation of self or product counts as a severe issue. 

While Google’s definition of what can be cited as misrepresentation is slightly vague, here are a few things that you must avoid getting  a misrepresentation error:

1. Omitting relevant information, such as the (total) price of a product, lacking relevant product details, lacking shipping information, taxes, etc. 
2. Promotional Content: Promoting products that are not in inventory, promoting deals that are not available for users, misleading promotions, misinformation regarding sales, etc.
3. False Claims: Advocating false claims about what your product can actually do or falsely claiming about affiliations with organizations or companies that might mislead a customer.
4. Engaging in harmful business practices: Misstating information about a product, removing negative reviews, phishing user information, etc.

Solution: Misrepresentation is discrepancies between your business’s claims and factual information. To avoid misrepresentation, you must ensure: 

1. Your website content and business information match your submitted data to Google.
2. You provide an excellent user experience on your website (including the home page, product landing pages, etc.)
3. You have provided all the relevant information required to make a purchase that is not misleading, false, or factually incorrect. 

To avoid misrepresentation, ensure that all data about your brand available on the internet is accurate and current. Additionally, you want to ensure that the data you’ve submitted to Google Merchant Center is accurate as well. 

You must ensure that you: 

• Remove any products or product data that might violate Google’s policies. 
• Update your details on Google Merchant Center as per changes in your brand or on your website. 
• Update details on your website to ensure it doesn’t violate any policies.

Once you have ensured all the information is in line with Google’s requirements, you can request a review.

Circumventing: Multiple Websites

Reason: Google considers circumventing (i.e., having multiple websites for the same business) a severe abuse of the Google ad network. 

‘Cloaking,’ where you show different content to specific users and not Google) to avoid violation of policies or suspension. It falls under circumvention, which is yet another serious violation that can lead to immediate suspension of your Merchant Center account. 

This also includes intentionally making it difficult for Google to review your site and certain pages by manipulating them or restricting access. It also includes redirects to malicious websites or dynamic DNS to switch content. 

You can read more about how Google manages the abuse of ad networks here.

Solution: Ensure that your business has no more than one website. Additionally, if you see someone impersonating your website, let Google know with verified details. 

Conduct a detailed audit of all your website content online to better gauge the issue. If required, escalate your query with Google support to get help from one of the executives. 

You can also seek help from a third-party representative or agency with expertise in Google Ads or experience resolving similar issues. 

Do know that it is quite challenging to get your account unsuspended once it has been suspended due to circumventing. 

💡If you wish to manage multiple accounts from different domains using a singular Merchant Center account, you can apply for an ‘Advanced’ Merchant Center account.

Restricted Businesses 

Reason: If your business clashes with any of Google’s ‘Restricted Businesses’ categories, you are highly susceptible to a suspension. These include:  

• Gambling
• Healthcare or medicines
• Alcohol 
• Firearms or dangerous weapons

And more uncommon ones, such as: 

• Dealing with Government documents or services (unauthorized)
• Bail Bond services
• Third-party technical support and services
• Addiction treatments
• Weightloss

And many others. 

Solution: You can check the complete list to verify whether your business falls under the ‘restricted businesses’ criteria. If so, you must contact Google’s representatives for further support. 

Tax & Shipping Errors 

Reason: Tax and Shipping errors are yet another common reason why Google Merchant Center accounts get suspended frequently. Merchants that do not provide adequate details about their tax and shipping rates to Google Merchant Center. 

Alternatively, merchants often make changes to their website and forget to update these changes on their Merchant Center account. In such cases, the discrepancy between your website and Merchant Center account might be a valid reason for suspension. 

Solution: To avoid suspension, you must provide detailed information about your tax and shipping rates to Google Merchant Center. If your account has already been suspended, you can update your tax and shipping rates on Google Merchant Center to match your website. 

If shipping costs on your website are not fixed or change frequently, overestimate the cost and add it to your Merchant Center account. 

To update your Shipping settings on Google Merchant Center: 

Step #1 Log in to your Merchant Center account. 

Step #2 Locate ‘🔧’ and under ‘Tools’, click on the ‘Shipping Services’ tab.

And there you have it! Here, you can add different shipping options, rates and other required details. 

Tax Settings will vary depending on the country you’re advertising your products. Additional information is available to help you with these settings. 

Once you have updated your settings, you can get your account reviewed.

Website needs improvement

Reason: Google is transparent in its policies about providing its users with a high-quality experience. If your website has incomplete pages, uses templated text, breaks links, and has empty product categories, and lacks necessary website pages such as shipping, taxes, returns, privacy policy, terms of service, or ‘About us’ pages, then it needs improvement. 

Incomplete or missing pages can reduce customer satisfaction, decrease user engagement, and ultimately harm your business. 

Solution: If your website lacks these pages, you must immediately update your website and add all these pages. Moreover, you can go the extra mile and link all the relevant pages in an email and send it to Google when you submit your account for review. 

Additionally, you want to ensure that these pages are easily accessible for search engines and your customers. Remember, a positive website experience for a first-time customer can turn a click into a conversion and build a positive brand image.

• Billing and Payment requirements: 

Reason: If your account’s bills have not been paid for an extended period or if a chargeback was made to Google more than once, your account might get suspended. 

Your account can also be suspended if Google determines that you have abused promotional codes. Last, and one of the more common reasons why merchants have experienced suspension, is when Google detects suspicious payment activity on your account. 

Suspicious payment activity includes: if the card associated with your account is being used for multiple accounts, if fraudulent transactions have occurred on your card, or if your card address and the billing address have discrepancies, Google considers it suspicious. 

Solution: For billing and payment-related suspensions, Google will request payment method verification within 30 days of suspension. Ensure you verify all details. 

Google might ask for details such as your Legal name, the name used on your payments profile, your address, your date of birth, an image of your government ID, proof of address, a picture of your payment method, etc. 

You can also request a verification code:

Simply log in to your Google Ads account and navigate to ‘Complete Payment verification’ on the right-side panel. Follow the instructions and verify all of your payment methods. 

To verify your payment method using a verification code,

1. Sign on to your payment method issuer’s website and open up your transaction history. 
2. Look for a $1.95 (or similar amounts based on your currency) which has been paid to ‘GOOGLE.’ 
3. The last 6 digits following the word ‘GOOGLE’ can be entered on your Google Ads account as your verification code. 

The charge is only temporary and will be refunded within 30 days. You might not receive the code immediately, but you will receive it within 7 days of requesting it. 

🚨Note: Once your account is unsuspended, re-submit your product feeds and any additional data to Google. This will get your products back online and increase the visibility that might have dwindled during account suspension.

An important step to remember while facing any of these problems is to remain patient. Remember that your account might take a long time to return to normalcy or become fully functional in less than a week.  Being patient will guarantee clarity of thought and ensure that you take the proper steps to get your account unsuspended.

What Not To Do To Reactivate Your Suspended Account? 

1. Do not delete campaigns or ads. You will only lose out on your hard work. It doesn’t impact the suspension unless it has been explicitly stated as the main issue. 
2. Do not create a new account. This falls under circumventing and will cause more issues. 
3. Under any circumstances, do not submit multiple appeals. Multiple appeals will prolong your waiting period, cause confusion on your end and might lead to further issues. 

Conclusion

The best way to get out of a Google Merchant Center account suspension is to avoid it at all costs entirely. Stay active within the community and corroborate with fellow merchants to stay in the loop about updated policies and provide assistance wherever possible.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the common reasons for Google Merchant Center suspension?

There can be multiple scenarios for Google Merchant Center suspension. These may include copyrighted trademarks or content, misrepresentation of product or self, missing or inadequate return and refund policies, lack of contact details, misleading promotions, unsupported claims about products or your business, inaccurate product data, pricing inconsistencies, listing of adult products without proper categorization or policy compliance, and other policy violations.

Make sure you contact Google’s helpline to recover your Google Merchant Center Suspension and learn more about the issue.

How do I contact support at Google Merchant Center?

You can visit Google’s Merchant Center helpline via their website support at or reach them at 1-866-2-Google (1-866-246-6453). You can call them between 6:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. PST, Monday through Friday. 

How can I resolve a suspension due to misrepresentation?

Misrepresentation issues result from inconsistent or inaccurate information available on the web about your store. This can also entail product data inaccuracies or un-updated changes on Google Merchant Center. 

To combat this, avoid making inaccurate claims, ensure that all products have consistent information across all sources, and frequently update your product return policies and contact information on Google Merchant Center. 

What steps should I follow to request a review?

Before making a review, ensure you have updated and corrected all the necessary information on your Google Merchant Center account. To request a review, log into your Google Merchant Center account. Locate the ‘Account Issues’ tab in the ‘Products’ section. Click on ‘Request Review’ and wait while your account gets reviewed. 

Google may take up to seven business days to finish the reviewing process. You will be notified via email once the process has begun and after completion. 

How can I prevent future suspensions?

Google aims to provide high-quality experiences for all its users. To avoid future suspensions tactfully, ensure you stay updated with the latest changes in Google’s policies. Update your product data on Google Merchant Center each time it is updated on your website using a product feed. 

You must have clear business policies, and have dedicated pages for shipping, returns and other questions that your customers might have. Aim to provide an excellent customer experience. 

Does a suspension affect my organic search rankings?

No, a suspension will not harm your organic search rankings. However, issues within your products or store (which might have caused the suspension in the first place) might harm your rankings. It is advisable to fix them right away. 

Can I contact Google for more help with my suspension?

Yes, you can and should contact Google support for any assistance you require. You can contact them directly using the contact options available in the Google Merchant Center account, or you can call the Google Ads helpline. Patience and persistence while communicating will often help resolve issues more effectively​.

What should I avoid doing after my account is suspended?

After your account is suspended, you must avoid deleting your ads or ad campaigns. You must also avoid creating a new account or switching domains to bypass the suspension. This can lead to a permanent ban. It is also advisable to avoid submitting multiple appeals as this could prolong the waiting period. 

Fix the issues in the best manner and only then apply for an appeal.