How to Fix the Google Merchant Center Website Not Claimed Error

If you see the ‘Google Merchant Center website Not Claimed’ status in your account, know that it is not just a red flag; it’s a fundamental step in setting up your Google Shopping ads and reaching customers. Failing to verify and claim your online store in Google Merchant Center might result in product disapprovals, account suspensions—such as those related to restricted categories like health products—and ultimately zero product visibility.

In this guide, we will understand the importance of verifying and claiming your website, break down all the methods to verify website, and equip you with the knowledge to troubleshoot common GMC errors and issues. 

Verifying and Claiming a Website in GMC 

In this section, we will discuss why verifying and claiming a website is important for a merchant and the purpose of doing it.

What do ‘verify’ and ‘claim’ mean in Google Merchant Center?

Verifying a website in Google Merchant Center is a critical process a merchant has to perform to let Google know they own the website and can make changes to it. 

Claiming a website in Google Merchant Center means establishing a relation between your Google Merchant Center account and website.

Note: You must perform both verification and claiming to successfully associate the website URL with your Google Merchant Center account. You can claim your website only after verifying it.

Importance of website claiming

• When you verify and claim your website, you establish ownership with Google and gain complete control over product data. 
• A successful verification and claiming process prevents unauthorized parties from submitting Google Shopping products for your website.
• It ensures that product data published under your domain comes from your Google Merchant Center account alone.

Without verification and claiming:

• Google might disapprove of your products.
• Your account could face suspensions due to issues like price mismatch, mismatched product details, or unverified website information.
• You won’t be able to run Shopping ads.

Once your website is verified and claimed, you can link your Google Merchant Center account with other tools such as Google Ads. 

Debunking common misconceptions

Myth: Verification and claiming are the same.

Reality: Verification and claiming are different, and business owners must perform both steps.

Myth: You can associate one website with multiple Google Merchant Center accounts.

Reality: You cannot claim a single website URL for multiple Google Merchant Center accounts. 

Myth: The claiming process is complete when you add the website to GA4 and Search Console.

Reality: Adding a website to Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager is insufficient to claim your website. You must claim it inside your Google Merchant Center account.

Myth: Product URLs and your domain can be different.

Reality: Your feed’s product URLs must match the claimed website domain. Otherwise, Google disapproves of your listings.

Myth: You can remove the HTML tag in code once you claim the website.

Reality: Verification and claim must always be active, which means you cannot remove the HTML tag/meta tag inside the code after claiming your website.

Methods to Verify and Claim Your Website in Google Merchant Center

To verify and claim your website, you must perform some actions in your Google Merchant Center account. There are five methods to choose from to verify and claim your website in Google Merchant Center. Let’s explore all of them one by one. 

Log in to your Google Merchant Center account. If you haven’t verified your website, you will see the following screen on the right-hand side of the page. To complete the process, click on ‘ confirm online store.’

In the next step, you must enter your website URL. You will then see the following options to verify your website. Remember to enter the exact URL along with http or https. 

Method 1: Get a Code sent to your Business Email

When you select the email verification method, Google sends a confirmation code to your email ID associated with the website. 

You must enter the code in the text area provided (refer to the image below) and click on ‘Verify your online store.’ Once the website is verified, proceed with the claiming process.

Method 2: Use your E-commerce Platform

You can choose this method for e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix, etc. 

Step 1: In this method, Google provides a meta tag you can paste into your online store and verify. To do so, click the ‘copy to clipboard’ icon (refer to the image below). 

Verifying and claiming a website differs depending on your e-commerce platform. For demonstration purposes, we will use Shopify. 

Step 2: Go to your store >> click on online store >> Themes >> Live theme >> click on three dots in the left-hand-side corner of the page and click ‘edit code.’

Step 3: In the layout folder >> click on themes.liquid file >> paste the meta tag before the </head> section. And save the changes.

Step 4: Return to your Google Merchant Center account and click ‘Verify your online store.’

Step 4: Once verified, click “Claim website.”

Method 3: Add an HTML Tag or File

There is a different process for adding an HTML tag and uploading a file. 

HTML Tag

Step 1: Select the “Add an HTML tag or upload an HTML file to your website” option.

Step 2: Choose “Add an HTML tag” and copy the meta tag. To copy, click on the ‘copy to clipboard icon.’

The next step is to paste the code into your website. To do so, you must edit the HTML files of your website. Locate your homepage’s HTML <head> section and paste the meta tag before the <body> tag. Remember to save the changes.

Step 3: Return to Google Merchant Center and click “Verify your online store.” After the verification is successful, proceed with the website claim. 

Tip: If you’ve already created a feed, you must fetch it after you’ve claimed a website. If you use the Content API, you must upload your Google Shopping feed again so bots can recrawl it. If you’re new to creating a Shopping feed, we have a detailed guide on Google Shopping feed requirements.

HTML File Upload

Step 1: Select “Upload an HTML file to your website.”

Step 2: Download the provided HTML file.

Step 3: Upload this file to the root directory of your website

Step 4: Click “Verify website.”

Method 4: Use Google Tag Manager

Step 1: Select the Google Tag Manager option.

Step 2: Ensure your container in Google Tag Manager has ‘publish’ permissions and the <noscript> code is present right after the <body> section.

Step 3: Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the verification. The Google Search Console team will send you a confirmation email to proceed with the claiming process.

Step 4: Once verified, click “Claim website.”

Method 5: Use Google Analytics

Step 1: Select the Google Analytics verification option.

Step 2: Ensure your Google Analytics account meets the requirements. These include: you must have edit permissions on the GA4 account, and place the tracking code in the <head> section of the store’s homepage.

Step 3: Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the verification. The Google Search Console team will send you a confirmation email to proceed with the claiming process.

Step 4: Once verified, click “Claim website.”

We have discussed all the methods you can use to verify and claim your website in Google Merchant Center. While these steps ensure you complete the process successfully, you might encounter some issues. Let’s discuss them. 

Troubleshooting Common Issues and Errors Related to Website Not Claimed

Let’s look at the issues and errors related to Website Not Claimed in Google Merchant Center along with resolutions. 

It is important to note that you might encounter a particular error as an issue or warning in your account, and for other advertisers, it might result in an error. Whether you get it as an error or a warning, it is essential to resolve it promptly to avoid disapprovals or account suspensions in the future.  Google shows a particular error as an issue, error, or warning based on your account history, violations, etc. These issues are indicated with different colors:  Red – for serious violations or account suspension. Yellow – indicates warnings. Blue – indicates informational content.

Issue: Website not verified

If you haven’t verified your online store, you might face issues with the claiming process. To successfully claim your website, you can verify your online store by signing in to your Google Merchant Center account.

Error: URL claimed at a higher level

Let’s understand what higher-level in the domain path means. Imagine your website’s URL as a hierarchy:

http://example.com is the highest level or root domain.

http://shop.example.com is a subdomain of example.com.

http://example.com/shoes is a subdirectory or subfolder under example.com.

• When you encounter an error message in your Google Merchant Center account stating that ‘URL claimed at a higher level,’ another account has claimed the URL at a higher level, thus taking precedence over yours. To resolve the issue, ensure you enter a higher-level domain path while verifying the website.
• On some occasions, you might have created two accounts unintentionally and already verified the website, so you might face this error. To avoid it, remove your website URL from another account.
• There is another instance where you might face this error by adding ‘www’ at the beginning of the URL. You can resolve the issue by removing ‘www’. To do so, go to your Google Merchant Center account >> select Business info in the left-hand-side navigation menu >> click Edit online store under “Your online store” >> remove “www” on the URL >> click Save.
• If you feel other users in your account would have verified your website, you can check by signing in to your Google Merchant Center account > clicking settings (gear icon) > and clicking ‘people and users.’ 

Issue: Incorrectly placed tags

Another common issue in the website verification is not properly placing the tags inside the code. For example, if you have chosen the e-commerce platform or HTML tag method, you are supposed to paste a tag inside the code within the <head> section. If you place the tag elsewhere, you cannot verify the website. Ensure you follow the instructions carefully to avoid these types of errors. 

Error: There isn’t an owner set in the Search Console

When you view the error ‘There isn’t an owner set in the Search Console’ in your Google Merchant Center account, it means the owner in the Search Console does not match the user in your Google Merchant Center account.

To resolve it, ensure the owner in Search Console is the same as the user (with appropriate permissions) in Google Merchant Center. If not, add the user verifying the website (Google Merchant Center and Search Console).

Error: The person trying to verify doesn’t have edit permissions

When you see the above error, it indicates that the user trying to verify the website does not have the necessary access rights to make those changes. You might face this error in Google Analytics if you do not have edit permissions. Ensure the person has appropriate permissions to resolve the error.

Issue: Method not supported by your chosen e-commerce platform

If you’re a Shopify merchant, Shopify allows you to place a meta tag in the theme.liquid file. It also doesn’t support other methods, such as email or HTML file upload. Therefore, when you see the message ‘Your e-commerce platform requires you to use a different verification method,’ understand that you must switch to the method supported by your platform.

Apart from these, ensure that you can access the email you use for verification, enter the code correctly, and try to check the confirmation email in your spam folder to resolve common issues in verifying your online store.

Tips to avoid/fix common issues

• Ensure you verify and claim the website using the five methods listed above. 
• Be patient as it takes time for Google to update any changes you make to your website or DNS. 
• Clear the cache and ensure the URL you enter in Google Merchant Center is the exact, canonical version of your website.
• If you have asked another person for assistance in setting up your store or verifying the website, ask them to assist you with the process or provide them with appropriate permissions.

Automatic Online Store Verification

Automatic online store verification in Google Merchant Center simplifies the process of proving ownership of your e-commerce website.

Instead of manually inserting code or files, Google uses existing data from other Google services you might already be using to verify your website.

Google uses existing information to speed up the website verification process. You must have the necessary permissions in respective tools such as Google Analytics, Search Console, and more.

Scenarios for automatic verification 

As mentioned earlier, automatic verification occurs when Google has sufficient data. 

A few scenarios include:

• Automatic verification happens when you have verified your website in Google Search Console (with owner permissions) and are using the same email account to set up Google Merchant Center.
• Your website has a Google Analytics (GA4) property installed with Admin access and uses the same Google Merchant Center account.
• Another scenario where automatic verification occurs is when your website has a Google Tag Manager container snippet installed on all pages and your Google Merchant Center account has “admin” permissions for that GTM container.
• Google can automatically verify your store when you use supported e-commerce platform integrations. For example, e-commerce platforms have direct API integrations that integrate with the Google verification site API to automatically verify and claim your website.

When Google has access to sufficient data, it will notify you in your Google Merchant Center account that the website is automatically verified, or you might receive an email from Search Console informing you that Google Merchant Center has created an account for you. This means that Google Merchant Center has verified your website through the Search Console.

Note: Remember to use only one Google Merchant Center account to claim a specific URL. Multiple Google Merchant Center accounts cannot point to the same URL.

Limitations and exceptions with automatic verification

• If automatic verification fails, you must go through the manual process to verify your store. If so, you will see a notification in your Google Merchant Center account redirecting you to follow the manual process. You can go ahead with any of the five methods discussed above to complete the process. 

E-commerce Platform Requirements

The process of manual verification differs from one e-commerce platform to another, but regardless of the platform you use, you must follow Google’s verification and claiming process. Let’s briefly look at each platform’s verification process. 

Verification methods for different platforms

Shopify 

• The most common and recommended method for Shopify is using the Google and YouTube sales channel app. Once linked, this app automatically verifies and claims your website. 
• If you prefer a manual method, you can copy and paste the HTML tag into your theme.liquid file within Shopify’s theme editor.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce offers the “Ads and Listings on Google” channel to integrate Google Merchant Center. You can add meta tags in your store by visiting Advanced Settings > Data Solutions > Site Verification Tags for manual verification. You can also upload HTML files to your BigCommerce WebDAV for verification.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce store merchants use plugins like “Google Listing & Ads” or feed management tools to verify their store. They also follow manual method to upload HTML tags or files.

Adobe Commerce (Previously Magento) 

Adobe Commerce (previously Magento) requires extensions or manual HTML/file upload to verify and claim website in Google Merchant Center. 

Tip: Whichever platform you choose, ensure your store meets all Google Merchant Center prerequisites and follow its guidelines. To resolve issues promptly, check your Google Merchant Center account’s ‘Diagnostics’ section.

Although you use e-commerce platforms, you might face some issues when verifying your website. During our research, we found that merchants using Shopify encounter the following challenges. If you are on a different platform, you might be facing similar issues. 

Shopify-specific challenges

Incorrect URLs in Shopify

A common issue merchants face is incorrect URLs in the domain and in the product feed. These incorrect URLs are identified as broken links when Google crawls the site. A few issues include:

• Search engine listing preview errors: Check individual product settings in Shopify to ensure the “Search engine listing preview” shows the correct and accessible URL.
• Incorrect handle: The “handle” (the part of the URL after your domain) for products must be unique and correctly associated. For example, in the following URL https://mystore.com/products/jeans, ‘/products/blue-jeans’ is the handle.
• Canonical URL issues: Ensure your Shopify store uses a single and consistent URL.
• URL mismatch: The URLs in your products and the custom domain URL must match for successful verification. If your product URLs use the default Shopify domain (yourstore.myshopify.com) instead of your custom domain (yourstore.com), this can lead to errors. Ensure that you use the custom domain URL in your product URLs.

Integration issues

On some occasions, existing connections between Shopify and the Google and YouTube app or incorrect settings between Shopify and Google Merchant Center can cause verification problems. Sometimes these problems overlap with broader Google Merchant Center misrepresentation errors, especially when there’s a domain mismatch or the product feed URLs do not align with the verified domain.

Solution:

• Disconnect and reconnect your Shopify store from Google Merchant Center.
• Ensure all settings, such as tax and shipping information, are correctly configured in both platforms.

If you’re a Shopify merchant, you might want to explore: Google Shopping tips for a Shopify store Shopify sales tax report Shopify Plus Vs. Advanced

Email Access Issues & Solutions

In this section, let’s discuss common email verification issues along with their resolutions. 

Incorrect Domain Email: You might face an issue when you try to access an incorrect/inactive domain email. To resolve this, ensure that the email is active, receiving emails, and has access to its inbox.

Spam Folder: The confirmation email might have landed in your spam folder. To avoid issues, ensure you check all folders, including junk, promotions, and spam.

WHOIS Privacy: If your domain’s WHOIS information is private, Google might be unable to identify a publicly available email address to send a verification code to your email ID. If the problem persists, continue with other verification methods such as HTML tag, Google Tag Manager, etc.

Mismatch of Google Accounts: The Google account attempting to verify in GSC (via email) might not be the same account linked to your Google Merchant Center.

To resolve this issue, ensure your account for Google Merchant Center has “owner” access to your website property within Google Search Console.

Conclusion

Verifying and claiming your website in Google Merchant Center is a big step to start your Shopping ads. It might seem tricky, but it’s all about showing Google you own your website. 

By following the methods and troubleshooting issues discussed above, you’re ensuring your products are visible to your potential customers. Once that “website not claimed” message is gone in your Google Merchant Center account, you’ll be set to reach more customers and grow your business on Google.

FAQs

How can I verify my website in Google Merchant Center if it shows as ‘not claimed’?

You can verify website in Google Merchant Center in 5 ways. These include, email, HTML tag, HTML file, Google Tag manager, through e-commerce platform and Google Analytics.

Why does my website appear as ‘not claimed’ in Google Merchant Center even after verification?

This might involve various issues such as webste claimed at higher-level, incorrectly placed tags, inadequate user permissions other errors in Search Console and Google Analytics tools.

What are the consequences of not claiming my website in Google Merchant Center?

If you don’t claim a website in Google Merchant Center, it might lead to product disapprovals and account suspensions.

How can I troubleshoot a failed website claim attempt in Google Merchant Center?

Understand the type of error or issue you’re facing that’s preventing you from verifying the website. Check if your email is active, confirm if the tags are placed correctly, and check if other account has claimed your website at higher-level. Additionally, confirm if the person verifying the website has appropriate permissions to perform the task.

Can I claim multiple websites in a single Google Merchant Center account?

Yes, you can claim multiple websites in one Google Merchant Center account but you require multi-client account/advanced account set up for that. You cannot have multiple websites with the standard Google Merchant Center account.

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