What Is Google Merchant Center & Is It Free?

What’s that one tool every merchant should have access to, if they want to promote their products across Google? Think for a moment. It should be easy to guess. It is the same tool that contains the details of the products you sell, explains to Google what you sell, and also allows its algorithms to match shopper search queries to the right products.

No luck? Well, it’s Google Merchant Center (GMC). 

It is the central hub that stores your product data and shares it with Google’s shopping ecosystem, enabling your products to reach shoppers across various Google properties. 

If you haven’t heard what is Google Merchant Center, don’t know how to use it, or how to set it up, don’t worry. This blog will help you understand what Google Merchant Center is, how it works, its setup process, costs, key features, and how it helps businesses manage product data effectively.

So, are you ready? Let’s quickly start! 

What is Google Merchant Center?  

Google Merchant Center is a platform where merchants can upload and manage their product data to display it across various Google surfaces, such as Google Shopping, Google Images, etc. This is the same product data that you use to create Shopping ads, free product listings, and other types of Google ads that appear to shoppers, helping them discover your items and make purchases. 

GMC acts as a single source of truth for all your product data across Google. You can easily update your inventory information in one place and ensure that it reflects accurately and consistently across your listings without any delays. 

How Does Google Merchant Center Work? 

Let’s now understand how GMC works through a step-by-step process. 

Step 1: First and foremost, you create your Google Merchant Center account by providing basic information about your business, such as its address, name, etc., to Google.

Step 2: Next, you add your products to GMC using any supported method. This will ensure that whenever a user searches for products or businesses like yours across any Google surface, your products can show up organically via free product listings.  

Step 3: Next, you can integrate your Google Ads account with GMC and begin creating ad campaigns. You can leverage powerful solutions such as PMax (which uses Google AI) or even Shopping campaigns that will help you boost the visibility of your products, reach the right customers, and drive more sales. 

Step 4: Based on the performance of your free listings and ads, Google will provide you with insights related to your best-selling products and price competitiveness. These will help you:

1. Gauge user demand.
2. Manage your inventory properly. 
3. Optimize ad campaigns for better performance and
4. Boost sales seamlessly.

Important Google Merchant Center Features

We will now go through some of the most valuable and prominent features of GMC. 

1. Multiple Product Data Upload Methods: Merchants get the flexibility to upload their product data to GMC through multiple convenient methods, such as: 

• Automatic upload from the website 
• Connecting e-commerce stores (such as Shopify, BigCommerce, etc. to GMC) 
• Adding products from a file that includes all product details 
• Using API data feeds, etc. 

2. Integration With Google Ads: You can easily link your Google Ads account with Merchant Center to create Shopping, PMax, and other types of campaigns with ease.
3. Support for Local Inventory Ads and Free Local Listings: This feature enables merchants to showcase their in-store products, real-time availability, and other details to nearby shoppers on Google.  
4. Feed Rules and Automatic Updates for Product Data Optimization: Using attribute rules and automatic updates in GMC, you ensure that your product data is always compliant with Google’s product data requirements. These features help fix missing attributes and update pricing or availability automatically. This reduces disapprovals and improves overall product visibility.
5. Diagnostics and Error Reporting: Merchant Center also offers integrated diagnostics and reporting, using which you can:

• Identify and fix GMC and Google Shopping feed errors.
• Understand how much traffic your website is getting, what users are searching for on Google, and get many other valuable insights. 

6. Seamless Connection with Third-Party E-Commerce Platforms: GMC integrates with Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, etc., easily for automatic product data sync and ongoing updates. 

This connection ensures that you can easily expand your online store from a third-party e-commerce platform to Google while also maintaining inventory data consistency across all sources. 

How to Set Up Google Merchant Center?  

For setting up your Google Merchant Center account, you will need a Google Account email address and password. 

Note: A single Google Account email address can only be used to create one GMC account. If you use one Google Account to create multiple GMC accounts, Google can suspend all your GMC and other related accounts (such as Google Ads) permanently under the Circumventing systems policy violation.

Once you have that in place, you need to: 

1. Go to the Merchant Center sign-in page. 
2. Share some details about your business with Google, such as: 

• Whether you sell your products online. 
• Whether you have a physical storefront or not. 

And also, select a language. 

Note: If you select ‘Yes’ when answering the ‘Do you sell products online’ question, then you will also have to add your website URL.

Once you fill in these details, click on ‘Continue.’

3. Then you will have to enter your business info, which will include details such as: 

• Your Business Name
• Business’s registered country 

Once done, click on ‘ Continue to Merchant Center.’ 

4. Google will further ask you to add your registered business address, with details such as your city, state/province, postcode, etc. 

5. Verify that you manage your specified website (applicable in case you run an online store). 
6. Select the countries in which you want Google to display and customers to find your products. 

Note: This list of countries need not be final, as you can always add more countries later on.

7. Then you will have to add your products to GMC via your preferred method. 
8. Add the delivery details for one country. These details will include, but not be limited to, ‘Order cut-off’, ‘Handling time (days)’, how you calculate delivery costs, etc. 
9. Add return details for the same country you defined for delivery. This means you will need to add the return policy URL from your website, define the cases in which you accept returns, and configure other settings. 

That’s it. Once you complete these steps, your GMC setup process will be complete, and you will reach the main dashboard of your account. 

Is Google Merchant Center Free to Use? 

Yes, Google Merchant Center is free to use. There are no hidden charges. 

Moreover, free product listings are also free. However, if you decide to supplement free product listings with Google Shopping or PMax ads, then you will need to pay for advertising. 

Google Merchant Center Product Feed Requirements

When creating a Google Merchant Center feed, ensure that you create it in one of the supported formats: either an XML Google Shopping feed or a tab-delimited spreadsheet. 

Beyond that, your feed file should comply with Google’s product feed requirements. This means that: 

1. Your feed should include all the required attributes and valid values for them for all items. 

• ID
• Title
• Description 
• Price
• Availability 
• Condition 
• Link 
• Image Link 

2. You should also enrich your product feed with those optional attributes, which help Google’s algorithms and shoppers to better understand your products. They can include, but are not limited to: 

• GTIN
• MPN
• Google Product Category 
• Google Product Type, etc.  

How to Add Products to Google Merchant Center? 

Google offers you several options to add products to your Google Merchant Center account. These include: 

1. Add products automatically from your site, where Google will retrieve all the information from the standard format on your site (such as schema.org markup). 
2. Connecting your e-commerce platform with Google and then syncing the data. 
3. Adding products from a file. 
4. Using a Google Sheets template, where you maintain a master sheet with all products and their attribute information. Any changes that you make to this sheet will automatically reflect in GMC. 
5. Adding products manually, one by one, using the native GMC editor. 
6. Through the Content API for Google Shopping. 

Additionally, you can utilize a feed management software to ensure accurate synchronization of your inventory data on GMC. 

For the purposes of this blog, we will add our products using a Google Sheets template. Here’s how: 

1. Open your Google Merchant Center account.
2. From the left-hand side menu, click on ‘Products and shop’ and under it, select ‘Products.’ 
3. Under the ‘All products’ tab, click on ‘Add products.’ 

4. Under ‘Select how to add products’, choose ‘Google Sheets.’ After that, you can either: 

• Create a new Google Sheet file with your product information using Google’s template, or 
• Choose and upload an existing spreadsheet file 

We will proceed by clicking on ‘Use template.’

5. Google will then ask you to log in to your Gmail account and add the template to your Google Sheets account. 
6. You can open it, and you will find that rows 2-5 contain instructions and examples that Google has added to enhance your understanding. Replace that content with your original product details, such as title, description, GTIN, MPN, etc. 
7. Once you are done updating the sheet, go back to the Merchant Center interface and click on ‘Continue.’
8. The sheet will successfully be added as a data source, and then you can set a schedule for syncing your GMC product data with your Google spreadsheet. By default, this syncing schedule will be set to 24 hours, but you can change it to weekly or monthly. 

That will complete the Google Shopping feed setup process. However, remember that once the product data is uploaded, Google will review it to check if it complies with its Shopping policies and product feed requirements. 

If there are any issues, then Google will notify you with informational updates, warnings, or alerts on the “Needs Attention” tab in your Google Merchant Center account. 

How to Link Google Merchant Center to Google Ads? 

Linking your Merchant Center with Google Ads is crucial, as without this integration, you will not be able to create Shopping or any other type of Google Ads campaign that utilizes your product data. 

The good news is that this integration process is straightforward and relatively quick to follow. Here’s how you can link both platforms: 

1. In your GMC account, go to ‘Settings’ from the left-hand side menu. 
2. Then, click on ‘Access and services.’
3. You will see two tabs: ‘People and access’ and ‘Apps and services.’ Select the latter and then click on ‘Add service.’
4. Google will show you a list of all services that you can link, such as Google Ads, Google Analytics, Google Business Profile, PayPal, etc. Select ‘Google Ads.’
5. After that, you can:
   • Either select a Google Ads account associated with your Google Account.
   • Create a new Google Ads account and link it. 
   • Or enter the Google Ads customer ID of an account that you don’t manage.
   • In our case, we will select an existing Google Ads account that is already linked to our Google Account and click on ‘Next.’
6. In the next step, click on ‘Link.’ This will send a linking request to your selected Google Ads account. 
7. To approve that request, open your Google Ads account. 
8. From the left-hand side menu, go to ‘Tools’ and then select ‘Data Manager.’ 
9. There, you will see a pending Google Merchant Center link request. 
10. Click on ‘Manage & link,’ and that will complete the integration. 

Note: To accept the GMC linking request, you must have Admin access in your Google Ads account.

Common Google Merchant Center Errors and Their Fixes 

During setup or daily management, you may encounter GMC errors that can hinder your marketing and advertising operations. 

Below, we highlight some of these common errors and their fixes. These solutions will help you resolve issues quickly and keep your operations running smoothly.

Misrepresentation 

The Misrepresentation error occurs when Google finds that your product or business information is misleading to users. 

Google takes such policy violations seriously and considers them egregious.

If it verifies your fault from multiple sources and finds the suspension to be legitimate, your GMC and all other connected accounts will be suspended immediately on a permanent basis. After that, you will not be allowed to advertise on Google Shopping again.

Some of the common reasons why this error occurs include: 

• Scamming users by hiding or presenting false information about your business. 
• Promoting misleading or unrealistic offers and making false claims 
• Not sharing complete information about your business 

How to fix this error? 

1. First, review Google’s Shopping ads policies to understand what is allowed and what is not. 
2. Based on that:
   • Either edit your product data and reupload it to GMC via your original method.
   • Update your website content, account settings, and business information. 

3. Request a review. 

4. Google will take seven business days or more, depending on your specific case and its complexity, to complete the review. After that, you will be informed whether your account can be reinstated. 

Missing Business Address 

This error occurs when Google finds that you haven’t added a valid business address in your Google Merchant Center account. 

All merchants are required to add their address, and based on that, Google verifies their identity. Non-compliance with this requirement can result in account suspension. 

How to fix this error? 

1. In your GMC, follow this pathway: “Your Business” > “Business info” > “Details” > “Business Details” > “Edit Business Details”.
2. Add your correct business address, and save the changes. 

The “Missing Business Address” will disappear from your account.  

Invalid Business Name 

If your business name doesn’t comply with Google’s policies, i.e., it includes promotional text, excessive capitalization, etc., Google will start displaying the ‘Invalid Business Name’error in your GMC. 

How to fix this error? 

1. Open your GMC account and follow this pathway: Your Business > Business Info > Details, then click Edit Business Details under Business Details.
2. Edit your GMC business name to ensure that it complies with these policies: “Editorial Advertising policy”, “Store Name Guidelines,” and “Inappropriate Content for GMC.” 
3. Save the changes, allow Google to review them, and if no further issues are found, the error will disappear.  

How to Connect Shopify to Google Merchant Center

There are two primary ways to link Shopify with Google Merchant Center: 

1. Using the ‘Google and YouTube’ Shopify app, which is also known as the sales channel. 

This Shopify Google Merchant Center integration allows seamless and automatic product data transfer from your Shopify store to Google Merchant Center. This means you can simply edit your feed in Shopify, and the changes will instantly reflect in GMC. 

Moreover, you can also connect the sales channel app with your Google Ads account and GA4 property for conversion measurement and getting insights into your online store’s performance.

2. Through third-party feed management solutions like AdNabu. 

AdNabu is a ‘Built for Shopify’ data feed solution that enables you to AI-optimize Shopify products for Google Shopping and other channels.

It helps merchants ensure that their product data meets Google’s requirements, is synced to GMC instantly, and also helps boost ad performance. 

If you were to ask which method you should choose out of the two, we would say consider using an app like AdNabu. This is primarily because with the sales channel app, many merchants regularly raise concerns related to: 

1. Product data not syncing to GMC properly 
2. Conversion measurement not being accurate 
3. And even product or account-level disapprovals due to mismatches in availability and prices. 

AdNabu, being a specialized product feed management software, helps you avoid data syncing and mismatch errors with ease. In addition to everything else, you receive support for Shopify-native features, including metaobjects and Shopify Flow integration, as well as GMC-specific features such as product review integration, which ultimately help you improve your advertising results. 

Conclusion and Key Takeaways 

Google Merchant Center plays an important role in how products appear and perform across Google’s shopping ecosystem.

The key takeaways from this blog include:

• Google Merchant Center acts as a central hub for managing product data and distributing it across different Google surfaces, such as Google Shopping, Images, etc.
• For a retailer, GMC works in a clear flow where you first create an account and upload products. Once added, free product listings appear organically across different Google surfaces. 

To supplement those free product listings, you can further link your Google Ads account and run paid Shopping or PMax campaigns. Once the campaigns start running, you can utilize the analytics that GMC provides to track performance and optimize listings for better results.

• Merchant Center offers powerful features like feed rules, diagnostics, local listings, and seamless ecommerce platform integrations to simplify product data management and advertising.
• Setting up GMC requires adding accurate business information, shipping settings, return policies, and verifying your website to ensure compliance and smooth account approval.
• The product feeds that you create for uploading to GMC should either be in XML or tab-delimited spreadsheet format. Moreover, they should comply with Google’s product data specifications.
• The Merchant Center is free to use, and free listings don’t cost anything either. Paid ads (Shopping, PMax, etc.) require a separate advertising budget.
• Some common Google Merchant Center errors include misrepresentation, missing business details, etc. You should try and fix them promptly to protect your account health and keep advertising operations running smoothly.  

Good luck. 

FAQs 

1. What Is the Difference Between Google Merchant Center (GMC) and Google Shopping?

Google Merchant Center is the backend platform where businesses upload and manage product data. Google Shopping is the shopper-facing experience where those products appear through free listings and ads. Think of GMC as the warehouse that stores product data. Google Shopping acts as the storefront shelves where customers browse.

2. How to Fix Issues in Google Merchant Center?

Start by checking the “Needs Attention” tab in your GMC account to identify the issue. Where Google highlights an error, you will also see a brief explanation. Click on “Learn more” to view the related policy or error details. After understanding the issue, update your product data or website content accordingly and request a review. 

Once the concern is genuinely resolved, the error will disappear.

3. Who Should Use Google Merchant Center (GMC)?

Anyone who wants to promote products across Google surfaces should use Google Merchant Center.

4. What is the difference between GMC Next and Classic? 

Merchant Center Next is the newer version that replaced the Classic experience. Google has fully retired the Classic version and upgraded all retailers to Merchant Center Next. 

GMC Next offers a simpler interface, better automation, unified reporting, and built-in insights. 

It also includes AI-powered tools, easier navigation, and improved product and diagnostics management.

5. What are Google Merchant Center Promotions? 

Merchant Center Promotions let you show special offers like discounts or free shipping on product listings. These promotions appear on Shopping ads and free listings. They help attract attention, improve click-through rates, and drive higher conversions.

Check Out These Related Articles:

• Google Ads Examples That Actually Deliver Results
• What is a Google Shopping Feed?