Local Feed in Google & Youtube Sales Channel Suddenly Not syncing correctly

[turnmeyergaller]

Hello all, thanks for any replies. 

I had the Google & Youtube sales channel installed for quite some time and all was working fine until suddenly I started noticing disapproved products in the Local Inventory Ads and Free Local Listings. All other areas are still syncing perfectly and information is changing as it should. It's only the local feed. I'll attach screenshots of the graphs to show you. 

Nothing changed on my end and Gtech support has been pathetic to say the least. 

Here is what I've done:

- Disconnect GMC and reconnected

- Removed all products from Google sales channel in Shopify and added them back

- I have verified that my address in GMC matches the address of my default location in Shopify

- Verified the products shown as disapproved in the local are not showing that (has no price, description or inventory issues) in the normal shopping feed

Here is what I think is going on. 

I think the local feed corrupted at some point. The reason why I say that is because I see new products coming into the local feed in GMC but said product say "available soon" because it thinks it doesn't have a description, inventory or price although it clearly does. Please see the screenshot I attached showing the same product in both Content API working just fine and Local Feed Partnership where is has issues. It's all the same feed from Shopify. 

My question(s):

1. Has anyone ever seen this and found a solution?

2. What's the best bath to redo the local feed partnership without disrupting the content api feed that is feeding products to my Google Ads?

[EmmanuelFlossie]

What is the reason for disapproval? As that should be the first thing to look at. You can check using this link: https://merchants.google.com/mc/products/diagnostics?marketingMethod=8%2C11

[mduchesne]

I've got the very same issue. Gtech is as you say helpless and Shopify also fails to solve the issue.

[turnmeyergaller]

The cause of mine was never found. GTech kept coming back and saying the products were not approved but if you went into the product it showed that it was. I was confident there was a corruption in the feed somehow and kept asking them about that but they were clueless. Finally I went with the Simprosys app. I have to pay for it, but it is worth it because they specialize the feeds, so it works and they will help you quickly make it work. It caused me a couple of week drop in clicks and all as I create a new Merchant Center and did everything brand new. I wanted a clean slate. It all working perfectly and I've been running since the end of July with no issues. 

[mduchesne]

Thanks for this, I'll look into this app further.

[EmmanuelFlossie]

For future readers, be very careful creating a new account, if your current account is suspended. Because Google usually suspends merchants who create multiple accounts, due to circumventing policy violation.

And if your original account is not suspended, make sure to close it down first, then create a new one.

However, there should be no reason to create a new account, because there is no difference. You may feel you work on a clean slate, but nothing is different. All you have to do is just disconnect the google and youtube app, then setup a new feed with the new app.

I like to use: https://apps.shopify.com/multiple-google-shopping-feeds

[turnmeyergaller]

Why would you think that was not tried? Apparently you think you know everything but it’s not that way in reality. Every time I disconnected the channel and then reconnected it went back to the same thing. So your all you need to do was disconnect and reconnect is level1 troubleshooting. There was a corruption in the feed and the only way to resolve was to start fresh. Since GTech was no help and I could not get into the sale channel code there was no choice. I left the Merchant Center up and created then new. Once I saw everything working and syncing I removed everything from the old one so it’s clear it is not being utilized. It worked perfectly for me and no issues with Google. 

[EmmanuelFlossie]

I definately don't know everything, but I believe sharing what I know will help others avoid unintentional mistakes. The reply was no negative comment towards you.

Based on your reply, yes the google and youtube app is not great for setting up things because it has limited functionality. What I meant with my reply was that if you disconnect from the google and youtube app, you can than use the same Google Merchant Center account with your new data feed app, there is no need to setup a new account.

And I commend that everything works for you, your lucky. But not everyone is. I deal with Google shopping every day, and I try to give advice to avoid suspensions, as believe me, once you are suspended, it's a nightmare to get approved again.

Google is just bad, for example, I might do the exact same steps as you, you have no issues and are approved, I might get disapproved. Google does not equally apply rules to everyone, and I don't know why. So I have just learned to try and avoid potential violations.

But I'm glad it all worked out for you.