Why does my UK-based store show a 402 error on Google Shopping?

[nfdnmsqu]

Hi,

We have a UK-based Shopify store that primarily sells to customers in the UK.

We recently got a notice from Google that our Merchant Centre account had been suspended and when it was reviewed they came back that it was not working and showing 402 errors. The errors were:

402 Error Access Denied! You are not authorized to access this site.

We had been unable to recreate the error until we tried to run a connection through a VPN with the location being India.

Does Shopify block traffic from certain countries? If so, how can we look to resolve it? Each time we request a review they can't access the site.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[EmmanuelFlossie]

By default no, however you may have installed an IP blocking or redirecting app.

What is your website URL that Google reported had the issue?

[nfdnmsqu]

Thank you for getting back to me. It's with the entire site, the domain is www.daydress.co.uk

In terms of installed apps, we currently have Geolocation installed: https://apps.shopify.com/geolocation

Could this be the cause? 

[EmmanuelFlossie]

It's possible its a combination of the geo IP popup that I see + your sign up popup that is blocking Google from accessing your site.

[nfdnmsqu]

Thank you, would there be any way to test this? Or would you recommend removing the geo app as well as the app responsible for email sign-ups?

[EmmanuelFlossie]

I just looked up 402, and this seems to be related to payment issues.

404 is broken URLs.

Are you sure you have the correct info?

[nfdnmsqu]

That's what we found as well, but here's a screenshot of the 402 error that Google is receiving

But this was the explanation from Google:

Thank you for contacting us regarding the Merchant Center account. We appreciate your patience while we reviewed your query.

I really wish I could provide you with more information. Please follow the below mentioned with the Shopify team.

Destination URL down.

To provide a quality user experience, Google requires that all Shopping ads meet high professional and editorial standards. We only allow promotions that are clear and professional in appearance. These ads should lead users to products and landing pages that are relevant, useful, and easy to interact with.

Destination URL down: Make sure that none of your landing pages fail to load or are under construction. Here are some things to check:

Landing page should load properly: Your item shouldn’t lead to a website that's under construction, or a site that links to an error page that displays a status code beginning with a 4 or a 5 (such as a 405 error). If your landing page is not working, change your product status to "out of stock" using the availability attribute. Or, link your item to a different part of your site that works. Learn more about best practices for landing page maintenance and planned outages

Even if your landing page loads successfully for you, it might not be loading properly in other circumstances, such as other web browsers and apps, or by our systems. Your landing page must work properly for all locations, regardless of where you're targeting your item. Check your landing page on various browsers and devices to make sure that it always links to a working website.

Login required: Make sure that users don't need a password or additional program to view products on your site.

Parked domain: Make sure that your site provides users with unique and valuable content on the landing page domain, and isn’t parked displaying only ads and links.

If your registration expired, please renew it in order to start promoting the site again.

If your site has experienced a temporary disruption in service, make sure that your site is properly running again.

Make sure that your website provides users with unique, valuable content and isn't full of advertising listings and links.

Checkout incomplete: Make sure that users are able to complete the full checkout process on your site using any provided payment methods, without errors, including quick confirmation of the purchase after completing the checkout process.

Interstitial ads: Don’t present unexpected pages, ads, or sponsored offers to users navigating your site.

Make sure that your ads, and any ads that might be on your site, are clearly distinguishable as ads. Ads shouldn't try to look like software download buttons, official system warnings, or webpage features—like menus, search results, or other site content.

After reaching your site, users must be able to return to the previous page (where they found and clicked your ad) by clicking their browser's back button once.

1. Change your website. If your ad leads to content that violates this policy, fix the site to make it comply.
2. Request a review of your account.

1. Instructions for requesting a review
• Sign in to your Merchant Center account.
• Navigate to "Account issues" on the Diagnostics page.
• Locate the account-level issue that you would like to have reviewed.
• Make sure that there are in-stock products uploaded and all issues for the affected country of sale are resolved.
• Click Request review.
• Read the pop-up window to ensure that you understand the review process, and its requirements and limitations.
• Check the box and click Request review.

I hope the provided information is helpful. If you have further questions regarding the same, feel free to reply on the same email thread and we will be happy to assist you

Thank you for choosing  gTech Customer Experience. We appreciate your relationship with us.

[EmmanuelFlossie]

I recommend double checking that the URLs submitting to GMC are correct, by going to Products > all products > click on the effected products > scroll down and view the final attributes.

[nfdnmsqu]

Thank you, I have set up a test feed (removed the primary feed) and added a few products which I could confirm the URLs submitted were correct. The Merchant Centre account is now being reviewed so will see what they come back with