All items suddenly gone from google shopping free listings

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Topic summary

Multiple merchants report their products vanished from Google Shopping free listings starting around March 20, 2023, with some cases occurring later in April-May. Paid shopping ads continue working normally, and Merchant Center accounts show no warnings or errors—products appear “active” but generate zero impressions.

Common patterns identified:

  • All affected users experienced the issue on similar dates (primarily March 20)
  • No account changes were made before the disappearance
  • Google support attributes it to “algorithm” changes and offers no solutions
  • Products completely absent from search results, even when searching brand name + product
  • Issue appears tied to the Merchant Center account itself

Attempted solutions:

  • One user successfully recovered by deleting and recreating their GMC account, fixing SEO URLs, adjusting out-of-stock handling, and creating feed rules to exclude low-quality listings
  • Another user reported recovery after weeks without explanation
  • Creating new accounts sometimes resulted in products disappearing again after a few days

Google’s position:

  • Free listings are a “complimentary feature” requiring high-quality data
  • No reported bugs acknowledged
  • Support refuses to assist, citing fairness concerns

The discussion remains largely unresolved, with most merchants still experiencing the issue and expressing frustration over lack of transparency or recourse.

Summarized with AI on October 31. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
18

I have talked to my community managers over at Google Ads, and they will not assist.

Basically, Google considers free listings as a complimentary feature, and so advertisers must use high quality data.

There is no reported bug with Google.

And that the free listings are subject to Google’s honest result policy: https://www.google.com/about/honestresults/

It is recommended for merchants to follow https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/9826542?sjid=17964466587427775763-AP

https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/9199328?hl=en

Please do not shoot the messenger, I am just relaying what they told me. So for those who had performance, may now need to re-check everything and make sure they have connected everything, added everything and improved everything.

Please note, I am not starting a debate, and again, only referring the info Google has given me. I am a Google Ads Product Expert and I can ask and get help for specific issues. The only times they don’t help, to ensure it is fair for everyone is related to free listings. It would be unfair if Google gives us product experts info regarding free listings that nobody else gets.

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