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.
21

Hello,

Here is some more info on my end.

I have a very small store - only 5 products. All are very high quality with high quality imagery and content. I am not a reseller or dropshipper, I sell branded products in Australia only. I am a new store and do not have much traffic at all, not becuase its low quality but becuase I don’t have much time and money to spend of marketing. I have attached screenshots of my impressions of my ads and free listings from Feb 1st to today. As you can see, ads are working as expected, however free listings had a first drop to 0 on March 11, then they came back for a few days only to drop again to 0 on March 21st (AEST) and never to return again. I had one product that was disapporved as it contained hemp, however after appealing has been approved and working fine in ads.

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