Google Merchant Center Misrepresentation Issue

Ask & Offer
1

I have my own store on Shopify. A few months ago, I was blocked by Google Merchant due to misrepresentation. My ads had been running on this merchant for two years before that, and I was successfully scaling up my ads. A year ago, I had a similar block, and it was resolved quite easily and quickly, but I don’t remember exactly how, as my agency handled the issue (they said it was a minor violation that was quickly fixed).

This block has now turned out to be very problematic because I’ve tried literally EVERYTHING. I fixed potential issues that I thought could be the cause of the block. I hired about five experts who gave me different advice and made various adjustments. I changed my Shopify store theme, limited the number of products to reduce risks, and so on. Listing everything I’ve done would take several paragraphs.

I’ve contacted Google support numerous times, both via chat and by phone. And it’s clear that regular support can’t help me. They do some kind of “standard check” and say, “I see everything’s fine.” In reality, they’re just checking to see if the purchase button and checkout are working…

As a result, regular Google support always forwarded my request to the extended team, which then officially responded that there were still problems. At first, I didn’t receive specific reasons, but then I received this list:

-Make sure you are not trying to mimic prominent brands or merchants.

-Ensure your business information on your website and social media aligns with the information provided in your Google Merchant Center account.

-Address any suspicious third-party reviews; all reviews must be authentic and verifiable.

-Review your pricing to ensure you are not promoting an excessive number of highly discounted products.

-Confirm your website URL works correctly and remove any unexpected redirects to other websites.

I made adjustments to each item, even if everything seemed fine. They even deleted all the reviews from my website to rule out any fake ones.

But even after making edits to EVERY point, they continued to write the same thing.

I submitted appeals for review through Contact Us. This was done through a similar request to the advanced team, not through the button. The appeal button has a limited number of attempts. As a result, I kept getting the same responses.

One day, I called Google support again, and the woman there told me that “the advanced team checked and found no issues, and you just need to click the appeal button in your merchant account.” I was hesitant at first (because I had two attempts left at the time), but I eventually submitted an appeal through the button. To my surprise, the appeal was rejected, and what the support representative told me turned out to be incorrect. Moreover, my website was first reviewed by a bot, and then by a manual review. Previously, I submitted appeals through the button, and they were rejected within 5-10 minutes, as errors were found during the bot review (as far as I understand).

I’d like to get advice or thoughts from anyone here who may have encountered this. The problem is completely unclear; Google wants something completely unclear from me, and their support isn’t helping either. Although I’ve heard of people being unable to lift this block, I don’t believe it’s impossible to lift it in certain situations. There’s likely a reason no one knows about.

I’m also thinking about creating a new store and a new Google merchant account, but I’m worried that by creating a new store and merchant account, Google may view it as a policy violation related to the existing suspension. The new store will have a different name, different products, and so on. In short, it won’t look like my current store. Does anyone know whether Google would consider this a policy violation related to the suspension? Or would registering a new Merchant Center for a currently suspended store also be considered non-compliant?

I’ve described everything in detail here so everyone fully understands my situation. It would be very valuable to hear your successful cases of unblocking the merchant center, and I would be very grateful for that.

2

Creating new accounts don’t really ever work out. They know who you are…

For the suspension itself, there’s no telling the causes without an actual reference point to look at. Sometimes people say they tried “everything” but a third party clearly sees an issue with the business information. Sometimes it’s on the GMC account itself (mismatching policies). Sometimes it’s just because the merchant is trying to dropship. Google doesn’t straight up tell you what to fix because that would defeat the purpose of having their standards. In their eyes, you ought to know what to do and not to do.

There are many resources here on this subject. Use the search and find the links to the actual guidelines and policies.

3

If you plan on creating a new store and a new account, you need to use a new business entity, that is the only way. But even then chances are 50/50

Here is a video I made about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJzi7SCI69w

And I know, it sucks to be suspended, but if you still have a request for review available on your original account and website, I would first work on that.

And below everything I recommend you look at:

First, important to understand upfront, support will almost never tell you specifically what to fix. That’s just the reality of how these suspensions work. As a result the burden is entirely on you to audit everything proactively. This has been the case since 2020 when Google changed it’s policy regarding helping out due to bad actors, which means it’s a lot harder for honest merchants.

So the only way to resolve a suspension, is by fixing all possible issues, this can be done by checking all the details out below. Please do not request a review before you resolve all potential issues, as you have limited number of reviews available, after that, it’s a permanent ban.

Before you do anything else, read these:

Start here and work through all of them carefully:

Also watch these community guides, they are very helpful:

And the official policy topic hubs:

Misrepresentation almost always comes down to real-world discrepancies.

This policy is not just about your website or feed, it’s about whether what you’re representing online accurately matches reality. The policy teams look at:

  • The physical location of the business owner

  • Physical inventory, what is actually in stock and ready to ship

  • How all of these real-world details have been represented over time, both on the website and inside the account

What to fix on the website, do all of this before considering an appeal (as well as reading the links above):

Contact & trust signals (critical):

  • Every page footer and the Contact Us page must clearly display: business name, phone number, email on your own domain (not Gmail, not Yahoo), exact physical street address, business hours, and links to all business social media profiles

  • The address must exactly match a government-issued ID, passport, or business tax document, it must be where the merchant owner is physically present and operating during posted business hours

  • All of this must be clearly visible and not blocked by pop-ups, overlays, or banners, especially during checkout

Policies, all must reflect real-world operations:

  • Privacy Policy

  • Terms of Service

  • Payment Policy

  • Shipping Policy

  • Delivery Policy

  • Returns & Refund Policy

Each one must accurately describe how the business actually operates. Check them on multiple browsers and devices to ensure they are accessible everywhere.

Pricing and offers:

  • Remove all sales and promotions, only one price per product, on one landing page

  • No countdown timers, urgency overlays, or anything that could be interpreted as false scarcity

Inventory:

  • Remove every product that is not 100% confirmed in stock and ready to ship right now

  • Availability and shipping details in your feed must reflect actual physical inventory, and your website info visually, not estimated or dropshipped timelines

  • Do not reintroduce out-of-stock products until you have had at least 3 clean months with no policy flags

Other website housekeeping:

  • Remove all pop-ups and overlays, anything that interrupts normal browsing

  • Ensure there is only one active website and only one Merchant Center account, ever

Targeting and account scope, keep it simple while you recover:

Target only your home country, where the merchant owner physically lives and operates, until you have had at least 3 consecutive clean months with no policy issues flagged.

Order history can sometimes help:

Having a documented record of completed orders, shipments, returns, and refunds, approximately 300 orders over 3 to 6 months, within your home country can sometimes help demonstrate legitimacy during review. It’s not always decisive, but it can support your case.

On appeals, read this carefully:

You typically only get two or three appeals before the account is permanently banned with no further reviews considered.

Do not submit an appeal:

  • Just to ask what is wrong

  • To request more information

  • Before all possible issues have been fixed

When you do submit, you need to be able to summarize every action you took in a few short, clear sentences. If you cannot do that, you are not ready.

Consider resubmitting your full in-stock inventory after all changes, this can help trigger an automated review without using an appeal.

One final and important note:

If the real-world detail causing the suspension cannot actually be changed, or if the policy teams already have a record of past discrepancies, the suspension may not be fixable. The merchant may not be eligible to continue using Merchant Center or any related Google system. The dedicated policy teams have final say, and that decision is theirs alone.

Do the work thoroughly, be honest about your real-world situation, and only appeal when everything is genuinely in order.

4

een through a similar misrepresentation spiral and the only thing that moved the needle was showing Google the breadcrumb trail that we were a real business. I’d start by lining up every trust marker (legal address, company name, phone, policies, tax ID) so they’re identical across domain WHOIS, Shopify settings, social bios, and your Business Profile, then grab screenshots to attach in the appeal. If you’ve already scaled back discounting, add a short note in the appeal that explains the pricing logic and call out that no URLs redirect. Also worth asking a partner with an approved GMC to verify your domain in their account temporarily so support can see it has a clean history.

5

so, regarding a new account, don’t do that using the same domain. you will get suspended with the circumventing systems policy violation and then it will be impossible to reinstate your account.

regarding misrepresentation suspension, yes google’s guidance is a little unclear always. many merchants face this.

but then they check for several key things such as domain age, whether you highlight essential policies properly, is there any placeholder or thin content across your website, how’s the quality of your products, etc. it is on the basis of these factors, you must identify the underlying issue, and make a fix.

hope this helps.

8

Hi @Aumixir .
Hope you are doing great.

Totally agreed, going in circles with no clear answer is rough.
On the new store, yes, Goolge usully notice.
They check things like your business name, address, and bank info, not just how the site looks.
So a new store from the same bussiness get bloceked too.
If you try it, it needs real smartness, with different names registration, bank info, not just a new look. otherwise its risky.