A website owner is struggling to get their binoculars e-commerce site approved by Google Merchant Center, repeatedly receiving the vague rejection message “Website or online store needs improvement” without specific details on what needs fixing.
Issues Already Addressed:
Domain matches registration
No placeholder content or broken links
Business information and policies are present in footer
Recommended Fixes Identified:
Technical & Content Issues:
Ensure site is fully crawlable (check robots.txt)
Complete all product information (name, price, inventory, condition, SKU, Google Feed Category)
Verify add-to-cart, checkout, and payment gateway functionality
Confirm mobile responsiveness
Specific Website Problems Found:
Email in footer needs to be clickable/hyperlinked
Contact page missing address, business hours, and business name
Empty product categories exist that should be removed
Product pages don’t show stock availability
Product descriptions appear AI-generated (should be rewritten manually)
Status: The discussion remains open with actionable feedback provided and links to official Google Merchant Center guidelines for further troubleshooting.
Summarized with AI on October 27.
AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
Stuck with “Website or online store needs improvement” Error on Google Merchant Center
I’ve been trying to get my website, https://www.jumelles-vision.com, approved by Google Merchant Center for advertising, but I keep getting rejected with the vague message: “Website or online store needs improvement.”
Despite doing my best to follow their guidelines, I can’t seem to pinpoint what exactly is causing the issue. The feedback provided isn’t very specific, and I’ve hit a wall trying to resolve it on my own.
The website matches the registered domain
I have No placeholder text or images
no broken links
my business info including address and phone number
and i have the policies in the footer
If anyone with experience in Google Merchant Center approvals could take a look and offer some guidance, I’d be incredibly grateful. A fresh perspective might be just what I need to get this sorted.
I’m sorry to hear you’re stuck “Website or online store needs improvement”, Since Google doesn’t always provide detailed feedback, you need to go through a checklist of common issues that cause rejection -
1. Ensure your website is fully crawlable/indexable and make sure robots.txt is not blocking important pages.
2. Missing or incomplete product information or missing Google Feed Category like product name, price, inventory, condition, type, sku etc.
3. Include business name, full address, phone number, email address, opening timings, support email address, support phone number etc on the contact page.
4. Make sure policies are mention on the footer like Return Policy, Shipping Policy, Privacy Policy, Terms of Service etc
5. Make sure add to cart, checkout, payment gateway are working.
6. Mobile should be mobile responsive and friendly.