Problem
Merchant Center account suspended: how to fix it
A suspension is account-level. Every product, every campaign and every free listing goes dark together, usually with a policy name and very little else. Almost all suspensions trace back to a handful of website and policy requirements that Google checks by reading your site the way a cautious shopper would. Fix the site first, then request the review.
By CartKernel · Last reviewed 2026-09-07
Does this look familiar?
- Shopping ads and free listings stopped at the same moment, across the whole catalog
- An account-level warning or suspension notice in Merchant Center naming Misrepresentation or a website requirement
- A warning period email that gave a deadline, followed by the suspension when it passed
- Performance Max and Shopping campaigns show no impressions although they are enabled and funded
- A review request was submitted and came back with the same policy named
Causes, ranked
Why it happens, most common first
Check them in this order. The first two account for most cases we open.
- most common
Missing or unclear business information on the site
Google expects a contact page with a real way to reach the business, a physical address or company registration where the law requires one, and a returns and refund policy that a shopper can find and understand. Stores that hide behind a contact form, or whose About page says nothing verifiable, fall under Misrepresentation.
- most common
Returns, shipping or payment terms that do not match reality
A returns policy that promises something the store does not honour, shipping times that differ between the feed and the page, or checkout that shows a different total from the product page all count as misleading the customer.
- common
Checkout that fails or is not secure
Google's reviewers add items to the cart and go through checkout. A checkout that errors, redirects to an unrelated domain, lacks a secure connection or hides the final price until the last step fails the website requirements.
- common
Claims the products cannot support
Health, cure and clinically proven language, counterfeit signals such as brand names on unbranded goods, or unrealistic promotions can move a store from a product disapproval into an account-level Misrepresentation finding.
- occasional
Site under construction, unavailable or empty
A storefront that is password-protected, returns errors during the review, has empty collections or shows placeholder content is treated as not ready to sell.
- occasional
Account or identity mismatches
A business name in Merchant Center that differs from the website, a domain that is not verified and claimed, or a payments profile with different details from the store's legal entity raises the same misrepresentation flag.
The fix
In this order
Each step is something you can do today. Do them in sequence; skipping ahead is how a review fails twice.
Prevent it next time
- Keep the contact, returns and shipping pages accurate and linked from every page's footer
- Reconcile feed prices and availability with the site on a schedule, not just when something breaks
- Read the Merchant Center warning emails the day they arrive and act inside the warning period
- Review product copy against the Misrepresentation and healthcare policies before adding new categories
- Never change the business name, domain or payment entity without updating Merchant Center the same day
Read the exact policy named and the warning email
Open the Merchant Center notification and note the policy title, the date and any specific example. Search the Merchant Center policy centre for that policy and read the requirements list in full. The reinstatement request must address that policy directly.
Audit the site like a reviewer
Open the store in a private window. Check that contact details, business identity, returns policy, shipping policy and terms are linked from the footer and readable. Add a product to the cart and complete checkout to the payment step. Note every place a price, a delivery time or a policy differs from the product page.
Fix business information and policies
Publish a contact page with an email address or phone number, a business address where required, and a returns and refund policy that states the window, the conditions and how refunds are issued. Make the shipping policy state delivery times that match what the feed says.
Reconcile the feed with the site
Confirm that prices, availability, shipping cost and delivery time in the feed match the page and the checkout for a sample of products across the catalog. Fix the source of any mismatch, usually the fetch schedule, a currency rounding rule or a shipping setting.
Remove or substantiate claims
Rewrite product titles and descriptions that promise medical outcomes or use guarantee language. Keep any claim you retain documented on the page. Remove brand names from products that are not that brand.
Verify domain, business name and payments details
In Merchant Center, verify and claim the exact domain that serves the store, set the business name to match the site and the payment profile, and complete business identity attributes where offered.
Request the review, once, with the fixes listed
Submit the review only after every item above is live. Reviews are limited, and a failed request lengthens the wait. If the account is not reinstated, contact support with the policy name, the date of each fix and screenshots of the changed pages.
When to get help
Get help when the policy notice names Misrepresentation and a review has already failed, when the store sells in a regulated category such as supplements or medical devices, or when the suspension arrived during a peak selling period and every day matters. A second failed review can take weeks to recover from, so the second request should be the last one needed.
Free. We reply within one business day.
How long does a Merchant Center suspension review take?
Reviews usually complete within about a week, although longer waits happen around peak periods and for repeat requests. The wait is shortest when the request is submitted once, after every requirement is fixed, rather than immediately after the first change.
Can I open a new Merchant Center account instead of fixing the suspended one?
No. Google links accounts by domain, business identity and payment details, and a new account for the same store is usually suspended in turn and can make reinstatement harder. Fix the site and reinstate the original account.
Will a suspension affect my organic rankings or my other Google Ads campaigns?
It does not affect organic search. Shopping and Performance Max campaigns that depend on the feed stop serving; standard search campaigns without product listings continue, although an account-level policy issue on the Google Ads side can follow if the same misleading claims appear in ads.
What is the difference between a warning and a suspension in Merchant Center?
A warning gives a period, typically a week, to fix the named policy before the account is suspended. A suspension stops serving immediately. Treat the warning as the deadline; fixing the site inside the warning period avoids the review queue entirely.
Services that fix it for good
Related problems, answers and terms
Stop the leak.
A free Growth Analysis finds what is broken and ranks it by the revenue it costs you.