Google Merchant Center approval checklist

Use this checklist when products are sitting in Merchant Center as disapproved or pending, or before you submit a feed for the first time. It walks the account settings Google checks, the pages a reviewer opens on your site, the attributes behind most item level disapprovals, and how to work the diagnostics tab until the queue is empty and stays empty.

Account and website setup

Claim and verify the exact domain your storefront runs on.Why: Merchant Center will not serve items until the website URL in the account is verified and claimed by you.How: Add the verification tag or DNS record for the same domain used in your product links, including the www or non www version, then claim it in account settings.
Publish a returns and refund policy page a shopper can reach in two clicks.Why: Google checks that shoppers can find return terms before buying, and a missing policy blocks the whole account.How: Write the return window, who pays return postage and how to start a return, then link the page from the site footer and from the checkout page.
Show a working contact method on the site: an email address, phone number or form.Why: Reviewers look for a way to reach the business, and accounts without one are suspended for misrepresentation.How: Put at least two contact methods on a contact page, link it in the footer, and make sure the inbox behind the form is actually monitored.
Configure shipping services and rates that match what checkout actually charges.Why: A shipping cost in the feed that differs from checkout is one of the fastest routes to item disapproval.How: Recreate each real shipping zone, rate table and delivery window in the shipping settings, then place a test order and compare the quoted cost.
Set up tax settings for every region you sell into.Why: Missing tax configuration stops items serving in countries where tax display is required at the listing level.How: Enter the states or provinces where you collect tax, or point the account at the rates your checkout applies, and save before submitting the feed.

Product data that clears review

Match the price and currency in the feed to the price on the landing page.Why: Automatic item updates and manual review both compare the feed price against the page and disapprove mismatches.How: Sync the feed at least daily, and check that a currency selector, member pricing or subscription toggle does not change the price a crawler sees.
Send a real GTIN for every product that has one from its manufacturer.Why: Products with a valid GTIN are matched to Google's catalogue, and invented codes trigger an account level warning.How: Copy the barcode from the packaging into the barcode field on the product record, and set identifier exists to false only for handmade or own brand items.
Keep availability in the feed in step with real stock levels.Why: Sending in stock for a product the shopper cannot buy is treated as misrepresentation, not as a data error.How: Refresh availability on every sync, and use a supplemental feed or the content API for products that sell out during the day.
Remove promotional text and logos from the main product image.Why: Overlays such as sale badges, watermarks or borders on the primary image cause image level disapprovals.How: Point the image link at a clean packshot on a plain background, and move any badge into a lifestyle shot submitted as an additional image.
Check every item against Google's restricted and prohibited product policies.Why: One restricted item can pull the whole account into review, not only the product that broke the rule.How: Read the policy pages for your categories, exclude the items that cannot run with an excluded destination rule, and keep the exclusions documented.

Landing pages Google crawls

Let Googlebot reach the product URL without a login, age gate or country redirect.Why: If the crawler is bounced to a homepage or a region picker, the item is disapproved for an unavailable landing page.How: Fetch each destination URL from a different country, and allow the crawler through geo redirects and any password protected staging rules.
Serve the whole store over https, including the checkout.Why: Google requires a secure checkout process before it will show items in Shopping surfaces at all.How: Confirm the certificate covers the domain and subdomains, then fix mixed content warnings on product templates so the padlock stays on to the payment step.
Make sure the add to cart button works on the exact URL in the feed.Why: Reviewers open a sample of landing pages and check that the item can actually be bought from that page.How: Open a handful of feed URLs in a private window, add each product to the basket and reach the payment step to prove nothing blocks the path.
Keep variant links pointing at the variant the feed row describes.Why: A blue shirt row that opens the default red variant reads to a reviewer as a price or product mismatch.How: Append the variant parameter to the link attribute so size and colour are already selected when the page loads.

Working the diagnostics queue

Sort the diagnostics tab by number of items affected before fixing anything.Why: One template or feed rule usually causes thousands of item issues, so the ordering shows the real root cause.How: Group by issue, download the item list for the largest issue, and look for the shared field or template behind every affected row.
Fix the cause in the source product data, not in a feed rule patch.Why: Feed rules hide the problem from Google while the store data stays wrong for every other sales channel.How: Correct the field on the product record in the store, let the next scheduled fetch carry it through, and keep feed rules for genuine format differences.
Request a review only once every item in an issue is corrected.Why: A failed review resets the clock, and repeated failures make an account suspension harder to lift later.How: Wait for the next fetch to show corrected values in the item preview, then submit one review request covering the whole account.
Book a weekly slot to re-read the diagnostics tab after approval.Why: New products, price changes and stock movements create fresh disapprovals every week with no change to the feed.How: Put fifteen minutes in the calendar to check new issues, and switch on the account email alerts so large spikes reach you sooner.

Questions

Most new feeds are reviewed within a few working days and individual items can clear sooner. An account level review after a suspension takes longer, so fix everything before you ask for one.

No. If the product has no manufacturer barcode, set the identifier exists attribute to false and supply an accurate brand and MPN instead. Never invent a code to fill the field.

Yes. Approved items keep serving while the others sit in the queue, as long as the disapproval is at item level and not an account level suspension.

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Google Merchant Center approval checklist

Account and website setup

Product data that clears review

Landing pages Google crawls

Working the diagnostics queue

Questions

How long does Merchant Center approval take?

Do I need a GTIN for handmade products?

Can I run Shopping ads while some items are disapproved?

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