When Google disapproves products or suspends accounts in Merchant Center, it uses specific policy codes. Knowing what each code means and what evidence Google uses to trigger it is the first step to fixing it quickly.
Scan Your Account for Policy Issues (Free)These are fundamentally different situations. A product disapproval is targeted: one or more products fail a specific quality or policy check. The rest of your catalog continues to run. An account suspension affects everything: no Shopping ads run until the suspension is resolved and an appeal is approved.
| Type | Scope | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| Product disapproval | Individual products | Fix data, resubmit feed |
| Account warning | Account-level flag | Fix policy issues before deadline |
| Account suspension | Entire account | Remediate policy, submit formal appeal |
The price in your feed does not match the price Google crawls on your landing page. Causes: feed update lag, JavaScript-rendered prices, tax inclusion differences. Fix: update feed frequency, add server-rendered prices or product schema markup.
Your feed says "in stock" but your page shows "out of stock" or vice versa. Fix: sync feed submissions with your inventory system or use real-time feed updates via the Content API.
The submitted GTIN fails checksum validation or does not match any product in the GS1 database. Fix: verify the GTIN on your product packaging, check for transposed digits, and use identifier_exists: FALSE for products without manufacturer GTINs.
Product title, description, or images do not match the actual product. This is a precursor to the misrepresentation policy violation. Fix: ensure feed data matches the product page exactly.
The product or its description includes content prohibited by Google Shopping policies: weapons, drug paraphernalia, counterfeit goods, certain health claims. Fix: remove prohibited content or reformulate claims.
The most common account suspension. Google determines that your site consistently misrepresents products, prices, or terms. Triggers: widespread price mismatches, hidden fees revealed at checkout, misleading promotions, products advertised as new but described as refurbished. This requires systematic fixes across your site and feed before an appeal will succeed.
Google detects that your account is attempting to bypass policy checks: duplicate accounts after suspension, manipulating crawl behavior, cloaking content for Googlebot. This is one of the harder suspensions to appeal because it implies intent.
Products in the catalog fall into prohibited categories. Fix: remove prohibited products from the feed and confirm they are not accessible from the advertised site.
A product disapproval affects individual items; other products still run. An account suspension halts all Shopping ads. Product disapprovals are fixed by correcting data. Account suspensions require policy remediation and a formal appeal.
3 to 7 business days after resubmitting the feed. For account-level issues, appeal reviews typically take 3 to 5 business days.
Misrepresentation: differences between the product data in your feed and what shoppers see on your site, including prices, availability, and product descriptions.