15. Getting your shop through Google Merchant Center review: a checklist before you submit

Status: This checklist is based on trade articles that summarise why Google Merchant Center rejects or suspends accounts (sources at the end). It is not an official Google document, and it has not been checked item by item with a real account (UNVERIFIED). It helps you avoid the most common reasons; it does not guarantee approval. Google decides.

Why check this first

For a new shop the most common reason for rejection is usually not the product data file; it is that the shop itself does not look trustworthy: no contact details, missing policy pages, a site that looks unfinished, prices that do not match the web page. You can appeal, but appeals are limited, and after a rejection you have to wait before appealing again. So make all ten points below true before you submit.

The checklist

1. A contact page. Put a real business or personal address, an email on your own domain (for example support@yourdomain, not only a free mailbox), a phone number and service hours. The contact details in your Merchant Center account must match it exactly.
2. A privacy policy page. What you collect and how you use it.
3. A shipping policy page. How shipping is charged, how many days delivery takes (for dropshipped goods, state the real AliExpress delivery time; do not write "delivered in 3 days"), and which countries you ship to.
4. A returns and refunds policy page. Within how many days, who pays the return shipping, how to ask, how long a refund takes. It must match the return settings you enter in Merchant Center.
5. A terms of service page (cancellation window, what happens with a defective item, accepted payment methods).
6. The pages must not contradict each other. If the shipping page says "free shipping over $50", checkout and Merchant Center must say the same number. Delivery days must be the same in three places: the policy page, checkout and your Merchant Center account.
7. Place an order yourself from start to finish. On a phone and a computer, in a private window: add to cart, check out, reach the payment page. No errors, no pop-up covering a button, no hidden fee (for example a card surcharge that only shows at checkout).
8. No "under construction" signs. No placeholder text, no pages that do not open, no empty categories.
9. Do not block Google from your site. No country block or crawler-blocking rule that keeps Google out.
10. The price on the product page must match the product data file. When you change a price the file follows at its next update (about a day); in between, Google may see a difference, so do not submit an appeal or ask for a new review on the day you just changed prices.

Dropshippers: extra care

• Do not pass yourself off as a brand. Selling other brands' goods, or prices far below the official retail price, is the easiest way to be suspected of counterfeits. The GetDropFlow risk rules (tutorial 5) stop some of these, but the final judgment is yours.
• Having no product identifier (GTIN) is normal. GetDropFlow writes "no identifier" in the file and never makes one up. Do not invent one yourself; made-up identifiers are a common reason for suspension.
• The main picture must be big enough and must show the real variant. Google needs at least 500 x 500 pixels (about 1500 recommended). GetDropFlow measures the pictures and picks the best main picture (Settings → Default values → Picture size check), but it cannot see whether the picture shows the right colour or item: look at the main picture of every product yourself. A different item in the picture is a known reason for "poor image quality".
• Use pictures and descriptions you have reworked. AliExpress pictures and text are copyrighted and licensed for personal use only (tutorial 9 already says so).

Rejected or suspended: what to do

1. Read the email from Google and the "Needs attention" page in Merchant Center to see the exact reason.
2. Fix first, then appeal. Go through the ten points above and fix what you can. Appeals are limited, and appealing before you have fixed things easily wastes one.
3. In Merchant Center: Products → Needs attention → "Fix", then "I disagree with the issue". Google may ask you to verify your identity.
4. Merchant Center needs at least one product in it, or Google will not review your appeal.
5. If there are several issues, appeal one at a time, the most serious first.
6. After a rejection you have to wait before appealing again (the trade articles say about 7 days at first, then longer). Use the time to improve the shop.
7. Send us the email text and a screenshot of the page: [email protected]. We will add the reason you met to this tutorial.

Sources (trade articles, not Google)

• Search Engine Land: "How to fix a suspended Google Merchant Center account"
• StubGroup: "Fix your Google Merchant Center suspension: 2026 step-by-step guide"

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Written with AI help; a native-speaker review is pending.