Dangerous Products Policy in Merchant Center: How to Fix It

What this issue means

Dangerous products is prohibited content under Google's Shopping ads policies. Google's policy page lists categories including:

• Explosives, such as fireworks that explode, firecrackers and bomb-making instructions
• Guns, gun parts and related products, including airsoft, BB and paintball guns, ammunition, silencers, scopes and conversion kits. Safety items like gun locks and trigger locks are allowed
• Other weapons, such as switchblades, fighting knives, throwing stars, brass knuckles, tasers and pepper spray
• Recreational drugs and products marketed to help use them, including pill presses
• Sodium nitrite above a set concentration
• Tobacco, including cigarettes, cigars, rolling papers, pipes, hookahs and e-cigarettes or e-liquids
• Consumer advisories, such as recalled products with an unresolved risk of serious harm

For most accounts, this policy leads to product disapprovals or an account warning, not instant suspension. Google says it issues a warning at least 7 days before suspending an account under this policy, and typically gives 7 or 28 calendar days to fix it.

Why it happens

• You sell an item in a listed category, sometimes without realizing it, like knives in a kitchen store that include a balisong, or vape accessories in a gift shop.
• Accessory overlap. Holsters and gun cleaning kits can be fine, while scopes and magazines aren't. Rules depend on the exact product.
• Ambiguous wording. Words like "bomb" (bath bombs), "shot" (shot glasses), "blade" or "weapon" in a game context can trigger automated review.
• Drug-related terms, such as "420," "stash" or "grinder," especially with cannabis imagery.
• Recalled products still listed after an official recall.
• Website content. Google's policies apply to your site as well as the feed, so dangerous items sold on the site but excluded from the feed can still matter for account-level decisions.

How to fix it

1. List the flagged products. In Products, open Needs attention and filter for the Dangerous products issue. Export the list.
2. Classify each item. Is it genuinely in a prohibited category, or was it misread?
3. Remove prohibited items from the feed. Use a feed rule, a custom label exclusion or delete them from the product source.
4. Consider removing them from the website, especially if the account-level warning mentions your site. If you keep them on the site, understand that this can affect how Google sees the account.
5. Rewrite misleading listings. Make innocent products unmistakable: "Lavender bath bomb, 4-pack" rather than "The Bomb." Remove weapon-style or drug-related phrasing and imagery.
6. Check images. Photos showing weapons, drugs or smoking as props can cause flags even on harmless products.
7. Remove recalled products and check for recalls in your category regularly.
8. Check country rules. Some categories vary by country, and you must follow local law in every country you target.

How to request a review

For product disapprovals, edit the product to fix the problem, and the change triggers a new review automatically. If you believe the product was wrongly flagged, use the appeal option in Needs attention.

For an account warning or suspension, go to View setup and policy issues or use the Review and fix banner, then request an account review once all violating items are gone.

If a bulk appeal is offered, remove all genuinely violating items first. Google says a failed bulk appeal can limit future appeals for those products.

How long it takes

Product re-reviews after an edit often happen within a day or two. Google says account reviews typically take about 7 business days, and longer for complex cases. Review requests are limited, so remove or fix everything before you submit.

How to prevent it

• Screen new products against Google's prohibited lists before adding them.
• Keep a list of trigger words your team avoids in titles and descriptions.
• Use feed rules to automatically exclude product types you know aren't allowed.
• Recheck recalled-product notices in your category.
• If a large part of your catalog is in a prohibited category, consider other advertising channels for those products.

Mercantads can sort your catalog into allowed and disallowed items, set up feed exclusions and handle the review. Get in touch or see our Merchant Center service.