Merchant Center Misrepresentation Suspension: Fix Checklist

What this issue means

Misrepresentation is one of Google's Shopping ads policies. It covers stores that hide or misstate information shoppers need to decide whether to buy. Google splits it into several sub-policies:

• Unacceptable business practices, such as hiding your identity, impersonating a brand or scamming buyers
• Dishonest pricing and transaction conditions, such as hidden fees or unclear refund terms
• Unavailable offers, such as advertising products or deals you can't actually deliver
• Unreliable claims, such as improbable results or "miracle" promises
• Coordinated deceptive practices and Manipulated media, which are rare for ordinary stores

Google treats the first three as egregious and can suspend for them without a warning. For the others it gives notice before suspending. Either way, a suspended account stops showing products in Shopping ads and free listings until a review succeeds.

Why it happens

Google rarely says exactly what it found. For small and new stores, these are the usual triggers:

• No physical business address, or an address that doesn't match the one in Merchant Center
• Contact details that are only a form, with no phone or email anywhere
• A return policy, shipping policy or terms page that is missing, generic or contradicts itself
• Prices or discounts that look implausible, such as permanent "80% off" banners
• Fake urgency: countdown timers that reset, made-up stock counters
• Template text left in place, like "Lorem ipsum" or another store's name in the policies
• Reviews or trust badges that can't be verified
• A new domain with very little "About us" information about who runs the business
• Drop-shipping with long, undisclosed delivery times

How to fix it

Work through every item, even ones you think are fine. Reviewers look at the whole site.

1. Business identity. Put your legal business name and a real address on the Contact page and in the footer. Make them match Merchant Center (Settings, then Business info) exactly.
2. Contact methods. Show at least two of these: phone number, email address, physical address. A contact form alone is weak.
3. About page. Say who runs the store, where you are based and what you sell. Plain, specific and true beats polished and vague.
4. Return and refund policy. State the return window, condition requirements, who pays return shipping and how refunds are issued. Our return policy generator gives you a clean starting draft.
5. Shipping policy. State processing time, delivery estimates by region and costs. Make sure the costs match what checkout charges.
6. Pricing honesty. Remove fake "compare at" prices, permanent sale banners and resetting timers. Make sure no fees appear for the first time at the final payment step.
7. Claims. Remove health, income or performance claims you can't back up, and any "as seen on" or certification badges you can't prove.
8. Template cleanup. Search every page for placeholder text, broken links and empty categories.
9. Checkout. Place a test order from a mobile device and make sure payment works and the policies are linked.
10. Merchant Center settings. Confirm your business name, address, phone and customer service details are complete, and that shipping and return settings reflect what the site says.

Run through our misrepresentation checklist tool before you submit, so nothing slips.

How to request a review

In Merchant Center, go to Products, open the Needs attention section and select View setup and policy issues. You can also use the Review and fix or Fix banner at the top of the account. Follow the steps, confirm the changes you made, and submit.

Some accounts are asked for extra verification during the review, such as confirming business details or providing documents. Answer honestly and keep the information consistent with your website. Only submit once every change is live, because Google reviews the site as it is at that moment.

How long it takes

Google says account reviews typically take about 7 business days, and complex ones can take longer. You'll get an email with the result, and the status in Merchant Center will update.

Be realistic: some stores pass on the first review, many need more than one. Google limits how many reviews you can request, and after repeated unsuccessful attempts you may have to wait before you can request again. That's why fixing everything before the first request matters so much.

How to prevent it

• Change policies, contact details and business info in your store and Merchant Center at the same time, so they never disagree.
• Avoid aggressive conversion tricks. If a claim, timer or badge isn't strictly true, remove it.
• Recheck the site after theme changes, app installs or migrations, since these often wipe policy pages or footers.
• Keep delivery times honest, especially when drop-shipping.

If you'd rather not risk your remaining reviews, Mercantads can audit your store line by line against the policy, fix the gaps with you and handle the review request. Get in touch or see our Merchant Center management service.