A suspension for “Misrepresentation” means Google Merchant Center believes the information about your business or products, on your website or in your product feed, is false or incomplete. You see it in the banner at the top of your Merchant Center account, in emails from Google, and under Products on the “Needs attention” tab.
Do not confuse this with the ad policy of the same name, covered in Misrepresentation in Google Ads: that one is about ads, this one about your Merchant Center account. If only some products were disapproved, read why Merchant Center disapproves products instead.
What it means
The policy requires shoppers to see clear, honest information. According to Google’s help page, it does not allow offers that push people to buy without full information and explicit consent, or offers that describe you or your products in a way that is not accurate, realistic and truthful. What happens next depends on the policy section.
| Policy section | What happens if you violate it |
|---|---|
| “Unacceptable business practices”, “Coordinated deceptive practices”, “Dishonest pricing and transaction conditions” | An egregious violation. Your Merchant Center account is suspended on detection, without prior warning. |
| “Unavailable offers”, “Manipulated media”, and the section on unrealistic promises | A warning comes first, at least 7 days before any suspension. |
If the violation is not egregious, Google usually emails the details and gives you 7 or 28 calendar days to fix it.
Why it happens
In a normal online store the cause is usually inconsistency: the website says one thing, the feed or Merchant Center another. Here is what Google asks you to check.
| What to check | What Google requires |
|---|---|
| Business details | Name, address and contact details match across your website, Merchant Center and payment profiles. Named violations include a false identity, business name or contact details, and a false or virtual headquarters address when you actually operate entirely from an undisclosed region. |
| Shipping, returns, refunds | Policies are clear, consistent and easy to find, for example in the footer. Violations: refusing a refund despite your own policy, taking payment without delivering. |
| Price and availability | The feed matches the landing page exactly. Showing a product as available when you cannot fulfill the order is not allowed. |
| Total cost | Taxes, fees, shipping and return costs are visible before payment. |
| Site functionality | No placeholder text or broken links, and a working checkout secured with HTTPS. |
In October 2025 Google clarified the policy with examples of non-delivery and broken refund processes. These are not new rules.
What to do
- Read Google’s emails, then open Products, the “Needs attention” tab and “View setup and policy issues”. See which policy section is named and whether a deadline is shown.
- If the tab asks for identity verification, complete it: upload clear government-issued ID or business registration documents. It is often required before you can request a review.
- Use the table above and make your business details consistent. In audits I start with these: a mismatch between the website, Merchant Center and the payment profile is a common find. Account basics are in Google Merchant Center setup.
- Check the feed against the website. I open product pages by hand and compare price, availability and shipping with the feed. Remove offers that break the rules and update your data in Merchant Center manually or wait for the automatic update.
- Only now send the request: select “I fixed the issue” if you corrected everything, or “I disagree with the issue” if you think it is a mistake, then “Request review”. The second option gives you only one chance, so in an appeal give detailed, clear and truthful information.
- Wait up to 7 business days. You get emails when you send the request and when the review ends. The status reads “Review requested”, “Under review” or “Review not approved”.
What not to do
- Send the request after the first cosmetic fix. The “I disagree with the issue” button gives you only one chance, and if the issue is still unresolved after the second review request, a one-week cool down may begin and may grow with each unsuccessful review.
- Confuse unblocking the account with a bulk appeal for products. That is a separate procedure: it is not always available, and not on every third-party platform, and filing it before you remove every offer that breaks the rules from the feed is risky. It can be rejected immediately, which will likely limit your ability to appeal those products again.
- Adjust your details just to pass the check: a false or virtual headquarters address while you operate from another, undisclosed region, a hidden shipping location, an invented name.
- Open a new account instead of fixing the problem. For egregious violations Google states you will not be allowed to list content with them again, and the cause stays on your website.
On scale: in its Ads Safety Report for 2025, Google says it blocked or removed more than 421.5 million ads under its Misrepresentation policy. That is all Google Ads ads worldwide, not Merchant Center, and Google publishes no separate Merchant Center figure. It shows the policy’s scale, not your personal risk.
When this does not apply
- The suspension is for an egregious violation. Google says accounts are reinstated only in compelling circumstances and when there is good reason, so you need an appeal with an explanation and documents, not just a site edit.
- You really do what the policy forbids, for example selling a product without the required license. You can fix the offer, not the label on it.
- The “Request review” button is greyed out. The cause may be more than a cool down period (see the questions below). Google support cannot shorten a cool down, so use the time for the audit.
- Your store runs on a third-party platform. The steps may differ, so ask the platform’s support about review options.
If the status does not change after these steps, the step-by-step version of this audit is in my book on Google Ads for business owners.
My e-book “19 Google Ads Secrets”: how to get the most out of Google Ads without draining your budget, drawn from real campaigns and tests.
See the book →Questions and answers
How long does the review take?
Google says up to 7 business days, and longer for complex cases.
Why is the Request review button greyed out?
Check two things first: that identity verification is complete on the “Needs attention” tab, and that the feed has at least one product (if not, add one by hand under “All products” in Products). If both are fine, a cool down period is probably running. It starts when you have used up your chance to disagree and the fix attempts did not work, and the same tab shows when the button becomes active again. If issues remain after the second review request, a one-week cool down may begin, and it may grow with each unsuccessful review.
Do my products show while the account is suspended?
No. Until the issues are resolved, your products stay disabled on Shopping surfaces. After a successful review, Google reinstates the account and the products show again.