Abuse of the free listings network

This policy applies to free listings. Learn more about Shopping ads policies.

Our policy

Google wants free listings to be useful, varied, relevant and safe for customers, so we don’t allow any of the following: Malicious content Sites that offer little unique value to customers and are focused on traffic generation Retailers who try to gain an unfair advantage in ranking Retailers who try to bypass our review processes

All of our policies are crafted to protect a high quality user experience, and we have enforcement systems and processes to stop content that falls below these standards from being shown to customers. We take any attempts to trick or circumvent our review processes very seriously, so play fair.

Examples of what's not allowed

Malicious or unwanted software

Malicious software or “malware” that may harm or gain unauthorized access to a computer, device, or network

• Examples: Computer viruses, ransomware, worms, trojan horses, rootkits, keyloggers, dialers, spyware, rogue security software, and other malicious programs

Listings that violate Google's Unwanted Software policy

• Examples: Failing to be transparent about the functionality that the software provides or the full implications of installing the software, failing to include Terms of Service or an End User License Agreement, bundling software or applications without the user's knowledge, making system changes without the user's consent, making it difficult for users to deactivate or uninstall the software, failing to use publicly available Google APIs properly when interacting with Google services or products. Learn more about Google's Unwanted Software policy

Low-value content

Products that are designed for the primary purpose of showing ads or promotional content

• Examples: Driving traffic (through “arbitrage” or otherwise) to destinations with more ads than original content, little or no original content, or excessive advertising

Sites that don't give all customers a way to complete the purchase of a product

• Examples: Sites that allow purchase only by businesses, sites that allow purchase only by a certain subset of customers. Learn more about business-to-business advertising

Content that's replicated from another source without adding value such as original content or more functionality

• Examples: Mirroring, framing, or scraping content from another source

Landing pages that are solely designed to send customers elsewhere

• Examples: Bridge, gateway, or doorway pages

Gaining an unfair advantage

Using the Google network to gain an unfair traffic advantage in Shopping campaigns

• Examples: Clicks or impressions generated by a retailer clicking their own listings, automated clicking tools or traffic sources, robots, or other deceptive software; duplicate listings

Gaming the Google network

Engaging in practices that attempt to circumvent or interfere with Google’s systems and processes

• Examples: Cloaking; use of dynamic DNS to switch page or product; manipulating product data or site content in order to bypass our automated system checks; restricting crawler access to your landing pages. Learn more about Google search essentials

What you can do

Here's what you can do if your product is disapproved or if your Merchant Center account is impacted:

Product disapproval

Products that don't comply with our policies may be disapproved. When a product is disapproved, it won't be eligible to serve. 

1. Read our policies to learn what we don't allow.
2. Update your website. If your ad or listing leads to content that violates a policy, update your website to meet the requirements and be in compliance with our policies.
3. Remove the violating products from your product data. You’ll receive an email with details about the violation. 
   • If you have products in your product data that violate the policy (or policies), you'll need to remove the offers from your feed.
4. Update your product data in Merchant Center. If you created a schedule for automatic uploads, update your product data manually or wait for your product data to be automatically updated before requesting any reviews.
5. Request a review of your products or appeal the decision taken on this issue.
   • If the violating products are removed, you won't need to request a review or take any additional action.
   • If you fix your product-level issues by editing your product data via your chosen upload method (such as a file) or directly in Merchant Center, your products will be re-reviewed.
   • For certain issues, you can disagree with the issue but you may need to complete additional steps such as provide an appeal reason and/or upload required documentation.
   • If you use a third-party platform to list your products, you can refer to your third-party if you want to request a review. You won’t be able to do this in Merchant Center.
   • If a review or appeal is successful, the issue will disappear from Merchant Center.

Account disapproval

For most violations, we'll send you a warning email detailing the policy violation and give you 7 or 28 calendar days to fix your issue.

1. Read our policies to learn what we don't allow.
2. Update your website. If your ad or listing leads to content that violates a policy, update your website to meet the requirements and be in compliance with our policies.
3. Remove any violating products from your product data. You’ll receive an email with details about the violation. If you have products in your product data that violate the policy (or policies) you'll need to remove the offers from your feed.
4. Update your data in Merchant Center. 
   • Review your account and submit any missing information or complete any unfinished steps. 
   • If you created a schedule for automatic uploads, update your product data manually or wait for your product data to be automatically updated before requesting any reviews.
5. Request a review of your account or appeal the decision taken on this issue.
   • If your account is still within the warning period, it will automatically be reviewed again at the end of the warning period. If the violating products are removed, you won't need to request an account review or take any additional action.
   • If your account is suspended and you've taken actions to resolve the issue, request an account review.
   • For certain issues, you can disagree with the issue but you may need to complete additional steps such as provide an appeal reason and/or upload required documentation.
   • If you use a third-party platform to list your products, you can refer to your third-party if you want to request a review. You won’t be able to do this in Merchant Center.

Most accounts are reviewed within 3 business days, but it can take longer if a more complex review is needed. If we find that you've removed the violating products from your product data, we’ll remove the warning. If a review or appeal is successful, the issue will disappear from Merchant Center. In the case of account suspension, we'll then also approve your account so your products can start displaying again.

Account issue that limits product visibility

Your account has an issue and is operating with reserved functionality, therefore your products have limited visibility. An email was sent with a notice on what to do and the steps needed to resolve your account issue.

1. Read our policies to learn more about our requirements.
2. Update your website. If your ad or listing leads to content that violates a policy, update your website to meet the requirements and be in compliance with our policies.
3. Fix any other open policy violation in your account. Review your products and your account details. 
   • If products aren’t supported, remove them from your feed.
   • If account details are missing, complete them in Merchant Center. 
4. Request a review of your account or appeal the decision taken on this issue.
   • If your Merchant Center account is still within the warning period for certain policies, it will automatically be reviewed again at the end of the warning period. 
   • If your account is affected and you've resolved the issue, request a Merchant Center account review.
   • For certain issues, you can disagree with the issue but you may need to complete additional steps such as provide an appeal reason and/or upload required documentation.
   • If you use a third-party platform to list your products, you can refer to your third-party if you want to request a review. You won’t be able to do this in Merchant Center.

Most accounts are reviewed within 3 business days, but it can take longer if a more complex review is needed. If we find that you've removed the violating products from your product data, we’ll remove the warning. If a review or appeal is successful, the issue will disappear from Merchant Center. In the case of accounts with limited visibility, we'll then also approve your account so your products can start displaying again without any restrictions.

 

To ensure a safe and positive experience for customers, Google requires that retailers comply with all applicable laws and regulations in addition to our policies. It's important that you familiarize yourself with and keep up to date on these requirements for the place where your business operates, as well as for any other places your listings are shown. When we find content that violates these requirements, we may block it from appearing. In cases of repeated or egregious violations, we may ban you from listing content with us.