Unsupported Shopping content

This policy applies to Shopping ads and local inventory ads

Our policy

Google aims to enable businesses to promote a wide variety of products, but some Google products and platforms may not be optimised to appropriately support all content types. For this reason, Shopping ads don't allow the promotion of certain content where we don't offer an optimal user experience. Note that because these limitations are specific to Shopping ads, they do not impact policies on other Google products or platforms, where functionality differs or additional support mechanisms are in place.

Examples of what's not allowed

Ticket sales

Future transport or event tickets

• Examples: Concert tickets, airline tickets, bus reservation tickets

Vehicles

Motor- or sail-powered vehicles used for the transport of people on public access ways

• Examples: Cars (except vehicle ads as noted below), motorhomes, trucks, boats, catamarans, planes, helicopters, motorcycles, mopeds, jet skis
• Exception: Motor-powered bicycles are allowed, with these conditions:
  • Motor-powered bicycles must comply with applicable laws and regulations concerning maximum motor-assisted speeds.
  • Product listings must explicitly state the bicycle's speed on the landing page and in either the product title or description. For example: eBike, top speed 28 mph, 150 km range, 504 Wh, 21 kg, 28" – dark colour. If the speed isn't stated, they're in violation of our policy and will be disapproved.
• Exception: Vehicle ads, an ad format which allows vehicle advertisers to promote their entire inventory of new and used vehicles (light passenger cars and vans) to interested customers shopping for vehicles, are allowed. Learn more about vehicle ads.

Financial products

Products related to finance management, financial assets, investments, securities or insurance

• Examples: Stocks, bonds, investment products, insurance policies, credit cards, money orders, banker's drafts

eBooks and digital books (not including audiobooks)

eBooks and digital books (not including audiobooks)

• Examples: PDFs, ePub books, MOBI and 電子書籍 formats.

Currency

Mediums of exchange that are reliant on variable currency market values to determine price, including discounted currencies, currency exchanges or currency backed by precious materials

• Examples: Gold bullion, precious metals, local currency, virtual currency

Open-loop gift cards

Prepaid gift cards branded by a credit card issuer

• Examples: Mastercard, Visa or American Express branded gift cards
• Exceptions to the policy include but are not limited to: Gift cards with an expiry date are allowed

Services

Labour, time, effort, expertise or actions that do not result in ownership of a tangible product. This includes any services sold bundled with physical goods. In accordance with our medical devices policy, test kits where samples are collected at home and analysed in a lab are not considered services and are allowed on Shopping.

• Examples: Maintenance or repair services, accounting services, financial planning services, streaming content, online gaming currency, car repair services sold bundled with the purchase of tyres

Immovable property

Property not physically movable or which cannot be moved without being altered or destroyed

• Examples: Real estate, non-portable homes, plots of land

Recurring billing

A payment method that allows users to pay for goods on an ongoing basis, at regular intervals in the future

• Examples: Security or medical alert system with recurring payments for subscription, digital content with recurring payment subscriptions
• Exceptions to the policy: Refer to the price [price] attribute of the feed specification for requirements on how to submit prices for these products.
  • Magazine and newspaper subscriptions with recurring billing are allowed.
  • Mobile products are allowed to be sold in instalments or with a subscription contract if specifically listed here and are categorised under the Google product category (GPC) codes listed below. Make sure that you review the best practices for listing wireless products and services.
    • Watches (ID: 201)
    • Mobile phones (ID: 267)
    • Tablet computers (ID: 4745)
    • Mobile phone prepaid cards and SIM cards (ID: 6030)
    • GPS tracking devices (ID: 6544)
  • Software subscriptions that are prepaid and auto-renew only annually are allowed.
  • In Brazil, subscriptions with recurring billing to telecoms companies are allowed. Instalment pricing, not open-ended billing, is allowed for all other products.

Billing processed by product software

Online payment method for goods that require additional software installation to complete the purchase

• Examples: Digital photo albums that can only be purchased if additional software is installed

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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 updated automatically 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 providing an appeal reason and/or uploading 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. However, a warning may not be issued for egregious policy violations.

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 updated automatically before requesting any reviews.
5. Make sure that your linked or associated account is issue-free before requesting a Merchant Center review. Learn more about how to fix linked account suspensions.
6. 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 providing an appeal reason and/or uploading 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.

Note: Account reviews typically take seven business days, but may take longer for complex reviews. If you remove violating products, the warning will be removed. If a review or appeal is successful, the issue will disappear from Merchant Center. In the case of account suspension, we will approve the account and allow products to be displayed 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 about 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 providing an appeal reason and/or uploading 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.

Note: Account reviews typically take seven business days, but may take longer for complex reviews. If you remove violating products, the warning will be removed. If a review or appeal is successful, the issue will disappear from Merchant Center. In the case of account suspension, we will approve the account and allow products to be displayed again.

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 familiarise yourself with and keep up to date with these requirements for the place where your business operates, as well as any other places that your ads 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 advertising content with us.

If you're working with a third-party platform, some of these instructions may not apply to you. Refer to your third-party platform for instructions on how to resolve the issue and request a review. Learn how to find support if you use a non-Google platform.