GMC Appeals Tutorial

GMC diagnostics path: Google Merchant Center > Product > Diagnostics > Item issues / Feed issues / Account issues

If a yellow triangle appears on the GMC diagnostics page, resolve it as soon as possible. If a red triangle is displayed on the GMC diagnostics page, resolve it immediately. Common reasons for Google Shopping Ads suspension:

• Shopping Ads policies violations.
• Product data quality violations.

To ensure that your store website complies with Google shopping ads policies, see: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6149970?hl=zh-Hans&ref_topic=9212502&authuser=0

You can follow the instructions in this article to prioritize common issues that may occur on your website.

 

1. Shopping Ads policies violations

Counterfeit goods

Google prohibits selling or promoting counterfeit products. If a website is determined to be selling counterfeit products, the account will be immediately suspended. In severe cases, Google Shopping Ads account associated with the GMC account will also be suspended. If a product is determined to be counterfeit, make sure to remove it from your website immediately. Common violations:

• Products are described as a knock-off, replica, imitation, clone, faux, fake, mirror image, or similar terms when referring to a brand name to pass themselves off as genuine products.
• Non-genuine products that mimic brand features in an attempt to pass themselves off as genuine products.
• No product details or warranty information are available.

Misrepresentation

Google has no intention to mislead customers by the content promoted in Shopping Ads, and that means being upfront, honest, and providing customers with the information as needed.

Common violations:

• Scamming users by concealing or misstating information about the merchant’s business, product, or service.
• Profitable products or promotional offers that are not available for users.
• Stealing product descriptions and product images.
• Concealing or misstating information about the business or product.
• Create multiple GMC accounts to circumvent Google policies.
• Promotional information such as discounts and promotions that help gain unfair advantages, obtain private information and evade relevant laws shall be valid.
• Free shipping is not practical.
• Make false commitments such as time of delivery.
• False promises of warranty, replacement,  and refund.
• Advertising in the name of charity.
• The use of "used by celebrities" and other meanings of the words and celebrity endorsement pictures involving portrait infringement publicity.
• During the review period, use non-original videos on the website.
• Use exaggerated adjectives, such as “best.”
• Exaggerated product function effects, including product battery life.
• Discount and promotion on all products.
• Make effect comparison on before and after using the product in the form of text or pictures.
• Descriptions are linked to sensitive words like medicine, pornography, violence, women, obesity, politics, country/region, religion, local culture.
• Using words that violate advertising legislation, such as “100% pure”, drug-related terms, and medication.

Products that enable dishonest behavior

Google values honesty and fairness, and prohibits the promotion of products designed to enable dishonest behavior.

Examples:

• Hacking devices or hacking instructions.
• Services designed to inflate advertising or website traffic artificially.
• Fake or false documents.
• Fake diplomas.
• Spyware and technology used for surveillance.
• Products that violate the local laws and regulations.

User information security

Google shopping ads policies are based on the security of user data.

Common mistakes:

• Malicious theft of user payment information in the payment process.
• User's full name, Email address, delivery address, phone number, ID number, pension accounts, social security number, tax ID, health insurance number,  driver's license number, birthday, or mother's former name, plus any information above mentioned. Also, financial status, political parties, sexual orientation, race or nationality, religion, and other information not used by regulations.

Adult-oriented content

Certain adult-oriented ads and targeted pages are allowed, provided that the ads comply with local laws and regulations, have adult attributes on the product page, and are not targeted at minors. Prohibited Adult Content includes Strip clubs, pornographic movies, sex toys, adult magazines, sex enhancement products, dating sites, and models with sexy poses.

Common mistakes:

• Text, image, audio, or video of graphic sexual acts intended to arouse.
• Overly exposed model images.

 

2.Feed quality violations

Price:

Only products with fixed prices can be sold, the discount price should be specified separately. Showing different prices in ad and target pages is prohibited.

Image:

• The product's main image should be clear, without borders, watermarks, promotional words, and logo elements.
• Copyrighted product images copied from other websites are not allowed.
• Non-copyrighted images with a clear portrait display are not allowed.
• Images containing politically or religiously sensitive content are not allowed.
• Overly exposed or pornographic images are not allowed.
• Exaggerated depictions or images suspected of being endorsed by other brands (e.g., Amazon Seller) are not allowed.
• The use of prominent paid copyright images as materials to generate ad images is not allowed.

Language:

The same language must be used on the Ads and the purchase page. The language on the target page also needs to be compatible with the language of the country/region where the Ads is placed. Advertising in a different language from that of the target page is prohibited.

Shipping cost:

In any period (including the pre-sale period), the logistics information and shipping cost policies set on the website should be consistent with the shipping cost policies of Google Merchant Center. It is forbidden to display a shipping cost range. If you cannot accurately estimate the shipping cost, you may provide an overestimate, but this must be clearly stated in the ads.

Inventory: 

Inventory needs to be updated to ensure products are available and able to be shipped to the destination country/region.

Currency:

The currency of the country/region where the advertising has been placed must be the same as the currency of the target page.

 

3.Other common mistakes

Contact information:

Google will verify the user's actual address through both machine review and manual inspection, including but not limited to Google Map and search engine information verification.

• Phone number/email/address - include at least two valid numbers.
• If the company does not have an international registered entity, please display the local address on the website as shown in the business license. The address should be accurate and verifiable, overseas warehouses excluded.
• Address. If you are asked by a third-party company, such as a credit card collection company, to put a designated overseas address on your website, please check with one of the Google marketing strategy experts first.
• Phone numbers must include country/area codes.
• The display information must be in a text format that can be copied and pasted.
• Too much emphasis on international information may be suspected of fraud.
• Common mistake: Putting fake US addresses in the Contact Us section to improve site conversion.

 

If your GMC is suspended and you cannot create a new GMC, you may be perceived by Google as evading policy review. If the reason for your GMC suspension has not been addressed, repeated creating new GMC is a severe violation of Google policies and will also affect the subsequent appeals.

 

4.Request review

If you have fixed your account issues and would like to request a review, you can Contact GMC customer service through “ Contact us” and describe the changes made and attach related links. You can also request a review throughContact us.

All appeals are reviewed manually, so be careful about appeals. The following template is for reference only.

We have made the following modifications and improvements upon recognizing our violation of the relevant Google Shopping Advertising Modified Regulations：

• Removed products that violate Google Shopping ads policies, please see: https://bestproducts.com/fitness.....
• Improved our shipping policy: order processing time, overall transport time and freight charge have been updated, please see: https://xx.com/pages/shipping-returns
• Updated contact page: company information, email, and address are all displayed clearly, please see: https://xx.com/pages/contact-us
• Modify product name and description. Please see: https://xx.com
• Optimized FAQ, delivery area covered(US), payment methods, please see: https://xx.com/pages/faq
• Optimized Return & Refund policy, telephone contact added, please see: https://xx.com/pages/returns-policy

Procedural improvements: We have made the above adjustments and deletions according the regulations to ensure that our products and websites comply with relevant Google policies and regulations

• Learn and understand Google advertising policies and regulations
• Improve our website post-sale service to enhance shopping experience

 

5.Self-check list

Google Merchant Center set up	Product feed	No disapproved product left to review（No disapproved products left which directly relates to account suspension）
	Merchant Info - Merchant description	Ensure that the merchant information set up in your GMC is consistent with all merchant information on your website.
		Office address is available on Google Maps
		An actual reachable phone number.
		Customer service email needs to be a branded email address (e.g. not gmail)
	Merchant Info - Website	Use an external domain (not myshoplazza.com)
	Merchant Info - Brand marketing	Brand color for website or brand have been set.
		Square or rectangular brand logo available.
	Sales tax	Tax Settings/Taxes are consistent with the tax instructions on the website.
	Shipping and returns	GMC shipping setup consistent with those on website.
	Country/Region	GMC shipping setup consistent with those on website.
E-commerce websites	Website	Website loads quickly.
		There are no lexical and sentence pattern errors.
		No fake reviews.
		No imported reviews.
		Did not steal images from another website.
		Did not steal product description from another website.
		Website has certain reviews.
		All the plugins on the website work normally.
		Not using website for dropshipping.
		SSL certificate installed (https)
		Website's language consistent with country's language in which the product is launched.
		Privacy policy page clearly explains how user browsing data is used on the website.
		There are no exaggerated descriptions of brands or products.
	Home page and brand	High-quality logo (good design and not blurry)
		Both URL and store domain must be valid.
		Brand logo displayed on home page.
	Product details	No false or misleading description.
		Inventory status clearly marked.
		No images copied from vendors or other sellers.
		No copy of other seller's product description.
		Not selling dangerous goods.
		Not selling counterfeit or infringing trademark products
		Accurate status of goods (new/used.)
		Original product title.
		Prices are correct.
Policies	Contract Info	Contact information on separate page.
		Contact times listed on website.
		Contact page lists estimated response time.
		All contact information needs to be consistent with the GMC setup/Google Ads setup.
	Return & Replacement	Clearly state refund or return process.
		Clearly outline the refund/return process for different situations (For example, replacement, change of mind, defective item, damaged, wrong product, never delivered, canceled after order etc.)
		A clear timetable for each return or refund situation.
		Clearly outline how long it will take to receive a refund after a successful return.
		Specify refund method.
		Specify the deadline for return (after which products cannot be returned)
	Shipping	Indicate shipping cost for each region.
		Time of delivery to each location.
		Express/postal services used at each delivery point (e.g. UPS, FedEx, DHL, Australia Post）
		Package tracking information is clear.
		How loss of goods in transit are dealt with.
	Payment policies	Checkout page protected by an SSL certificate.
		Multiple payment methods are available.
		Displays available payment methods at website footer.
		No hidden costs.
		All discounts advertised on site are available at checkout.
		Accurate discount information.