Misrepresentation is an account-level issue in Google Merchant Center. It concerns your business and your website as a whole, so it can take every product offline at once. This guide explains what the policy covers and what Google says to check before you ask for a review.
What the policy covers
Google's Misrepresentation policy says listings should be clear and honest and give shoppers the information they need to make informed decisions. The policy page groups the violations under several headings.
| Policy heading | Examples Google gives |
|---|---|
| Unacceptable business practices | False business name or contact information, hiding your business location, denying refunds despite a clear refund policy |
| Dishonest pricing and transaction conditions | A total price that leaves out taxes or fees, undisclosed shipping costs, hidden restocking fees |
| Unavailable offers | Listing products or promotions you cannot fulfill |
| Unreliable claims | Inaccurate claims, such as "miracle cure" products |
Warning or suspension
How much notice you get depends on the heading. Google treats some of these as egregious.
- Egregious headings: For unacceptable business practices and dishonest pricing, Google says accounts are suspended on detection, without prior warning
- Other headings: For unavailable offers and unreliable claims, Google says it sends a warning at least 7 days before any suspension
- How you are told: By email, and on the Needs attention tab in Merchant Center
During a warning period, Google says products may show with limited visibility.
What Google says to check
Google's help page for warnings and suspensions gives a checklist for Misrepresentation issues. Work through all of it.
- ✅ Legal business name, physical address, phone number and email are consistent across your website and Merchant Center
- ✅ Shipping, refund and privacy policies are explicitly linked on the site
- ✅ Placeholder text is removed and broken links are fixed
- ✅ Checkout works and uses HTTPS
- ✅ Identity verification is complete in Merchant Center, with documents that match your account data
The policy page adds more to review: whether the total price and all shipping costs are disclosed before purchase, and whether every listed product can be fulfilled.
Product pages count too
The same help page tells you to review product details alongside business information, policies and contact information. Read your titles and descriptions for claims the product cannot support, and for offers that have ended. Product data should match the landing page. See the common reasons products are disapproved.
Requesting a review
Fix everything before you ask. Google says that if issues remain, the account stays suspended, and that each unsuccessful review can lengthen a cool-down period during which the review button is disabled.
- Where: Account-level issues appear in a banner in Merchant Center and on the Needs attention page, with an option to request review
- How long: Google says reviews typically take 3 to 7 business days, and you get an email when one is complete
- Egregious cases: Google says accounts are reinstated only in compelling circumstances
Doing this at scale
An account-level Misrepresentation issue is about your business and website, and no app clears it for you. FeedFix covers the product data side: it checks every product against Google Merchant Center and Meta Catalog rules, scores each one from 0 to 100 per channel, and drafts compliant title and description rewrites you review as before/after diffs, with bulk apply and an audit log. See FeedFix.