Can you help if my feed was disapproved by Google?
Google has recently disapproved feeds of many of our clients due to stricter enforcement of Restricted Products. Even a single restricted item can result in disapproval of all your items!
Please beware that although you may be selling an item that is allowed, it may still contain keywords that make it appear to be a restricted item in Google's view. This may result in disapproval of your entire feed.
Thankfully, Google has also published an extensive set of restricted keywords in their documentation of Restricted Products. Please review those rules carefully, as well as the Google Shopping Program Policies.
To resolve the issue, you have to email Google until they tell you which item or items are causing the disapproval, a process which may take a week or two of emailing back and forth. You can start the process by contacting them using these forms:
- Google Merchants - Contact Form for Disapproved Feeds
- Google Contact Form for Data Feed Upload Issues
- Call Adwords free phone support via your Adwords account.
Common Reasons for Disapproval
- Submitting out of stock or discontinued items as being "in stock"
- Submitting used or refurbished items as "new"
- Submitting items in or related to any Restricted Product category, particularly supplements and weapons
Additional Tips and Advice
For a great overview of why Google disapproves feeds and how to get approved again, please refer to Celebird's Product Search Disapproval Checklist.
For many issues, you may find assistance or advice in the Google Merchants Help Forum.
We have a separate article that explains how to solve the issue when your items are disapproved due to shipping terms in the product descriptions.
A common cause of disapproval is non-compliance with the policy regarding Affiliates, cataloged drop-shipping programs, and multi-level marketing. See the program policies for more details.
If your items do not have unique identifiers, but Google has disapproved them, then you can contact Google to request an exemption or exception from the unique identifier requirement.
If your entire feed is disapproved and Google is not responding, unfortunately, we can not provide any support. This issue is between the merchant and Google, and there is nothing we can do about it. We do not have any knowledge of, and can not advise on a workaround. We do not have an 'inside' contact at Google. Creating a new Google account and resubmitting does not work, and is not recommended.
'Misrepresentation' or other Account-level Policy-related Suspension
In some cases, like 'Misrepresentation', Google will not tell you the reason for the suspension. In this situation, consider hiring a specialist to help you resolve the suspension. You can find resources on Fiverr using this link:
Fiverr search results for 'Fix Google Merchant Center Suspension'