Is Your Merchant Center Compliant? Avoiding Account Suspensions in 2025
- Flomaticx
- Jun 5
- 3 min read
If you’re running Shopping Ads in 2025, ensuring your Google Merchant Center is compliant is non-negotiable. With Google’s enforcement tightening around misrepresentation, e-commerce brands face account suspensions that can stop their revenue streams overnight. The key to staying safe? Getting your Merchant Center compliant from day one.
Why Merchant Center Compliance Matters
Google Merchant Center is the backbone of your Shopping Ads strategy. It houses your product data, pricing, and shipping info — and serves as Google’s window into your online store. One policy violation can result in disapproval or, worse, a full account suspension due to “misrepresentation.”
Most violations are fixable. But what catches many store owners off guard is that these suspensions often relate to trust signals and operational details on your site — not just product data.
Step-by-Step: How to Make Your Merchant Center Compliant
Use this checklist, based on our internal protocols at Flomaticx, to audit your account and avoid suspensions:
1. Website Completion & Currency Settings
Your website must be fully functional and allow customers to complete a purchase. Test the full checkout flow.
Submit only 1–2 active products for initial review. Exclude the rest via feed apps like Simprosys.
Your store currency in Shopify must match your target country (Shopify > Settings > Store Details > Currency).
If you’ve changed currencies, recreate shipping rates to reflect the correct currency.
2. Contact Details & Trust Signals
Display About Us and Contact Us in both the header and footer.
Include your phone number (from the target country) and email visibly.
Use a real business or home address — not a virtual address.
3. Product Pages & CRO Elements
Avoid popups, timers, fake reviews, or imported Amazon/AliExpress reviews until your store is approved.
Write original product titles and descriptions.
Use your own product photos and avoid copying images from branded retailers.
4. Product Data Settings
Ensure all product fields in Shopify are complete.
Turn off “Compare at price” temporarily.
Use reasonable stock levels (5–99 units).
Assign unique SKUs to each variant.
5. Returns & Refund Policies
Include full policies in your Terms of Service and Refund & Returns pages:
Return window and method
Who pays for shipping
Refund timeline
Contact details and return address
Your checkout settings must require customer name, phone number, and address.
No placeholder content like “Lorem Ipsum” should exist.
6. Google Merchant Center Settings
Your domain URL, business address, and phone number must match those on your website.
Shipping costs and delivery times in GMC must match what’s shown on your site and in Shopify.
Set up sales tax settings for the U.S. only, if applicable.
Footer Policy Pages (Required by Google)
Make sure your website’s footer includes:
Shipping Policy
Terms of Service
Privacy Policy
Refunds & Returns
Payments Policy
About Us
Contact Us
These must also be filled in under Shopify > Settings > Policies.
Final Thoughts: Stay Compliant, Stay Active
Keeping your Merchant Center compliant is a moving target, but it’s completely manageable with the right checklist and expert support. At Flomaticx, we’ve helped dozens of brands get reinstated — and stay that way — by rebuilding their Merchant Center and store structure from the ground up.
Need help fixing a suspension or preparing for review?
