How to Fix Subscription & Payment Policy Violation on Google Shopping & Merchant Center

What does it mean when you receive an “Unsupported Shopping Content” email from Google Merchant Center? First, let’s review the Merchant Center policy.

Google’s Policy

There are a few general categories of products that The Google Merchant Center is not equipped to include or promote. Attempts to solicit them will very likely result in violation of Merchant Center policy and subsequent account suspension.

Below is an example of an “Unsupported Shopping Content” warning or suspension letter from Google Merchant Center:

Dear Google Merchant Center User,

Merchant Center Account:  {Account Name} {Account Number}

We’ve found policy violations in your Merchant Center account. You have until the deadline below to bring your account and products into compliance with Shopping Ads Policies. If the issues aren’t fixed by the deadline, your Merchant Center account will be suspended. If suspended, your account will no longer run Shopping ads and related Merchant Center accounts may also be suspended.

Deadline:  Sep 3, 2019

Your Merchant Center account is in violation of the following policies: 

Unsupported Shopping content (Recurring billing)

SUBSCRIPTIONS (UNSUPPORTED SHOPPING CONTENT)

Recurring billing

Google doesn’t allow the promotion of payment method that allows users to pay for goods on an ongoing basis, at regular intervals in the future.

You can read here about specific exceptions under the Unsupported Shopping Content policy: https://goo.gl/SgkPJX

Also, learn what you can do to address “subscriptions” violations: https://goo.gl/t6LF0i

The list of examples provided above is not an exhaustive list of all violating product listings. The sample is intended to help you identify the root cause(s) for the violation(s) found.

For your convenience, we’ll automatically review your products again once the deadline has passed, so you don’t need to contact us after you’ve updated your products.

If you believe there’s been an error, we want to help. Contact your Account Manager or find out how to contact us by visiting support.google.com/merchants/

Some common examples of unsupported products/services that can result in violations

• Recurring Billing: Let’s start with the email example above. With a few regional exceptions, recurring paid services such as subscriptions are generally not supported.
• Tickets: Solicitation of event or transportation tickets, such as concerts or flights.
• Vehicles: Any vehicles intended for use on public routes (i.e: cars, boats, motorcycles, jet skis, planes, etc)
  Exception: Motor powered bicycles with maximum speed of 15.5 mph (25 km/h)
• Immovable Property: Real estate or any similar stationary property that can’t be moved without alteration, destruction, or depreciation of value
• Open Loop Gift Cards: Any gift cards branded/credited by credit card suppliers (i.e: American Express, Visa, etc)
• Services: Any sale that does not involve ownership of a tangible product  (i.e: Streaming content, repair services, online currency, etc) 
• Currency: Local, virtual or precious material based currency that is subject to change in market value (i.e: U.S Dollars, Bitcoin, gold)
• Financial Products: Banking/financial services or products such as insurance policies, stocks, bonds, and credit cards

Best Practices

• Know The Policy: Carefully review Google Merchant Center’s policy on unsupported content to avoid violations.
• Check Product Titles: Inspect your product titles for keywords that can potentially raise flags and result in suspension.
• Request a Review: Should Merchant Center suspend your account, immediately remove the indicated problem and request an account review for clearance. Depending on the issue, this review should on average take three business days to process.