Google Merchant Center Misrepresentation Checker
Google’s misrepresentation policy covers most of what a store can get wrong, and the notice that cites it usually names no page and no sentence. So merchants fix the one thing they can think of, ask for a review, and use up a request finding out it was not that. This page is how you find the real thing to fix: what we check, what the policy actually names, and what to have done before you ask again.
The check is free, needs no account, and reads only the public store. It shows you what to fix; it is not a promise about what Google will decide next.
- MinorA currency-switching widget is present (EUR € GBP £ USD $)
EUR € GBP £ USD $
How to fix itEnsure the currency switcher does not auto-redirect or auto-convert without user action. GMC feed currency must match what the user is shown at checkout.
- MinorUnsupported Shopping content
Custom stickers in three simple steps — most orders ship in 48 hours... Upload artwork, pick a size, we make it.
How to fix itVerify that custom-configurable products comply with Shopping feed requirements, or restrict feeds to standard catalogue items.
- Not checkedReturn window stated
We looked for the page this belongs on and did not find one, so there was nothing to read. It is left out of the score.
What StoreVerifier checks
The library documents 134 checks across the store. The 42 below are the ones that bear on misrepresentation, named as the report names them, grouped by the part of the store Google’s policy pages talk about. 36 of them can be critical or major; the rest are minor.
42 of 134 checks
Can fail the storeWarns
Business identity
5 checksWho is behind the store, and whether the site says so plainly.
3 critical or major2 warn
- Business identity in footer
- Physical address in footer
- About page present
- Organization schema identity mismatch
- Domain consistency
Contact details
3 checksA way to reach the business that a shopper can find before paying.
3 critical or major0 warn
- Contact page exists
- Phone number in footer
- Public contact email
Policies
7 checksReturns, shipping, privacy and terms: present, reachable, and saying something.
7 critical or major0 warn
- Returns policy not placeholder
- Return window stated
- Physical return address on policy
- No 'all sales final' clause
- Shipping cost stated
- Privacy policy page exists
- Terms of Service page exists
Pricing
6 checksThe price a shopper sees, and whether it holds from page to cart.
6 critical or major0 warn
- Cart price matches product page
- Schema price matches visible price
- Misleading pricing or fake discount
- Compare-at / RRP price claim on product page
- Expired promotion still advertised (product page)
- Price may not be VAT-inclusive for a UK/EU-targeting store
Checkout consistency
7 checksWhat the checkout adds, hides, or requires that the product page did not.
7 critical or major0 warn
- Checkout flow reachable
- Guest checkout available
- Tax / VAT displayed before payment
- Shipping cost matches what's charged at checkout
- Policy links present in checkout
- Pre-ticked paid add-on at checkout
- Checkout page served over HTTPS
Trust signals
8 checksUrgency, activity pop-ups, reviews and claims the page cannot back up.
4 critical or major4 warn
- Artificial countdown timer
- Fabricated urgency or scarcity claim
- Activity pop-up over the page
- Fabricated or templated reviews
- Inflated review / customer count claim
- Fabricated activity pop-up
- Unsubstantiated marketing claim
- Same reviews repeated across products
Product and store mismatches
6 checksWhere one page says one thing and another page, or the stock, says otherwise.
6 critical or major0 warn
- Contradictory fulfilment claims
- Where orders ship from is stated
- Structured data says out of stock while the page sells the product
- Schema availability matches page
- Fake stock claim beside the buy button
- Language consistency across pages
Common misrepresentation triggers
The loop this page is for, then what Google’s own policy pages say about each area, in their words or close to them, beside what that looks like on a store. Each note links to the page it comes from.
Business identity
What Google’s page says
Google asks you to use your own name, logo, images and colours on the site, and to describe the business on the site itself, with updated contact information and a clear explanation of what the company does, on an About page or similar. A storefront with no name behind it, or a name that changes between the footer, the About page and the domain, is what the policy means by an unclear identity.
Read Google’s pageWhat that looks like on the store
A footer with no business name, an About page that could belong to any shop, a schema name that differs from the page.
Contact details
What Google’s page says
The fix page for missing contact information says to show at least a business address, phone number, email, contact form or social media business profile on the store, and to keep the business name, address and phone number identical in the footer, on the contact page and in Merchant Center. A support address at a free email provider is not banned, but it is the kind of detail that makes the rest harder to believe.
Read Google’s pageWhat that looks like on the store
No contact page, a footer with nothing to reach, a support address at a free provider, a phone number that cannot be real.
Policies
What Google’s page says
Google lists a return and refund policy that is unclear, missing or not easily discoverable, and missing terms and conditions or shipping information, as misrepresentation. The returns page asks the site to state clearly how returns and refunds are handled, including the time frame, the method and any fees, reachable by every visitor without logging in. That applies to a change of mind, not only to a defective product.
Read Google’s pageWhat that looks like on the store
A returns page with no window, no return address and an all-sales-final line; shipping and privacy pages that are placeholders or missing.
Pricing
What Google’s page says
The policy names a failure to clearly and conspicuously disclose the payment model and the full expense a customer will bear, before and after purchase. The checkout requirements add that the price must stay consistent throughout the checkout, not only between the feed and the product page. A struck-through price that was never charged, or a sale that has quietly expired, sits under the same heading.
Read Google’s pageWhat that looks like on the store
A cart price that differs from the product page, a struck-through price nothing supports, a sale that has already ended.
Checkout consistency
What Google’s page says
Google’s checkout page says any fee added at checkout that is not government-imposed must be disclosed, that the checkout must be secured with a valid SSL certificate, that individuals who are not a business must still be able to buy, and that refund and return information must be reachable throughout the checkout. A pre-ticked paid add-on or a shipping figure that grows on the payment step is where these get tripped.
Read Google’s pageWhat that looks like on the store
A fee that appears on the payment step, shipping and tax that were not shown, a paid add-on already ticked, a checkout without HTTPS.
Trust signals
What Google’s page says
The policy forbids false claims, claims that entice with an improbable result, and enticing customers to part with money or information under false or unclear pretenses. It also asks you to be clear about partnerships: an official or authorised partner should say so on the partner’s site as well as its own. Countdown timers that reset, invented viewer counts, badges from schemes you are not in, and superlatives nothing supports are the shapes this takes on a page.
Read Google’s pageWhat that looks like on the store
A countdown that resets on reload, a viewer count, badges from schemes you are not in, reviews that repeat, claims nothing backs.
Product and store mismatches
What Google’s page says
Google gives promoting products that are not stocked, and promoting a deal that is no longer active, as examples of unavailable offers. Google’s editorial requirements add sites that are not fully functional, lack business-specific content, or display product content that is incomplete. A page that says it ships from a local warehouse over an image carrying another supplier’s branding is the same problem from the other side.
Read Google’s pageWhat that looks like on the store
A local-warehouse promise over a supplier’s branded image, stock that the schema and the page disagree on, a fake stock line beside the buy button.
Before requesting another GMC review
A request with no storefront change behind it is a request spent. Work through these first, in order, and keep the record as you go.
- Read the policy page the notice names, start to finish, before you write anything.
- Open the store the way a first-time shopper would, on a phone, without logging in.
- Check that the business name, address and phone number match in the footer, on the contact page and in Merchant Center.
- Read the returns, shipping, privacy and terms pages and confirm each one is linked from every page and says something specific.
- Put a product in the basket and walk to the payment step: the price, the shipping and any fees should be the ones the product page led you to expect.
- Remove every timer, counter, badge and claim you cannot back with a record you could show someone.
- Keep a dated note of each page and sentence you changed, with a screenshot of before and after.
- Re-scan the store after the changes, and only then request the review.
Run the store through it now
Paste the address. We open the store in a real browser, read the pages a shopper can reach, put a product in the basket, and come back with what to fix and the evidence behind each finding.
If the notice is the part you are stuck on, start with what Google means by misrepresentation, then come back. For the order to fix things in, follow the six steps to fix a misrepresentation notice.