Custom domain or platform subdomain for Merchant Center?
Run your store on a custom domain you own and claim that domain in Merchant Center; Google’s URL verification steps say to use a domain you own and maintain. Then redirect the platform address to it, and make every link, email and profile use the same domain. One shop, one front door.
You run this check yourself
Our scanner can’t see inside your Google accounts, so this one’s on you. Work through the checklist below without running a scan.
Why this matters
Google's “About online store URL verification” page, in its steps for entering your store's address in Merchant Center, says: “Use a domain that you own and maintain.” A platform subdomain, the yourshop.platform.com address every hosted store starts with, sits on a domain the platform owns. Your own domain is the one that is yours. The same page explains what claiming does: “When you claim your website address, you create a link between your website address and Merchant Center account.” And: “Linking your website address and your Merchant Center account reserves the website address for use with your account exclusively.”
Once the store has moved, the domain has to agree everywhere. “Building trust with your customers” asks you to “Provide the official business name that you use across the web and avoid any mismatches in your registered business and domain name.” It then adds: “Ensure the domain name in Merchant Center is accurate and matches with the claimed domain.” So the store's primary domain, the online store URL in Business info, the claimed URL and the links in your product data should all be one and the same.
The mess usually comes from moving halfway. The store answers on both addresses with no redirect; the old address is still claimed; order emails come from the platform or a Gmail address; social bios and a Google Business Profile still point at the subdomain. Claims can get stuck too: Google's “How to fix: Online store URL not verified” page notes that “A single URL can only be claimed by one account”, and walks through claims held by an old account, an agency or a duplicate. Sort the claim in Business info when you switch, not six months later. For the name side of this, see domain match; for the email, Gmail address on your store.
StoreVerifier can't see which address your Merchant Center account has claimed, so that is a manual check in Business info. The free scan checks what shoppers get: it flags a store address that ends up on a different domain after its redirects, and a checkout that sends shoppers away to another website. The rest of the identity checks are on the misrepresentation checker.
Typical evidence
An anonymous tenant on someone else's domain
A platform subdomain has no WHOIS record of its own, cannot anchor a Business Profile and cannot be claimed like a real domain. That leaves fewer public records for a shopper or storefront audit to compare.
The public signals this check looks for:
The store still lives on the platform subdomain, and no domain was ever bought or connecte…
The store still lives on the platform subdomain, and no domain was ever bought or connected.
You bought a domain, but it is parked, or it forwards inside a frame so the address bar st…
You bought a domain, but it is parked, or it forwards inside a frame so the address bar still shows the platform subdomain.
Merchant Center has the subdomain claimed while the store now runs on your own domain, or …
Merchant Center has the subdomain claimed while the store now runs on your own domain, or the other way round.
Product links in your product data still point at the platform subdomain
Product links in your product data still point at the platform subdomain.
Order emails, social bios and your Google Business Profile still give the old address
Order emails, social bios and your Google Business Profile still give the old address.
Both addresses load the full store, with no redirect from one to the other
Both addresses load the full store, with no redirect from one to the other.
What it looks like once it is right
peakgear.co.uk is the primary domain, and the platform address and the www version redirect to it page for page. Merchant Center has peakgear.co.uk claimed, product links use it, and emails come from support@peakgear.co.uk.
Common mistakes
Common mistake
Self-check steps
A custom domain makes the public record easier to join
A custom domain can support domain claiming, Business Profile verification and consistent public references. Complete each step for the record it creates; it does not settle a private review.
Questions merchants ask
Can I use a platform subdomain like myshop.myshopify.com for Google Merchant Center?
Google's URL verification page says to use a domain that you own and maintain when you enter your store's address. A custom domain connected to your platform does that; the platform's own subdomain sits on a domain you don't own. Connect a domain, make it the primary address, and verify and claim that.
What happens to my Merchant Center claim when I move to a new domain?
The claim belongs to the website address you entered. Change the online store URL in Business info to the new domain, then verify and claim it. Google's page on unverified store URLs covers claims still held by an old, agency or duplicate account. Change the product links to the new domain at the same time. See domain match.
Should my old store address redirect to my new domain?
Yes, permanently and page for page. Google's fully functional fix page asks for links that don't lead to 404 errors or redirect back to the home page instead of the intended destination, so send each old page to the same page on the new domain rather than dumping everything on the home page.
Remediation
Risk signal
Similar cases
Sources
Last reviewed 23 Sep 2026.
That is one issue. The library documents 134.
The free scan lists what it finds on your store. The paid report adds the affected pages, captured evidence and step-by-step fixes. Start free, with no account needed.