Income claims and digital products on Google Shopping

Check first whether Google Shopping allows the product at all: services such as coaching, eBooks and finance products are on its unsupported list. Where it is allowed, sell what the product contains or does, never what the buyer is going to earn. Income promises are the oldest pitch in the book, and Google’s policies are written for exactly that.

Critical4 min read

By Edvinas Ivanauskas How the guides are reviewed

Why this matters

Google's “Unsupported Shopping content” policy rules out several things income products are made of. Services: “Labor, time, effort, expertise, or actions, which don’t result in ownership of a tangible product”, with financial planning services and streaming content among its examples. “eBooks and digital books (not including audiobooks)”. And “Products related to finance management, financial assets, investments, securities, or insurances”. Coaching, mentoring and done-for-you programmes are services; a trading course may be a finance product. Check the product against that list before you touch the wording.

Where the product can be listed, the Misrepresentation policy governs the pitch. It rules out “Using false claims or claims that entice the user with an improbable result (even if this result is possible) as the likely outcome that a user can expect”, and “Enticing customers to part with money or information under false or unclear pretenses”. “Make £5,000 a month”, “quit your job in 90 days” and an earnings screenshot presented as typical are improbable results sold as the likely outcome.

What holds up is the product itself: what it contains, who made it, what the buyer gets and how. Any past customer result belongs with its context, as one person's result, not as a forecast.

The free scan flags marketing claims the page does not back up. Income figures deserve a read of your own pages too; the superlative claims guide covers the wider family of claims you must be able to back. Every trust check is on the misrepresentation checker.

Typical evidence

The number needs evidence

StoreVerifier can surface public income claims, lifestyle promises and earnings testimonials for review. A specific figure or guarantee needs substantiation and, where relevant, specialist legal or policy advice.

“Passive Income Masterclass” — landing pagefinancial misrepresentation

“Make £10,000/month, guaranteed. 100% of students achieve financial freedom in 6 months. Quit your job and work from a beach.”

The compliant rewriteeducation, not outcome

“Learn the research-based strategies behind content monetisation. Individual results vary based on effort, market and experience — this course teaches the method, it doesn’t promise an income.”

A yacht and a “fire your boss” caption can imply the income without stating it. Treat the image and caption as one claim and support or remove both.

The public signals this check looks for:

“Make £5,000 a month in passive income with our course”…
“Make £5,000 a month in passive income with our course”: an income figure tied to the product.
“Our students earn an average of £97,000 a year”, with nothing to show how that was measur…
“Our students earn an average of £97,000 a year”, with nothing to show how that was measured.
“Quit your job in 90 days” or “financial freedom in 6 months”
“Quit your job in 90 days” or “financial freedom in 6 months”.
Earnings screenshots or testimonials presented as the result a buyer can expect
Earnings screenshots or testimonials presented as the result a buyer can expect.
You sell coaching, mentoring or a done-for-you service and list it in Shopping
You sell coaching, mentoring or a done-for-you service and list it in Shopping.
You sell an eBook or a trading or investment course and have not checked Google's unsuppor…
You sell an eBook or a trading or investment course and have not checked Google's unsupported content list.

What it looks like once it is right

“Eight video modules (6 hours) on pricing and packaging for print-on-demand shops, with 20 spreadsheet templates and a monthly live Q&A. Built for sellers with an existing shop.”

Common mistakes

Common mistake

“Make £10,000/month guaranteed — 100% of our students reach financial freedom within six months. Quit your job and work from anywhere.” Three income promises and no product description.

Fix checklist

Check each product against Google's “Unsupported Shopping content” policy: services, eBooks and digital books, and products related to finance management or investments. Take anything on that list out of your Shopping product data.
For products that can stay, delete every specific income figure, earnings average and time-to-income promise from product pages, titles and descriptions.
Describe the product instead: modules, hours of video, templates or tools included, format, who it is for, and what support comes with it.
Present any past customer result as that person's result, with the context that made it possible, not as what a buyer should expect.
Remove lifestyle images and wording that imply income without stating it: the laptop on the beach, the car keys, “fire your boss”.
Keep the evidence for any factual claim you keep, such as the number of students or the hours of content, and show it where you make the claim.

Put support behind a number

An earnings figure needs a clear, supportable basis. A single outlier screenshot is not enough context for a shopper to understand the claim.

Want to state a student result?

Documented figures · stated scope

review the support

One outlier’s screenshot

deceptive

No number stated

not a claim to verify

Compliant landing copy

“Learn the research-based method behind content monetisation. Results vary with effort and market — this teaches the approach, it doesn’t promise an income.”

Questions merchants ask

Can I sell online courses or coaching on Google Shopping?

Coaching and other services are on Google's “Unsupported Shopping content” list: labor, time, effort or expertise that doesn't result in owning a tangible product. The same policy lists eBooks and digital books, and products related to finance management or investments. Check each product against that list before you list it.

Can I say how much my customers earn?

Not as an expected outcome. Google's Misrepresentation policy rules out claims that entice the user with an improbable result as the likely outcome. If you mention a customer's result, present it as that person's result with its context, and never as a figure a buyer should expect.

What should a digital product page say instead of income claims?

What the buyer gets: the modules or files, the format, the hours of content, the tools or templates included, who it is for and what support comes with it. Those are facts a shopper can check, and they describe the product rather than a promise about the buyer's future.

Remediation

Risk signal

An income promise sells the buyer's future, which no product can deliver to everyone. Check first that Google Shopping supports the product at all, then sell what it contains, and leave the earnings out.

PriorityTreat this and any other highest-severity findings as first-priority work, then document each fix.

EvidenceRecord the current state before each change, apply the fix, then capture the corrected state so every change is evidenced.

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.