How StoreVerifier checks public store evidence

StoreVerifier opens your store in a real browser, reads the pages a shopper can reach, puts a product in the basket and reads the checkout up to payment. Every problem comes back with the page, the words it found and the fix. It is the shopper’s-eye side of a Merchant Center review, which happens to be the side you can fix today.

Major5 min read

By Edvinas Ivanauskas How the guides are reviewed

Why this matters

Google's help pages describe a store the way a shopper meets it. The guidelines for keeping an account approved ask you to “Make sure users can successfully add products to the cart and fully complete the checkout process.” The fix page for a store that is not fully functional asks you to “Remove any placeholder images, templated text, or broken links.” And Google's page on warnings and suspensions tells merchants to “Ensure your checkout process is fully functional and secured with HTTPS.” None of that shows up in a quick read of the homepage. So the scan takes the long way round, on purpose.

First, it opens the store in a real browser, lets the scripts run and gives each page time to settle, so a countdown or popup that loads late is seen the way a shopper sees it. Then it follows your own footer links to the returns, shipping, privacy and terms pages and reads what they actually say, such as whether a return window is stated.

Next it opens a real product from your catalogue, picks an option if there is one, and presses add to cart. Anything standing over the button, a cookie banner or a newsletter form, is closed with its own close or decline button, the way a person would. It opens the basket and reads the price there against the product page.

Then it goes on to the checkout and reads it up to the payment step: whether a guest can check out, whether tax is shown before payment, and whether anything has been added to the basket with the box already ticked. Last, the wording it captured is read against Google's policies for claims such as “clinically proven” or “guaranteed results”.

What comes back is a list, not a mood. Each finding names the page, quotes the words it rests on and says what to change. If a page could not be reached, because of a login, a block or an error, the report says so instead of passing it. What the scan does not see is your Merchant Center account, your product data and identity verification; those stay on your own list, and the difference between item and account issues explains where they live. For what the policy covers, start with what misrepresentation is, and see every check on the misrepresentation checker.

Typical evidence

Inspect the store as a set of visible claims

One issue can be a mistake. Several visible conflicts give a shopper more to question. StoreVerifier records the pages and wording it can reach; it does not calculate a private platform score.

Storefront evidence · example

Captured conflicts in this example

Missing business addressinspect

Health claim with no cited evidenceinspect

Feed price does not match the landing pageinspect

Free email address instead of the store domaininspect

Countdown timer that resets on reloadinspect

VerdictFive visible conflicts to inspect. Fix the pages, then run a fresh scan.

The public signals this check looks for:

A countdown timer that resets on every visit, which only shows up once the page’s scripts …
A countdown timer that resets on every visit, which only shows up once the page’s scripts have run.
A return window on the returns page that is missing or does not say how many days a shoppe…
A return window on the returns page that is missing or does not say how many days a shopper has.
A product page that shows one price and a basket that shows another for the same item
A product page that shows one price and a basket that shows another for the same item.
A checkout that adds tax or a pre-ticked extra only at the last step before payment
A checkout that adds tax or a pre-ticked extra only at the last step before payment.
A contact page that is missing, or a store whose only contact address is a free email acco…
A contact page that is missing, or a store whose only contact address is a free email account.
Product copy promising a result nobody can back up, such as a cure or a guaranteed outcome…
Product copy promising a result nobody can back up, such as a cure or a guaranteed outcome.

What it looks like once it is right

The same merchant runs a scan. The report quotes the “[X] days” line on the returns page and the pre-ticked line in the checkout, with the fix for each. Both are corrected the same day, and a second scan comes back without them.

Common mistakes

Common mistake

A merchant checks the homepage, sees a tidy footer and assumes the store is fine. The returns page linked from that footer still says “Returns accepted within [X] days”, and the basket adds a pre-ticked £2.99 “priority handling” line that no product page mentions.

Fix checklist

Paste your store’s address into the free scan and let it run; it takes minutes because it walks all the way to the checkout.
Start with the findings marked most serious. Each one names the page and quotes the words, so you can go straight to the line that needs changing.
Fix the cause, not the symptom. If a price is wrong in the basket, correct it where the price is set, not with a note on the product page.
Where the report says a page could not be reached, open it yourself in a private browser window and check what a shopper sees.
Do the account side yourself: business details, shipping and returns settings, product data and identity verification in Merchant Center.
Scan again after your changes and compare the two reports, so you can see what is fixed and what is still open.
Keep both reports with dated screenshots of the changed pages; they are the record you will describe in a review request.

Questions merchants ask

Does StoreVerifier see my Merchant Center account?

No. It reads the public store, from the outside, the way a shopper does: pages, basket and checkout up to payment. It does not log in to Merchant Center, so your settings, product data and identity verification are yours to check. The public store is the half most notices point at, and the half you can fix fastest.

Why does a StoreVerifier scan take minutes?

Because it opens the store in a real browser, waits for each page to settle, puts a product in the basket and reaches the checkout. A read of the homepage would be quicker and would see less: a checkout fee or a timer that loads late is not in the page’s first HTML.

Is a clean scan the same as Merchant Center approval?

No. The decision is Google’s alone. A clean scan means the public checks found nothing left to fix on your store, page by page, which is the part of a review you control. Your Merchant Center settings and product data still need to agree with the site.

What happens if my store blocks the scan?

The report says which pages could not be reached and why, such as a login wall or a bot challenge, instead of passing them. Open those pages yourself in a private window; if a shopper can reach them and the scan cannot, it is usually a firewall or bot setting worth checking.

Remediation

Risk signal

A store rarely fails on the page its owner looks at every day. It fails on the returns page nobody has opened since launch, or the checkout step an app changed last month. Walk the whole shopper journey, every time something changes, and let the report tell you where to look.

PriorityAddress and document this finding as part of the store’s remediation work.

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.