Placeholder text in store policies: how to find and fix it

A policy that still says “[Company Name]” or “within [X] days” is unfinished, and Google’s editorial rules name templated content as a problem. The fix is a search for “[”, a real value in every gap, and one full read of each page. Tedious, cheap, and very satisfying to tick off.

Major4 min read

By Edvinas Ivanauskas How the guides are reviewed

Why this matters

Google's “Editorial and professional requirements” page lists two things that cover this directly. Under “Website needs improvement” it names websites that don't have business specific content, with the examples “templated content, placeholders of text or placeholders for images”. Further down it names a “Website that is using generic placeholders or templated content”, with the instruction “Ensure text and images on the website are tailored to your business.”

Policies are where template text survives longest, because nobody reads them after launch. The same page lists “Missing return and refund policy”, including “Store return or cancellation policy pages that are empty or don't state all the requirements for return or cancellation”. A returns page that says “within [X] days” is both at once: template text, and a policy that does not state its window. Google's fix page for a store that is not fully functional is blunter: placeholders “prevent your store from being verified as a trusted business.”

Copied policies are the same problem in disguise. A privacy policy that names another shop, or terms that describe a showroom you do not have, were written for somebody else. Product Experts on Google's Merchant Center Community put it plainly: never copy-paste “About Us” pages, policy statements or other content from other websites.

The free scan flags a returns page that is a placeholder or too short to say much (under 100 words), a privacy page that still carries template text or is a stub, and a shipping page that never states a cost or a delivery time, so you catch every one in a single pass. The same leftovers turn up on product and About pages, covered in lorem ipsum on a live store. See every policy check on the misrepresentation checker.

Typical evidence

One character finds unfinished templates: “[”

“[Company Name]”, “[X] days”, “[Insert address]” — leave a bracketed placeholder in a live policy and it needs fixing. StoreVerifier can surface the pattern on reachable pages; it cannot establish anything about the business behind it.

Policy-page check3 placeholders shown

Privacy: “…how [INSERT COMPANY NAME] handles your data.”

Returns: “…within [X] days for a full refund.”

Terms: “…governed by the laws of [your jurisdiction].”

Fixed — every bracket replaced

“We accept returns within 30 days of delivery. Email returns@acme.co.uk with your order number to start one.”

The public signals this check looks for:

A returns page that says “within [X] days” or “email us at [EMAIL] with your [order number…
A returns page that says “within [X] days” or “email us at [EMAIL] with your [order number]”.
A privacy policy that opens “[INSERT COMPANY NAME] (“we”, “us”)” and ends “Last updated [D…
A privacy policy that opens “[INSERT COMPANY NAME] (“we”, “us”)” and ends “Last updated [DATE]”.
Terms that name “the State of [State]”, or a business that is not yours, because the text …
Terms that name “the State of [State]”, or a business that is not yours, because the text came from another shop.
A shipping page still showing the sample text or delivery table that came with the theme o…
A shipping page still showing the sample text or delivery table that came with the theme or app, including countries you do not ship to.
A generated policy that describes things you do not offer…
A generated policy that describes things you do not offer: gift cards, subscriptions, in-store pickup, a physical showroom.

What it looks like once it is right

“You can return unused items within 30 days of delivery. Email returns@acme.co.uk with your order number and we reply within one working day with the return address and label. Refunds go back to the original payment method within 5 working days of the return arriving.”

Common mistakes

Common mistake

“We accept returns within [X] days of purchase. To start a return, contact us at [EMAIL] with your [order number]. This policy is governed by the laws of [State].” Four gaps in three sentences, on a live returns page.

Fix checklist

Open every policy page from the footer, the way a shopper would: returns and refunds, shipping, privacy, terms, and any payment or cookie page. Write down the live URL of each.
On each live page, search the text (Ctrl+F or Cmd+F) for “[”, “{”, “XX”, “lorem”, “insert”, “your company” and “example”. Every hit is a gap or a leftover.
Replace each gap with a fact you can keep true: the business name, the return window in days and what it counts from, a working email and phone number, the real address, and the date of the last change.
Search each page for business names and web addresses that are not yours. If you find one, the policy was copied; rewrite it for your business instead of swapping the name.
Delete clauses for things you do not do. A paragraph about in-store returns on a store with no shop is as unfinished as a bracket.
Read every page top to bottom after the edits. Then check the same facts wherever else they appear; Google's returns fix page asks for the policy to be consistent across the site, for example in the footer, the returns page and any banner.
Repeat the search after any theme change, app install or policy-generator update. Those are what put template text back.

The fix is a find-and-replace

Search every policy page for a literal “[”. The goal is zero matches across all of them before you submit — bracketed tokens love to survive on the pages nobody re-reads.

[0 / 5 pages

/returns-policy0 matches

/shipping-policy0 matches

/privacy-policy0 matches

/terms-policy0 matches

/cookies-policy0 matches

Questions merchants ask

Is placeholder text in a returns policy a Merchant Center problem?

Google's own pages say so. The Editorial and professional requirements list templated content and placeholders of text under “Website needs improvement”, and list return policy pages that are empty or incomplete under “Missing return and refund policy”. A returns page that says “within [X] days” is both: template text, and a policy that never states its window.

How do I find leftover placeholder text quickly?

Open each live policy page and search it (Ctrl+F or Cmd+F) for “[”, “{”, “XX”, “lorem” and “insert”. Then search for any business name or website that is not yours, which catches policies copied from another shop. Work on the published pages, not the editor, so you see exactly what shoppers see.

Can I use a policy generator or template?

As a starting point, yes. What matters is what ends up on the page: text tailored to your business, with nothing left as a placeholder. Product Experts on Google's Merchant Center Community go further and advise never copy-pasting policy statements from other websites. Fill every field, delete clauses that do not apply, and read the result as a customer would.

Remediation

Risk signal

A bracket in a policy tells a shopper nobody finished the job, and Google's editorial rules say the same thing in their own words. Honestly, it is the cheapest fix in this library. Do it on the live pages, not in your editor, and again after every theme or app change.

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

Community guidance

Written by Product Experts, the users Google recognises for their answers on its Merchant Center Community forum. Often stricter than Google’s help pages, and not Google policy.

How to fix Google Merchant Center suspensions (plain-language walkthrough)Merchant Center Community · Product Expert guide — support.google.com

Last reviewed 25 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.