Subscriptions and recurring billing on Google Shopping

Recurring billing is unsupported in Google Shopping except where Google names it, such as US physical goods subscriptions in listed categories. Where it is allowed, state the cost, the period and every renewal and cancellation term on the product page, and submit [subscription_cost]. Check which side of that line you are on before you polish a word.

Critical4 min read

By Edvinas Ivanauskas How the guides are reviewed

Why this matters

Google's “Unsupported Shopping content” policy lists “Recurring billing”: a “Payment method that allows users pay for goods on an ongoing basis, at regular intervals in the future”, with digital content subscriptions among its examples. Then it lists the exceptions: magazine and newspaper subscriptions, “Software subscriptions that are prepaid and auto-renew only annually”, certain mobile products, and, in the US, physical goods subscriptions in named categories such as apparel, coffee, health care, home and garden, personal care, pet supplies, prepared foods and toys, “when submitted with all required attributes and disclosures”. Google's October 2025 policy update opened those US physical goods subscriptions to all eligible Shopping ad merchants.

The requirements are specific. Each offer needs the [subscription_cost] attribute with its period (week, month or year), period length and amount, and “Only standard billing periods of one week, one month, or one year are supported.” “The landing page must clearly and prominently state all subscription agreement terms, including cancellation and refund procedures, auto-renewal practices, notification methods for price or period changes, and any additional mandatory fees required as part of the subscription.” A link to those terms goes in the return policy URL in Merchant Center, and the ad and landing page must say plainly that the offer is a subscription, with its cost, period and period length. The update adds that “sales or discounts on subscriptions aren’t supported yet”.

Outside those rules, the general ones still apply. The Misrepresentation policy rules out offers that prompt a commitment “without first providing all relevant information and getting the customer’s explicit consent”, and the Editorial requirements list returns pages where “autorenewal practices or notification methods for billing changes aren’t clear or easy to find”.

The free scan finds a subscription where it is sold, in the product page's buy form and data, reads that page and your policy pages in their own language for how it renews and how to cancel, and flags a subscription sold without them. Whether your subscription is in a supported category and country is yours to check against the policy. A renewal fee that first appears at the payment step is also one of the hidden checkout fees. See every checkout check on the misrepresentation checker.

Typical evidence

Tell them you’ll charge again — before they pay

Negative option is the polite name for “we keep billing unless you say stop”. The whole risk is a customer who never realised they signed up. So the frequency, the exact amount, and how to cancel have to sit right where they’re paying — not a click away in the Terms nobody opens.

Buried — point of sale

£1 trial

Try it today for just £1

Start my £1 trial

See Terms & Conditions

£49/month after day 14 — disclosed only inside the linked Terms

Disclosed — point of sale

£1 trial, then £49/mo

£1 today, then £49/month from day 14. Cancel anytime in your account.

Start my £1 trial

Frequency, exact amount and cancellation all stated beside the button

Investigator’s note

A recurring charge was not clearly stated before payment. Put the amount, frequency and cancellation path beside the button.

StoreVerifier compliance desk

The public signals this check looks for:

You sell a digital subscription, a membership or a software plan that renews monthly and l…
You sell a digital subscription, a membership or a software plan that renews monthly and list it in Shopping.
A “£1 trial” converts to a £49 monthly charge, and the product page never says so next to …
A “£1 trial” converts to a £49 monthly charge, and the product page never says so next to the price.
A “subscribe and save” option renews every six weeks, which is not a period Google support…
A “subscribe and save” option renews every six weeks, which is not a period Google supports.
The renewal and cancellation terms live only on a separate terms page, not on the product …
The renewal and cancellation terms live only on a separate terms page, not on the product page.
The subscription price is shown with a discount or a sale price
The subscription price is shown with a discount or a sale price.

What it looks like once it is right

A US coffee subscription shows “$14.00 every month until you cancel” beside the price, lists cancellation, refunds, renewal and change notices on the same page, submits [subscription_cost] with period month and length 1, and links the terms in the return policy URL.

Common mistakes

Common mistake

A coffee subscription shows “£1 trial!” on the product page. The £14 fortnightly charge that follows appears only in a linked terms page, and the product data sends the £1 price with no [subscription_cost].

Fix checklist

List every offer that bills more than once: memberships, subscriptions, trials that convert, subscribe-and-save options, auto-replenishment.
Check each one against Google's “Unsupported Shopping content” policy: is it one of the named exceptions, in a country and category where recurring billing is allowed? If not, take it out of your Shopping product data.
For allowed physical goods subscriptions, submit [subscription_cost] with a period of a week, a month or a year, the period length and the amount, and leave out [sale_price].
On the product page, next to the price, state that it is a subscription, the cost, the period and the period length: “£29.99 every month until you cancel.”
On the same page, state the full terms: how to cancel, refunds, auto-renewal, how you notify price or period changes, and any mandatory fees.
Put the link to those subscription terms in the return policy URL in Merchant Center.
Repeat the recurring terms in checkout beside the pay button, and test that cancellation works from a customer account.

The lifecycle the customer should see coming

Negative-option billing only blows up because the charges arrive as a surprise. Lay the whole timeline out at the point of sale — what happens, when, and for how much — and three required facts have to be on the page before they pay.

Day 0Moderate

Shopper pays £1

The trial begins — and this is the only number most of them clearly registered.

Day 14Critical

Trial auto-converts to £49 / month

The first real charge. Were they told this, on the page, before they paid the £1?

Day 44+Critical

£49 charged every 30 days

Repeats until the shopper finds and completes a cancellation that actually works.

Must be stated at the point of sale

Billing frequency“billed every 30 days”

Exact amount per cycle“£49 per month”

How to cancel“cancel anytime in your account”

Investigator’s note

All three belong next to the price and again beside the pay button — not a click away in the Terms. And the cancellation path has to genuinely work; a cancellation maze is its own complaint generator.

StoreVerifier compliance desk

Questions merchants ask

Can I list subscription products on Google Shopping?

Only the kinds Google names. Its “Unsupported Shopping content” policy lists recurring billing as unsupported, with exceptions: magazines and newspapers, software prepaid and renewed only annually, certain mobile products, and in the US, physical goods subscriptions in listed categories submitted with all required attributes and disclosures.

What billing periods does Google support for subscriptions?

For physical goods subscriptions, only standard periods of one week, one month or one year, submitted in the [subscription_cost] attribute with the period, period length and amount. Variable plans such as every three or six months are not supported.

Where do subscription terms have to appear?

On the landing page, clearly and prominently: cancellation and refund procedures, auto-renewal practices, how you notify price or period changes, and any mandatory fees. A link to the subscription terms also goes in the return policy URL in Merchant Center.

Remediation

Risk signal

The first question is not how to word a subscription but whether Google supports it at all where you sell. Check the exceptions first; then make the cost, period and every term impossible to miss on the product page.

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 30 Sep 2026.

That is one issue. The library documents 134.

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