Misrepresentation: there is reason to believe that customers are being misled on Google – Google Merchant Center

Misrepresentation — Based on the information available about your business, there is reason to believe that customers are being misled on Google. Review the Misrepresentation policy and make changes to your Merchant Center and/or online store.

The account-panel wording merchants have pasted since at least 19 August 2023 (Shopify topic 242253), again on 22 May 2025 (Shopify topic 415705, under “Misrepresentation — Prevents all products from showing in United Kingdom”) and again on 27 October 2025 (Merchant Center Community thread 383394530). Google’s 2019–2021 emails named the policy differently — “Misrepresentation of self or product (Untrustworthy promotions)”; if that is yours, read the next section.

Google has decided customers could be misled by your shop, so it has suspended the whole account rather than disapproving a few products. Much of this policy is among Google’s most serious: for three of its six sections, Google says violations are taken very seriously and are considered egregious, and your Google Merchant Center accounts will be suspended upon detection and without prior warning.

The wording depends on when you were suspended; the policy is the same either way — Google’s Misrepresentation Shopping policy.

Checked against Google’s help pages on 23 September 2026 and again on 4 October 2026, in both en-GB and en-US. Google changes them without notice, so check the linked page before relying on a detail.

At a glance

• Three wordings, one policy

  The panel says “Misrepresentation”; the 2019–2021 emails said “of self or product (untrustworthy promotions)”.

• Often no warning first

  Google calls three of the policy’s six sections egregious, and for those it suspends “upon detection and without prior warning”.

• The whole account stops

  Google disables your products from appearing across Google.

• Returns policy first, in our experience

  The most common real cause we find is an inaccurate returns policy.

• Review requests run out

  Google says a one-week cool-down may begin after the second attempt, and it can grow.

On this page11 sections

What the notice says, and which year yours is from

Merchants have pasted that sentence word for word from 2023 to 2025; the 22 May 2025 post shows the whole panel, country line and cool-down date, and the five best-practice lines Google puts underneath.

Before that, Google’s emails used a longer phrase, pasted into threads with the same line each time — 2 July 2019, 29 May 2020 (“Your Merchant Center account is in violation of the following policies: Misrepresentation of self or product (Untrustworthy promotions)”), 14 August 2020, 5 October 2020, 15 October 2020. In the reports we read the brackets stop after 11 February 2021, replaced by “Account suspended due to policy violation: Misrepresentation” on 13 December 2021 and two notices side by side on 31 March 2024.

None says how it ended; they are quoted for the wording, not the outcome, and Google has never published anything about the change. So if your notice reads differently from this page’s title, you have not got a different problem — you have a notice from a different year.

What Google means by Misrepresentation

Google does not allow offers that prompt customers to initiate a purchase without all relevant information and explicit consent, or offers that represent you or your products in a way that isn’t accurate, realistic and truthful. Six sections sit under that. Google calls the first three egregious; for the other three it says violations will not lead to immediate account suspension without prior warning, and a warning comes at least seven days before any suspension:

• Unacceptable business practices. Hiding or misrepresenting information about your business, products or services. Google’s examples include presenting a false identity, business name or contact information, impersonating brands or businesses, denying return and refund despite having a clear refund or return policy, and misrepresenting material details about your actual business location, headquarters or source of product fulfilment. Phishing, and falsely implying affiliation with, or endorsement by, another business or organisation, sit here too.
• Coordinated deceptive practices. Coordinating with other sites or accounts while concealing or misrepresenting who you are, where the content relates to politics, social issues or matters of public concern.
• Dishonest pricing and transaction conditions. Failure to clearly and conspicuously disclose the payment model or full expense, pricing that gives a false or misleading impression of the cost, and concealing transaction conditions such as post-purchase terms, fulfilment timelines or refund restrictions before a customer commits to a purchase.
• Unavailable offers. Promising products or promotional offers that aren’t available to users, including listing items as available when you lack the capability to fulfil the orders.
• Manipulated media. Manipulating media to deceive, defraud or mislead others.
• Unreliable claims. Inaccurate claims, or claims that entice users with an improbable result, and harmful health claims.

It reviews information from multiple sources — listing, website, accounts, third parties — which is why the fix is rarely one page.

How it relates to the other Merchant Center notices

• ”Website or online store needs improvement” is a separate account issue Google handles alongside this one: for either it says to conduct a website audit of the same four things. It is not the same as unsupported Shopping content, which is about what may be promoted at all. Our guide.
• ”Linked account suspension” is the one to check first. Google says the Google Ads suspension must be fixed first before your Merchant Center suspension can be reviewed, and that unlinking won’t unsuspend or resolve your Merchant Center account issue. Our pillar has the order of work: why a suspended Google Ads account blocks your review.

This page is about the notice, so you can work out what to fix before spending a review request. If you would rather we did the work, that is our fixed-price Merchant Center Misrepresentation service, where the prices, inclusions and refund terms are all on one page.

Why there was no warning

For most Shopping policy problems Google gives you a window: a warning email detailing the policy violation and 7 or 28 calendar days to fix it, “however, we may not issue a warning for egregious policy violations“. Its account-issues page agrees: for an egregious account-level issue, no warning is given and the account is suspended immediately. So there is no countdown to work inside.

The effect is account-wide: account-level issues impact all of your products, and a suspended account means your products will be disabled from appearing across Google.

What triggers it

Start with Google’s own list, which is more specific than the notice. Fixing Merchant Center warnings and account suspensions puts three things at the top under “Common reasons”. It is written for Shopify shops, but it is Google’s, and the most specific list it publishes:

• **Missing return and refund policy.** One “which clearly states how you handle these actions“, including all requirements and timelines — and “if returns and refunds aren’t accepted, you’ll need to clearly state this on your site“.
• **Insufficient contact information.** “Customers need to be able to find out how to contact you on your website“ — legal business name, physical address, phone number and email, consistent with your Merchant Center settings.
• Misrepresentation of self or products, audited as consistent business information, clear policies, site functionality — “remove all placeholder text and fix any broken links“ — and identity verification in Merchant Center.

Follow the Merchant Center guidelines adds what the notice never spells out: “your policy should explain exactly how you handle returns and refunds“, including the time frame and when the customer gets their money, and “even if you don’t offer returns or refunds, still state your policy explicitly“. It also wants “your contact information clearly available on your website“, at least one conventional method of payment during checkout, and users able to successfully add products to the basket and finish it. Elsewhere: the price must be consistent throughout the checkout process, and avoid mismatches in your registered business and domain names.

In our experience the single most common real cause is an inaccurate returns policy, and alongside it inaccurate policy pages more generally: pages to do with how the account is set up and what is shown on the website. Having the pages is not the same as having them right.

What Google asks you to do

Google’s Request a review of your issues page sets out the sequence.

1. Read the issue in the account, not just the email.

   It is in a banner at the top of your Merchant Center account, and under Products → “Needs attention” → “View setup and policy issues”.

2. Audit the website and the account together.

   Google’s list: audit website transparency, match your business data across Merchant Center and the shop, and fix data consistency so prices, availability and product attributes match the site exactly.

3. Complete identity verification if it is asked for.

   Google says to complete identity verification first: you may need to upload clear, government-issued IDs or business registration documents before the review button appears.

4. Check every fix is live before you touch the button.

   A request is spent whether or not the fixes are finished, and they are limited.

5. Choose the right button, then wait.

   “If you’ve identified and resolved the issue, select ‘I fixed the issue’, then select ‘Request review’.” If you think Google is wrong, select “I disagree with the issue“ and expect to give a reason or documents. You get an email when you request the review and again when it is complete.

If Google Ads is suspended too: what the appeal form asks, why appeals get rejected.

How long the review takes, and what happens after

Google gives three different answers to the same question, all still live when we checked again on 4 October 2026:

• Misrepresentation policy: “Account reviews typically take seven working days, but may take longer for complex reviews.”
• Request a review of your issues: “The review may take up to seven working days.”
• Fixing warnings and account suspensions: “Review requests typically take up to three to seven working days.”

One makes seven working days the typical wait, one the ceiling, one says it may be done in three. We quote all three rather than pick the flattering one; plan for the longest. Google’s US pages say “7 business days” and “3-7 business days” for the same sentences. We publish no average of our own, as we have not measured one.

If it clears, the issue disappears from Merchant Center and approved products will be eligible to show across Google within 24 hours. Our service includes 14 days of support after reinstatement, because in our experience that is what clients raise: not getting the account back, but losing it again.

Review requests are limited, and so are the appeals

This catches people out, because the buttons look free.

• “You may only have one chance to disagree with the issue“ — it is not a retry button.
• “If your issues aren’t resolved by the second review attempt, a one-week cool-down period may begin.”
• During a cool-down the button is greyed out, “Google support can’t bypass or shorten the cool-down period”, and it may increase with each unsuccessful review.

Reviews can stop altogether. On 28 June 2026 a merchant posted the reply they say they got after following up with support on 21 June: “… your issue of misrepresentation will continue to have an impact on your products and that they will remain disapproved. You’ve also reached the maximum number of appeal attempts allowed. Your Merchant Center account is now suspended and you can’t request further reviews.” We cannot verify the reply, and the thread does not report how it ended.

Can it be fixed?

Sometimes — and Google’s own wording is discouraging. For the sections it calls egregious, it says that if violations are found “you will not be allowed to list content with us again”; you can submit an appeal and explain why if you believe there has been an error; but “accounts are only reinstated in compelling circumstances, and when there is good reason”.

Our service page is blunt: “Feed or data-quality disapprovals, counterfeit goods, and stores that can’t show a real business behind them aren’t cases we take. If Google Ads is the blocker, we say so.” We turn down cases we do not think are viable rather than take the money: if we review your case and can’t take it on, you get a full refund. See when a suspension cannot be fixed. Nobody can promise reinstatement — Google decides.

Frequently asked questions

Is “Misrepresentation of self or product (untrustworthy promotions)” the same as this notice?

Yes. The longer phrase is how Google worded its emails between 2019 and 2021. Later reports say “Account suspended due to policy violation: Misrepresentation”, and from at least August 2023 the panel adds the sentence about customers being misled. Same policy throughout.

Does Google say “self or product” or “self or business”?

“Self or product”. We could not find “self or business” on any Google help page we read. The only current page using the phrase at all is Google’s help for Shopify merchants, heading a section “Misrepresentation of self or products“.

How long does the review take?

Google gives three different answers, all still live when we checked again on 4 October 2026. The Misrepresentation policy: “Account reviews typically take seven working days, but may take longer for complex reviews”. The review page: “The review may take up to seven working days to complete”. The page on fixing warnings and suspensions: “Review requests typically take up to three to seven working days”.

How many review requests do I get?

Google does not publish a number. It says you may only have one chance to disagree with the issue, and that if your issues aren’t resolved by the second attempt a one-week cool-down may begin, which can increase each time. Merchants report being told they have reached the maximum. Treat each request as scarce.

Can I just delete the account and start again?

No. Google’s help page on deleting a Merchant Center account says deleting an account won’t fix the suspension issue, and the newly created account may also be suspended. We work on the account you have.