Account suspended due to policy violation: Unsupported Shopping content – Google Merchant Center

Account suspended due to policy violation: Unsupported Shopping content

This is the wording merchants have quoted, with the type of content in brackets: “(Services)” in an April 2025 Google Ads Community thread, “(vehicles)” in a 2022 one. April 2025 is the newest quote we found, so the wording in your account may differ. A warning email one merchant posted in October 2024 names the same policy: “Unsupported Shopping content (Currency)”.

This notice means Google has flagged products in your Merchant Center account as content Shopping ads don’t support, and suspended the account. Google’s policy says it doesn’t allow the listing of certain content where it doesn’t offer an optimal user experience, and that these limits don’t impact policies on other Google products or platforms. The fix Google describes is to remove those offers from your product data.

Google can also disapprove individual products under the same policy. For most violations, it first sends a warning email that names the policy. The one a merchant posted on the Google Ads Community in October 2024 said: “If the issues aren’t fixed by the deadline, your Merchant Center account will be suspended.”

Checked against Google’s help pages on 22 September 2026 and again on 4 October 2026. Google changes them without notice, so check the linked page before relying on a detail.

At a glance

• A Shopping ads limit

  Google lists types of content Shopping ads don’t support, including services and eBooks.

• Usually a warning first

  For most violations, Google gives 7 or 28 calendar days to fix the issue.

• Remove, don’t disguise

  Google’s fix is to remove the offers from your product data.

• Physical products get caught too

  In our experience, items that appear to be digital but are actually products can be misflagged.

• About a week for a response

  In our experience of Merchant Center cases, once the fixes are done. Google says account reviews typically take seven working days.

On this page10 sections

What Google counts as unsupported

Google’s Unsupported Shopping content policy lists ten types of content: future transport and event tickets, vehicles, financial products, eBooks and digital books, currency, open-loop gift cards, services, immovable property such as real estate, recurring billing, and billing processed by product software. Some have exceptions, so read the entry named in your notice. Two need a closer look:

• Services. Google means labour, time, effort, expertise or actions that don’t result in ownership of a tangible product, and adds: “This includes any services sold bundled with physical goods.” Its examples include repair and accounting services, streaming content, online gaming currency, and car repair sold bundled with tyres.
• Digital content. Google’s list doesn’t use the words “digital products”. The digital items it names include eBooks and digital books, not including audiobooks, plus streaming content, online gaming currency, virtual currency, and digital content sold with recurring payment subscriptions. At product level, Google’s issue for eBooks is titled Digital books can’t be featured in ads.

What triggers it, in our experience

In our experience, it’s stores selling services or digital products, or misflagged items that appear to be digital but are actually physical products.

Merchants describe both. A Shopify store selling golf simulators, suspended under “(Services)”, wrote that it had removed products with services, installation setup and digital products. On BigCommerce’s community, a seller of house plans, mostly shipped and sometimes downloaded, reported the account was suspended after being flagged for marketing services, and said customisation was sold separately and wasn’t in the feed. Neither post says how the case ended.

How it relates to other Merchant Center notices

If your notice names a different policy, it needs a different fix:

• Misrepresentation: see our Merchant Center Misrepresentation page.
• Website needs improvement: see our guide to that notice.
• Linked account suspension: Google says the Google Ads suspension must be fixed first. Our Merchant Center suspension guide explains the order.

The warning period

For most violations, Google says it will send a warning email and give you 7 or 28 calendar days to fix your issue, though it may not issue a warning for egregious policy violations. Meanwhile, Google says your products continue to appear across Google, though their performance may be limited.

• Remove the violating products in time and Google says the warning will be removed. You don’t have to request a review: if you don’t, your product data and website are reviewed once more at the end of the warning period.
• Want it cleared sooner? You can request one courtesy review during the warning period.
• Still unresolved at the end? Google says your account will be suspended and your products will be disabled from appearing across Google.

What Google asks you to do

1. Find the flagged products.

   Go to Products, then the Needs attention tab. Google says you can download a complete list of affected items.

2. Remove what Shopping doesn’t support.

   Google says you must remove non-compliant offers from your product data. By our reading of Google’s definition, a listing that bundles a service with a product counts as a service.

3. Check the pages your listings point to.

   Google says that if your ad or listing directs to content that breaks the policy, you should update your website.

4. Let your data update.

   Update your product data manually, or wait for your automated upload schedule to run, before requesting any review.

In our experience of Merchant Center cases generally, the fixes on the site itself take a few days.

If your products really are physical

Google’s route for a mistake is “I disagree with the issue”, where you may need to give a reason or upload documents. Google asks you to make sure you can support the request before you disagree with the issue, and warns: “You may only have one chance to disagree with the issue.”

So check the flagged listings first. Google’s list of website problems that can lead to product disapprovals includes “Inaccurate product descriptions” and “Mismatched categories between your website and product data”, and it asks you to keep details, descriptions and categories consistent across your website and product data source. The aim is a listing that’s accurate, not one worded to get past the check. If a service is bundled into the price, we read Google’s definition as covering it, so that listing isn’t a misflag.

Can it be fixed?

Our reading of Google’s policy: if a store genuinely sells what its list covers, such as services or eBooks, through Shopping, and none of the listed exceptions applies, there’s nothing to argue. Google’s fix is to take those offers out of the product data. Describing them differently isn’t a fix.

Across Merchant Center cases generally, not just this policy, the stores we turn down are the spammy ones, ones selling things that can’t be sold, and ones selling items they can’t provide. We tell you that on the free consultation. Only Google decides whether an account is reinstated.

The review route

• Fixed it? During the warning period, removing the products is enough. After a suspension, select “I fixed the issue”, then “Request review”. If Google prompts for identity verification, it’s often a required step before you can request a review.
• Think Google is wrong? Select “I disagree with the issue”. You may only get one chance.
• On Shopify, BigCommerce or another platform? Google says to consult that platform for available review options.
• Don’t rush it. If your issues aren’t resolved by the second review attempt, Google says a one-week cool-down may begin, and support can’t bypass or shorten it.

Google says the review may take up to seven working days. In our experience of Merchant Center cases generally, the response takes about a week. For cool-downs and linked Google Ads accounts, see our Merchant Center suspension guide.

Frequently asked questions

I sell physical products. Why was I flagged for services?

Google’s definition of services includes any services sold bundled with physical goods, such as its own example of car repair sold with tyres. In our experience, items that appear to be digital but are actually products get misflagged too. If nothing is bundled and the listing describes the product accurately, Google’s route is “I disagree with the issue”, but you may only get one chance.

Are all digital products unsupported in Shopping ads?

Google’s list doesn’t say “digital products”. The digital items it names include eBooks and digital books (not audiobooks), streaming content, online gaming currency, virtual currency and digital content with recurring payment subscriptions. In our experience, selling digital products is one of the usual reasons for this notice, so check the entry named in yours.

How long does it take?

In our experience of Merchant Center cases generally, the fixes on the site take a few days, and the response takes about a week. Google says account reviews typically take seven working days, but may take longer for complex reviews.

Can I keep selling services on my own website?

Google’s pages don’t give a clear answer. The policy page doesn’t tell you to remove services from your whole website, but it does say that if your ad or listing directs to content that breaks the policy, you should update your website. Google’s fix page for eBooks goes further and asks you to make sure the products on your online shop don’t violate its product policies. At the very least, check the pages your listings link to.

Can I open a new Merchant Center account instead?

We’d advise against it. Google’s help page on deleting a Merchant Center account says deleting a suspended account and creating a new one for the same business isn’t recommended: deleting it won’t fix the suspension, and the new account may also be suspended.