Website or online store needs improvement – Merchant Center

Website or online store needs improvement

Advertisers quote the account issue this way, followed by “Limits visibility of all products in” a country. A UK retailer’s post gives it as “Website or online shop needs improvement”, and posts from 2022 quote “Account suspended due to policy violation: Website needs improvement”.

This notice means Google has found a problem with your website. The wording advertisers quote says it limits the visibility of all their products in the country it names, not just one listing. Google’s policy describes websites that are not fully functional, lack business-specific content, provide unclear information or display incomplete product details.

Under the notice, advertisers quote the same detail: “There was a problem identified with your website. Update your entire website to provide a useful and transparent shopping experience for customers.” A checklist follows, including “The product details and categories should match those that you provide in your product data”. It appears word for word in posts from February 2024 to November 2025, and several advertisers say it arrived after they had fixed a Misrepresentation issue.

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

• Every product, not just one

  Advertisers quote it as limiting all products in a country.

• Google compares the site with your feed

  Your product data is checked against your website.

• Fix first, then request a review

  A one-week cool-down may begin after a second unsuccessful review.

• About a week for an answer, in our experience

  Google says account reviews typically take seven working days.

• Don’t start again

  Google says a new account for the same business may also be suspended.

On this page10 sections

What the notice means

“Website needs improvement” is an example in Google’s Editorial and professional requirements, whose website quality standards are meant to ensure that your shop website is accessible, transparent and user-friendly. Google’s example is a website that “contains broken navigation links, is missing policy pages or has placeholders of text or placeholders for images”, and its fix page is now titled How to fix: Check if your online shop is fully functional.

Google’s pages don’t say in so many words whether this notice is an account-level or a product-level issue. Our reading is that “all products” fits how Google’s Issues page describes account-level issues, which impact all of your products.

If issues are still there at the end of a warning period, Google says your account will be suspended and your products will be disabled from appearing across Google.

How it relates to Misrepresentation

They’re different policies. Google treats three of Misrepresentation’s six sections as egregious and says that for those, your Google Merchant Center accounts will be suspended upon detection and without prior warning. Under the Editorial and professional requirements, Google says that for most violations it sends a warning first, with 7 or 28 calendar days to fix the issue. Still, its help for Shopify merchants handles both notices with the same website audit.

If your account says Misrepresentation, see our Merchant Center Misrepresentation service. If it says linked account suspension, Google says the linked Google Ads suspension must be fixed first: read why a suspended Google Ads account blocks your review.

What triggers it

Google’s fix page names missing information, placeholders such as “Lorem Ipsum” text or template images, and links that lead to 404 errors or back to the home page. Google’s Issues page adds inaccurate product descriptions and mismatched categories between your website and product data to its list of website problems behind product disapprovals.

In our experience, it usually comes down to two things: the site doesn’t have proper systems in place, or the products in Merchant Center don’t match what’s actually on the site. Google scans the site.

Google’s landing page rules point the same way: “All the information included in the data source will be verified against the information displayed on the landing page and the website”.

What a working shop needs

From Google’s help pages:

• Contact and business details. Google asks you to make your contact information clearly available on your website. Its help for Shopify merchants adds that your legal business name, physical address, phone number and email address must be consistent across your website and Merchant Center account.
• About, delivery and returns pages. A website must contain contact information and policy pages, including a clear About page, return policy, delivery info and business info.
• A clear return and refund policy. If you don’t offer returns, Google says to still state your policy explicitly.
• A checkout that works and is secure. Customers must be able to fully complete the checkout process, and you must secure your checkout with a valid SSL certificate. Business fields such as company name must be optional.
• Product pages that match the feed. Each product page should show the title, description, image, price, currency, availability and a buy button, matching your submitted product data source. Google adds that the title, description and images needn’t be identical to your product data, but should refer to the same product.

What Google asks you to do

Fix the site first. Google says that once the updates are live, you’re ready to request a review.

1. Read the issue in Merchant Center.

   Read the whole notice, including the checklist under it. Note the country it names, and check it doesn’t say linked account suspension.

2. Fix the live website.

   Work through the checklist under the notice. In our experience, the fixes on the site take a few days.

3. Update your product data.

   Google says to manually update your product data or wait for your automated upload schedule to run before requesting any reviews.

4. Complete identity verification if asked.

   Some accounts must complete identity verification (IDV) before the review button appears.

5. Request the review.

   Select “I fixed the issue”, then “Request review”. Google says the review will apply to all issues for the country.

6. Wait for Google’s email.

   Google says account reviews typically take seven working days, but may take longer for complex reviews. In our experience, the response takes about a week.

Review requests are limited

Google says that if your issues aren’t resolved by the second review attempt, a one-week cool-down period may begin. Advertisers quote the account telling them to wait: “Make sure you meet the requirements before you request another review from” a date a week later.

During a cool-down, the review button will be disabled, Google support can’t bypass or shorten it, and it may increase with each unsuccessful review. “I disagree with the issue” isn’t a shortcut either: Google says you may only have one chance to disagree with the issue. So make the fixes live, check them, then send one request.

Can it be fixed?

It depends on what’s behind the notice. In our experience, the shops we turn down include ones that are spammy, sell things that can’t be sold, or sell items the business can’t actually provide. Google’s Shopping ads policies list content you’re not allowed to list at all, and its Misrepresentation policy covers listing items as available when you lack the capability to fulfil the orders.

If we think that’s your case, we say so on the call. Only Google decides whether an account is reinstated.

The appeal route

• You’ve fixed the site? Select “I fixed the issue”, then “Request review”. Google emails you when the review is requested and when it’s complete.
• You think Google has got it wrong? Select “I disagree with the issue”. You may need to give a reason or upload documents, and you may only get one chance.
• Selling through Shopify or another platform? Google says you may request a review directly through their application.

If the problem remains and you’re unsure how to proceed, Google’s fix page says to contact us for support, meaning Merchant Center support. Our fixed-price services are listed on our suspension services page; the Merchant Center one there is for Misrepresentation.

Frequently asked questions

Is “Website needs improvement” a suspension?

Advertisers quote it with “Limits visibility of all products in” a country, and several call it a suspension. Google says that if issues in a warning haven’t been resolved by the end of the warning period, the account is suspended. Either way, the wording advertisers quote says it limits all products in the country it names.

I’ve fixed everything. Why was the review rejected again?

The notice asks you to update your “entire website”, not just the pages you changed. In our experience, a common cause of this notice is products in Merchant Center that don’t match the site. Google also says it may take some time for your changes to be reflected.

How long does the review take?

Google says account reviews typically take seven working days, but may take longer for complex reviews. In our experience, the fixes take a few days and the response about a week.

Do I need a phone number and address on the site?

Google’s general guidelines ask you to make your contact information clearly available on your website, with examples such as a contact form, an email address or a phone number. Its help for Shopify merchants goes further: your legal business name, physical address, phone number and email address should be clearly listed and consistent with your Merchant Center settings. Google’s Editorial and professional requirements also list a Merchant Center account missing a physical business address or a verified phone number as insufficient contact information.

Should I delete the account and start again?

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