How to Audit an Existing Google Merchant Center Account

An audit is worth doing when you inherit an account, after a platform migration, before a big season, or when performance drops without an obvious reason. The goal is to find problems before Google does, and to know which ones matter most.

Work through the areas below in order. Earlier areas (access, business info, website) can block everything later, so fix those before polishing titles.

Before you start

Set up a simple audit log: a spreadsheet with one row per finding and columns for area, finding, products affected, impact (high, medium, low), fix, owner and date fixed. Take screenshots of the account state before changing anything.

You’ll need admin access to Merchant Center, access to the e-commerce platform, and ideally Google Ads and Search Console. Avoid making changes during the audit unless something is clearly urgent; you want an accurate picture first.

1. Account access and settings

Check	What good looks like	Source
Users and access	Only current people have access; at least two admins; former agencies removed	Practitioner check
Regular sign-in	Someone signs in at least every 14 months; inactive accounts are at risk	Merchant Center guidelines
Online store URL	Verified and claimed, matching the domain used in product URLs	URL verification
Claim conflicts	No other account claims the URL (unless under a Multi-Client Account)	URL verification
Linked accounts	Google Ads, Analytics and Business Profile linked where used	Practitioner check
Marketing methods	Free listings on (Marketing > Marketing methods); Shopping ads as intended	Free listings
Add-ons	Advanced data source management enabled if you use supplemental sources, attribute rules or feed labels	Data sources

Shopify stores should check the domain claim mismatch described in Shopify Merchant Center troubleshooting.

2. Business information

Google requires basic, verifiable business and identity information. Check Settings > Business info against Google’s business information guide.

• Business name is short and professional and displays correctly.
• Business address is where the business is registered.
• Customer service has a working URL with contact info, an email at your domain and a valid phone number.
• Checkout link and accepted payment methods are correct.
• Every detail matches what the website shows.

3. Data sources

Open Settings > Data sources and list every source. Google’s data source guide is the reference.

Check	What to look for
Primary sources	Each product comes from one primary source; no app plus file duplication; no separate online and local primary sources for the same products
Source type	App, file, Google Sheets or Merchant API, and who maintains it
Countries and language	Match the markets you sell in; language matches product data
Feed labels	Consistent with campaigns; supplemental sources use the same label as their primary
Supplemental sources	Still needed; IDs match the primary exactly
Legacy online inventory sources	Replaced (Google deprecated them in favor of a supplemental source with a Take latest rule)
Attribute rules	Each rule documented and still correct; order makes sense, since rules cascade
Update schedule	Fetch and sync frequency keeps up with price and stock changes
Product count	Close to the number of sellable items, including variants

Related guides: data source errors and duplicate products.

4. Issues in Needs attention

Go to Products > Needs attention. Google’s Needs attention guide explains each part.

1. Record the summary cards: the highest-impact account or product issues and their counts.
2. Switch off Prioritized fixes so low-impact issues are visible too.
3. Download the full issue list and group issues by cause rather than by product.
4. Sort by click potential to see which affected products matter most.
5. Open View history to see when statuses changed and match them to site or feed changes.
6. Check accepted suggested values and automatic fixes; they override later changes from other methods.
7. Look for account-level issues, warnings or cool-down dates under View setup and Policy issues.

See how to use Merchant Center diagnostics.

5. Website

Check the site as a logged-out shopper on desktop and mobile against Google’s Merchant Center guidelines and Shopping ads and listings policies.

Area	Pass if
Contact information	Visible, with business name, address, phone and email consistent with Merchant Center
Return and refund policy	Published and linked, even if you don’t accept returns
Shipping and privacy policies	Published and linked
Checkout	Working and secure (HTTPS), with a conventional payment method
Language	A supported language for the target country
Site quality	No placeholder text, broken links, under-construction pages or disabled back button
Product pages	Price and availability in the HTML, matching the feed; one structured data block per product
Crawlability	Product and image URLs not blocked by robots.txt; no more than two redirects

The full list is in the website requirements checklist.

6. Shipping and return policies

Open Products & store > Shipping and returns.

• A shipping policy exists for every target country that requires shipping.
• Costs match checkout as closely as possible; free-shipping thresholds match.
• Shipping currency matches the product price currency.
• The cheapest option for each country is real (Google shows the lowest cost).
• Shipping labels in policies exist in product data, and vice versa.
• Return policies show Verified, not Pending or Rejected.
• Return policy details (window, fees, method) match the returns page on the site.
• Return policy labels are used where some products have different terms.
• Item-level shipping attributes aren’t silently overriding account settings.

See how to configure shipping settings.

7. Feed quality

Pick a sample of products (top sellers, a few with issues, a few variants) and compare the Merchant Center product, the landing page and its structured data side by side.

Attribute	Check against Google’s rules
id	Unique, stable, 1 to 50 characters; no reuse or casing tricks
title	1 to 150 characters; key details in the first ~70; no promo text, price or all caps
description	1 to 5,000 characters; product only; no links or promotional text
image_link	No overlays, placeholders or watermarks; variant images match the variant
price, sale_price	Match the page; sale price uses effective dates and full price is still sent
availability	Matches the page; out_of_stock not used to pause products
gtin, brand, mpn	Real identifiers; identifier_exists false only where none exist
item_group_id	Set for variants; parent product not sent as an item
Optional attributes	Color, size, material, product type and additional images filled where relevant

Also review the Automations tab: automatic item updates for price, availability and condition are on by default. Google says not to enable price automation if pages show multiple strikethrough prices. For a full routine, use the product feed optimization checklist.

8. Performance

Under Analytics > Products, Google’s performance reporting shows impressions, clicks, CTR, purchases and purchase rate, with filters for traffic type (all, ads, organic) and online vs local.

• Look for products with zero impressions: check approval first, then give new items a few days.
• Compare product, brand and category performance cards with what sells on the site.
• Filter to organic traffic to see free listings separately from ads.
• Note products with high impressions and low CTR as candidates for title and image work.

See Merchant Center performance reporting.

Prioritizing and repeating the audit

Priority	Typical findings
Fix now	Warnings or suspensions, unverified or mismatched website claim, missing contact or return policy, repeated price or availability mismatches
Fix this month	Missing shipping for a country, duplicate sources, high-click-potential disapprovals, identifier problems
Improve	Titles, descriptions, images, optional attributes, performance outliers

After the full audit, a lighter monthly check covers Needs attention (with Prioritized fixes off), product counts against the store, policy statuses, and a hand comparison of a few products. Repeat the full audit after migrations, theme changes or new apps.

When to get help

An audit is straightforward when the account is healthy. It’s harder when you’ve inherited a setup with several data sources, undocumented rules or a review history. If you’re facing a warning or suspension, focus on the account issues first.

Our Google Merchant Center service includes a full account audit with a prioritized fix list. We don’t have special access to Google, and Google makes every review decision.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Google Merchant Center Help — Merchant Center guidelines
• Google Merchant Center Help — About online store URL verification
• Google Merchant Center Help — Add your business information
• Google Merchant Center Help — Create a product data source
• Google Merchant Center Help — Set up your attribute rules
• Google Merchant Center Help — Feed labels
• Google Merchant Center Help — The Needs attention tab
• Google Merchant Center Help — Shopping ads and listings policies
• Google Merchant Center Help — Set up shipping settings for an entire account
• Google Merchant Center Help — Set up return policies
• Google Merchant Center Help — ID [id]
• Google Merchant Center Help — Title [title] and structured title
• Google Merchant Center Help — Description [description]
• Google Merchant Center Help — Image link [image_link]
• Google Merchant Center Help — Automatic item updates
• Google Merchant Center Help — Free listings for products
• Google Merchant Center Help — Track your product performance

Last reviewed October 10, 2026 against the official documentation listed above. Google changes Merchant Center features and policies regularly — always confirm details in your own account.