Feed error
Account issueMisrepresentation
A Misrepresentation suspension means Google judged that your store could mislead shoppers about who you are, what you sell or what a purchase costs. On Shopify it usually traces to thin trust signals: missing contact details or return policy, an unclear business identity, costs revealed late or overstated claims.
How this appears in your account
The exact wording the channel shows, so you can match what you are looking at.
- Misrepresentation
- Account suspended due to policy violation: Misrepresentation
- Misrepresentation of self or product
What it affects
- Channels
- Google Shopping
- Scope
- The whole account
Why it happens on Shopify
Contact details are missing or hard to find
Google expects customers to be able to reach you and expects your business name, contact details and location to be real and accurate. A Shopify store whose only contact route is a buried form, or whose theme contact page was never filled in, gives Google nothing to check those details against.
The return and refund policy is missing, vague or contradicted
Google's policy lists hidden refund, delivery or restocking terms as dishonest transaction conditions, and denying returns despite a published policy as a violation. A Shopify refund policy left as an unedited template, not linked from the storefront, or different from what the FAQ or banners say is a common trigger.
The business identity is unclear or inconsistent
Google does not allow a false or concealed business identity, including hiding where you are or where orders are fulfilled from. Dropshipping stores that imply local stock and fast delivery while shipping from elsewhere, or that use a business name that appears nowhere else, are flagged for this.
The full cost is not clear before checkout
The policy requires the total price, including taxes, fees and surcharges, recurring charges and shipping costs, to be disclosed before purchase. Shipping costs that only appear at the last checkout step, or subscription terms hidden behind a toggle, fall into this category.
Claims or offers the store cannot back up
Improbable-result claims, health claims that contradict scientific consensus, and promotions or products you cannot actually fulfil are all named in the policy. Copy pasted from a supplier, such as guaranteed results or permanent fixes, is a frequent source on Shopify.
How to fix it
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Audit the whole store before touching the review button
A misrepresentation flag rarely names the exact page. Go through the store as a first-time customer would: homepage, a product page, the cart, checkout up to payment, the footer and every policy page. Write down every place where cost, identity, returns or claims are unclear, because a partial fix is the most common reason a review fails.
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Publish complete contact and business information
Add at least one working contact route, such as an email address, phone number or contact form, and link it from the footer of every page. In Shopify, fill in Settings > Store details so the legal business name and address are correct, and use the same business name on the site, in Merchant Center and on your other profiles. An about page describing who runs the store and where it operates helps.
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Write and link a real return and refund policy
Replace any template text in Settings > Policies with your actual conditions: the return window, who pays return shipping, the condition items must be in, how refunds are issued and how long they take. If you do not accept returns, say so plainly. Link the policy from the footer and make sure the FAQ and banners say the same thing.
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Show the real total cost and delivery terms up front
State shipping costs and delivery times before checkout, either on product pages or a linked shipping page, and make sure the prices and shipping in your feed match what checkout charges. If items ship from a supplier abroad, say where they ship from and how long that takes rather than implying local stock.
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Remove overstated claims and unfulfillable offers
Rewrite product copy that promises guaranteed or miracle results, and remove promotions, products or badges you cannot honour. Shopify serves the online store and checkout over HTTPS, so secure checkout is rarely the gap, but check the domain settings show an active SSL certificate on any custom domain and remove leftover theme placeholder content.
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Request a review once, with everything fixed
In Merchant Center, open the account issue under Needs attention, select I fixed the issue and then Request review. Google says account reviews typically take 7 business days. If your issues are not resolved by the second review attempt, a one-week cool-down period may begin, during which the review button is disabled, and it may lengthen with each unsuccessful review. Google support cannot shorten it.
How feedlab handles this
Most of a misrepresentation review happens on your website rather than in the feed, so feedlab cannot fix it for you. What it can do is make sure the feed never contradicts the store: prices, sale prices and links are synced from the Shopify catalogue, and validation before publish catches rows that would show shoppers something different from the product page.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a Misrepresentation review take?
Google says account reviews typically take 7 business days and can take longer for complex cases. If the second review attempt fails, a one-week cool-down period may begin before you can request another, and that period may increase with each unsuccessful review.
Will I get a warning before my account is suspended?
It depends on the type of violation. For unavailable offers and unreliable claims, Google issues a warning at least 7 days before suspending. Egregious violations, such as a false business identity or scams, lead to suspension on detection without prior warning.
Can I just create a new Merchant Center account instead?
It does not solve anything, because the problem sits on the website rather than in the account. A new account pointing at the same store faces the same review, and Google's policies treat attempts to get around enforcement as a separate violation. Fix the store and request a review instead.
Related errors
- Missing return policy The "Missing return and refund policy" issue means Google could not find a clear return and refund policy on your website, and the account is disapproved or pending disapproval. On Shopify it usually means the refund policy is still template text, not linked from the storefront, or never written at all.
- Mismatched domains A "Mismatched domains" error means the product's link uses a different domain from the website registered in Merchant Center, so the item is disapproved. On Shopify it usually means the feed builds links on the myshopify.com address or an old domain while the account is registered to the store's custom domain.
- Mismatched value: price The price mismatch error means the price in the feed does not agree with the price the channel found when it crawled the landing page. On Shopify the three usual culprits are a feed that has not regenerated since a price change, a link pointing at the wrong market's storefront, and a tax convention difference between the feed and the displayed price.
- Landing page not working An unavailable landing page error means Google could not load the page at the product's link when it crawled it, so the item is disapproved. On Shopify it usually means the product was unpublished, archived or renamed after the feed was built, or the storefront was password protected or briefly down.
Primary sources
Channel specifications change. These are the official documents this page is based on.