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I got an email saying my Merchant Center account is suspended. What should I do first?

Start by reading the notice in Merchant Center to see which policy it names, then save a copy of the text and take screenshots of your current store pages. Do not request a review straight away: fix every gap on your live site first, because an unsuccessful review can start a cool-down period before you can ask again. Your products will not show across Google while the account is suspended, so the time is best spent on a thorough fix.

First steps after a suspension email

Open the notice in Merchant Center. The email is a summary. In Merchant Center, go to Products, open the Needs attention tab and select View setup and policy issues. The account-level issue names the policy involved and links to the relevant help page.
Save the exact wording. Copy the notice text and the date into a document. You will use it to plan fixes and to write your review request.
Record how the store looks now. Take screenshots of your homepage, Contact, About, Refund, Shipping and Terms pages and a sample product page. This gives you a before-and-after record of what you changed.
Check for a simple cause. Confirm the website is reachable, not behind a password page, and that the website URL in Merchant Center is the one shoppers use. Fix anything basic first.
Read the named policy. Open the help page linked from the notice and read the policy in full, so you know what the reviewer is looking for.
Audit and fix the whole store. Work through contact details, business identity, policies, prices, shipping and checkout. The pre-review checklist guide on this site lists what to check.
Request the review only when ready. When every fix is live and you have checked it as a visitor, complete any identity verification the Needs attention tab asks for, then select I fixed the issue and Request review. Google says a review can take up to 7 business days.

What not to do

Do not open another Merchant Center account to keep products showing
Do not request repeated reviews without changing the site
Do not add claims, badges or reviews you cannot support to make the store look established
Do not ignore the feed: mismatched prices or shipping can keep the issue open

When a done-for-you pack helps

If you would rather have someone else do the audit while you get on with running the store, a done-for-you pack covers it. For merchants, we work from your public site, the notice text and an optional feed export, never your account, and send an exact fix list, a price and shipping comparison, a pre-review checklist and a drafted review request within 24 hours.

US$99 all-in, one-time.
No subscription and no extra fees. Delivered by email within 24 hours of your order. Covers one store and one suspension notice.
See the Store Suspension Fix Pack · US$99

Questions

Does a suspension affect my Shopping ads and free listings?

While the account is suspended, your products are not shown in Shopping ads or free listings. If you also run ads from a linked account, check that account for its own notices. The most useful next step is a complete fix of the store followed by a single, well-prepared review request.

How long do I have to respond to a suspension?

Check the notice in Merchant Center for any date it gives. Whatever the timing, your products stay off Shopping while the suspension lasts, and a rushed request that misses issues costs more time than it saves. Fix every issue on the live site first, since an unsuccessful review can start a cool-down period that may get longer with each failed attempt.

Can I contact support about the suspension?

Merchant Center support can sometimes clarify the process, but it generally will not list every page that needs to change, and Google says support cannot skip or shorten a cool-down period. Use the notice, the linked policy and a full audit of your store to find the issues, and treat any support reply as extra information.

Sources

Checked 2026-10-26. Policies change, so read the current version before you act.

Contact

Email james@bucket3.ai. We reply within one business day.
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