Merchant Center review rejected? What was still on the store, and what was different when Google said yes
A rejected review feels like the end. It is not. Three stores in our case files had a rejected request before they came back. What changed between the no and the yes was the store, not the wording of the request.
Why asking again with nothing changed fails
Google does not judge your message. It judges your store, your checkout and your Merchant Center. If those still look the same, the answer usually stays the same. And every rejected request uses up a chance you may need later.
Rejected in July, approved the same day in September
A Dutch store asked for a review in July and was rejected. At that moment it carried 2,147 "verified" reviews on one boat shoe, a checkout banner claiming 4.8 from more than 5,231 customers, a permanent sale on every product and the old brand name in its own policy pages. In September none of that was there. One request went in and Google approved it the same day. Read the case.
The owner's request was rejected, the next one approved
A UK store run by a Dutch company had its owner's request rejected. It showed 2,769 reviews on a store doing about 12 orders a month, a countdown inside the checkout and a sale that never ended. The next request was approved on 30 Aug 2026, with a Trustpilot score of 2.4 still public. A low public score did not stop it. Read the case.
An 11-month flag and three old requests
A US store had a Misrepresentation flag from a manual check in November 2025 and three earlier requests on the account. Merchant Center still carried the UK settings from before the store moved to the US. Google approved it in October 2026, on the first request against that flag. Read the case.
What rejected stores still carried
Across these cases, the store that was turned down still had at least one of these:
- invented reviews or ratings, on any page, including the checkout
- crossed-out prices that never existed
- an old brand name in titles, policies, vendor fields or app settings
- Merchant Center settings left over from another country or another store
- delivery or return numbers that differ between the site, the checkout and Merchant Center
Before the next request
Do the five minute check on your own store tonight. Do not open a new Merchant Center to get around the flag. If you are not sure the store is ready, send us the link before you press the button. The first look is free.