Approved in the morning, suspended by the evening: Misrepresentation right after approval
It is one of the most confusing things in Merchant Center. Every product shows Approved. A few hours later the whole account is suspended for Misrepresentation, with no warning email. It happened to three stores in our case files in October 2026 alone.
Why approval does not protect you
Product approval looks at products: the title, the price, the image, the landing page. Misrepresentation is about the business behind them: who runs the store, whether the numbers agree, whether anything on the site cannot be proven. On our cases the two did not move together. One passed in the morning and the other failed hours later.
Three stores, one month
UK: 730 of 730 approved, suspended the same morning
68 product photos carried another shop's name in the file name, and the checkout promised 3 to 5 days while every page said 7 to 11. Approved again on 7 Oct 2026, on the first request. Read the case.
Australia & New Zealand: 17K approved, flagged the next day
The owner's other brand in the homepage title, a fake rating with six invented reviews on the collections page, a tax number one digit off, and a country left in Merchant Center from an earlier store. Approved again on 19 Oct 2026. Read the case.
UK: 146 of 146 approved in the morning, flagged that evening
No fake reviews and no fake prices at all. The checkout charged £16.86 for 3 to 5 days while the site said free delivery in 7 to 13, and the return address belonged to a previous supplier. Approved again on 22 Oct 2026. Read the case.
What they had in common
None of the problems showed in the normal store view. A file name, a page title, a checkout line, a setting left in Merchant Center. The store looked fine to the owner and not to Google.
What to do today
- Do not press "request review" the same day.
- Do not delete the account or open a new one.
- Read your checkout as a customer: add a product, go to checkout, read the delivery line and the price.
- Read your homepage title and description in Shopify: Online Store, Preferences.
- Read your file names in Shopify: Content, Files.
The full list is in the five minute check.