Broken links and 404s as a Merchant Center risk
Google’s website audit for misrepresentation and website-needs-improvement includes fixing broken links. A 404 on Contact or Returns is not only a UX bug.
Two different 404s matter, and Google’s Help pages already cover both ideas without a special invented policy name.
- A 404 on a product you submitted is a landing-page failure: the offer does not lead to a working destination.
- A 404 on Contact, Shipping, Returns, or Privacy is a website-audit failure: the misrepresentation / website-needs-improvement list says to fix broken links and to link those policies explicitly.
The missing-contact article also groups placeholder copy, broken links, and a checkout that is not secure. Editorial and professional requirements separately disallow sites that are under construction or not working.
Before you buy, click Contact, Shipping, Refund, Privacy, and a few product URLs. Before you appeal, do the same. We will not invent a “broken-link score.”
Sources
Questions
Are 404s the same as a suspension?
No. Broken links are one input on the published website audit and on the missing-contact troubleshooting notes (placeholder content, broken links, insecure checkout). They can support a website-needs-improvement or misrepresentation path. They are not a separate “404 policy” with its own clock.
Does GMC Marketplace crawl listings for 404s?
No. Some listings show Scout store facts. Click the store’s policy and product URLs yourself before you enquire.
Does a 404 time out after I buy the store?
No. Broken links stay until someone fixes the pages. Ownership change is not a Google-published cure.
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