If you are buying a Shopify or WooCommerce store because it has Google Merchant Center history, misrepresentation is the policy that should sit at the top of your due-diligence list. It is the #1 fear policy for a reason: Google calls violations egregious, may suspend without a warning, and says accounts are reinstated only in compelling circumstances.

What Google actually published

Merchant Center Help defines misrepresentation around customers feeling misled. Offers must not prompt a purchase without all relevant information and explicit consent. Offers must represent you and your products in a way that is accurate, realistic, and truthful. Google may review the promotion, the website, the accounts, and third-party sources.

The same page says violations are egregious — “unlawful or poses significant harm to our users” — and that Google accounts can be suspended upon detection and without prior warning. If you believe there has been an error, you may appeal. Reinstatement is described as happening only in compelling circumstances, when there is good reason.

Google did not publish an “intent required” test. Do not tell yourself the last owner was “honest so it will be fine.” The question is whether a reviewer can verify who the business is, what is sold, and what happens after checkout.

The published audit list

The warnings-and-suspensions Help page tells merchants what to audit for misrepresentation or website-needs-improvement. It is not a secret 14-point list. It is this:

• Consistent business information: legal business name, physical address, phone number, and email must match across the website and Merchant Center.
• Clear policies: explicit links to shipping, refund, and privacy policies.
• Site functionality: remove placeholder text, fix broken links, and keep checkout working over HTTPS.
• Identity verification: complete Merchant Center identity verification with documents that match the account data, when Google asks.

What this means on a store purchase

A listing on GMC Marketplace may show GMC age, whether the seller marked the account as previously reinstated, advertising metrics, and (on some listings) Scout-derived domain age and product counts. Those fields are seller-submitted and admin-reviewed. They are not a Google certificate that the storefront would pass the audit list tomorrow.

After you take the store, the contact details, policies, and checkout are yours. If the About page still names the previous operator, if the footer address does not match the Merchant Center business profile, or if shipping and refund pages 404, you have inherited a website-audit problem — even if last month’s ROAS looked strong.

GMC Marketplace will help you get a signed Asset Purchase Agreement, collect payment only after both parties sign, and release the seller only after you confirm the agreed assets transferred. That is handover protection. It is not a promise that Google will keep serving Shopping ads.

Questions