I just landed in Boston for my speaking gig at SMX Advanced.
(Here’s a link to it: https://searchengineland.com/smx/advanced/agenda?sessId=3372)
To get to Boston, I had to prove who I was at least six times.
- The first time was to get my ESTA visa.
- Second time, border patrol at Schiphol airport.
- Then, three separate identity checks before boarding because some system thought my identity didn’t match my visa application.
- And then, US Customs in Boston.
Done. Finally.
If there had been a mismatch, I wouldn’t be in Boston right now.
One of my clients recently ran into the Google version of the same problem.
Google Merchant Center couldn’t confidently match the business owner to the business information in the account.
And then, without a single warning…
SUSPENSION.
What’s worse is that we didn’t even get an email notification of the suspension.
AND the GMC interface didn’t show any issue at all, for three days!
But all our Shopping ads had stopped showing. >80% decrease in clicks and revenue.
It was only because of an email from Microsoft (!) telling us, “Your Microsoft Merchant Center import has failed,” that we knew something was wrong with GMC.
Still… the GMC interface showed no issues at all.
Only after three days, we got the email: “Your products cannot be displayed to customers. Google found an issue with your account that requires your attention: Misrepresentation.”
And then, three (!) more days to get a support rep to finally tell us what is wrong. They said, “Our investigation shows the account is suspended specifically due to incomplete identity verification.”
Here’s the thing: You need to make sure Google’s (AI) systems can easily verify who owns the business before they decide to check.
Three things I’d do today:
1. Make every business detail match exactly.
The legal business name, address, phone number, Merchant Center details, Google Ads billing profile, website footer, and company registration documents should all tell the same story.
2. Add trust signals to your website.
3. Make it painfully obvious you’re a real business.
Contact page.
Address.
Phone number.
Refund policy.
Shipping policy.
Terms and Privacy pages.
Think of it like airport security. If your passport, boarding pass, and visa all match, you walk through. If they don’t, you’re having a very different conversation.
Don’t wait for Google to start asking questions.
– Nils