Google’s free listings can show a store’s products on the Shopping tab, Google Search, Google Images, Google Lens, YouTube, Gemini and Google Maps without paying for ads. This guide walks through creating a Merchant Center account, verifying the store’s website, sending product data and confirming that free listings are switched on, using the steps in Google’s Merchant Center Help pages.

What you need

A Google Account, a live online store with product pages, and accurate product information. Google’s free listings page lists the attributes it needs: id, title, link, image_link, price, description, availability, brand, and a GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) or MPN (manufacturer part number). Used or refurbished items also need condition. Apparel needs color, size, age_group and gender, and product variants need item_group_id.

Step 1: Create the Merchant Center account

  1. Go to the Merchant Center sign-in page at merchants.google.com/mc and select Go to Merchant Center.
  2. Sign in with a Google Account. Google says each Google Account email address can create only one Merchant Center account.
  3. Enter business profile details such as the store name, and say whether you sell online, in a physical store or both.
  4. Choose the checkout options that apply. These can be changed later.

The time zone is filled in from the country chosen at sign-up, and Google says that country can’t be changed later. Google can also add product information from the online store during sign-up, and stores on a platform such as Shopify can link it to sync products automatically.

Step 2: Verify and claim the store’s website

Verification shows Google that the merchant owns the store; claiming links the address to one Merchant Center account. Google’s instructions:

  1. Click Settings (the gear icon) in the left navigation menu, then Business info.
  2. Choose Edit online store, enter the URL starting with http:// or https://, and select Continue.
  3. Pick a verification method: a code sent to an email address associated with the store, the options suggested by a hosted e-commerce platform, an HTML tag or file, Google Tag Manager, or Google Analytics.

Google advises using an HTML tag rather than Google Analytics for stores on third-party platforms such as Shopify.

Step 3: Add shipping and returns

The free listings page says shipping settings or the shipping attribute are required in listed countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany. It recommends adding return policy information in Merchant Center as well.

Step 4: Send product data

Google’s upload guide lists several routes, most of which start from Products under “Products & store,” then Add products, then Add another product source:

  • Connect an e-commerce platform such as Shopify. Google says changes may take 24 to 48 hours to appear in Merchant Center.
  • Add products from a file, uploaded once or hosted at a URL that Google retrieves every 24 hours.
  • Google Sheets. Select Use Google Sheets, then Use template. Google’s Sheets guide says to enter products in the template, delete rows 2 to 5 because they hold instructions and examples, set a sync schedule (every 24 hours by default) and click Continue.
  • One by one, through Add new products one by one. Google says this is only available to accounts with existing offers.
  • The Merchant API, which Google recommends for large or frequently changing feeds, or automatic collection from schema.org structured data on product pages.

Product sources can later be managed under Settings > Data sources.

Step 5: Confirm free listings are on

Google says free listings are usually on by default. To check, go to Marketing > Marketing methods in the left navigation and open the Free listings card. Changing the setting requires Admin access.

Step 6: Review product status

Google reviews products for completeness and policy compliance. Each product’s publishing status appears in the Status column on the Products page, and problems appear in the Needs attention tab of the Products section.

Common problems

  • Website verification fails. Google suggests trying the address without “www,” or without the “s” in “https,” where that applies, and making sure the correct store is linked in other Google products such as Google Analytics.
  • The URL is already claimed. A URL can be claimed by only one account. Sharing claiming rights requires a multi-client account.
  • Someone else owns the site. Work with the owner or administrator, or invite them as a user, to finish verification.
  • The one-by-one product editor is unavailable. New accounts must start with a file, Google Sheets or the API.
  • The account was created by a partner platform. Google says partner-created accounts send product data through the Merchant API, so changes must be made in the partner portal or with the partner.
  • Approved products aren’t showing. Google says the free listings setting “doesn’t guarantee that your products will be shown to customers,” because matching depends on the product data supplied. An accepted API request also only means the data was accepted for processing, not that the product is approved.