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Untrustworthy promotions

Time to clear: A few days to a few weeks after a reinstatement requestPublished

Google sees a promotion or offer as misleading, which falls under misrepresentation and can suspend the whole account.

What this error means

This falls under Google's misrepresentation policy, where it appears as untrustworthy or misleading and unrealistic promotions. It fires when an offer or promotion is presented in a way Google considers deceptive. Because misrepresentation is an account-level policy, this can suspend the whole account rather than a single product.

Why it happens

The cause is an offer that overstates or hides its real terms. Common examples are a "buy one, get one free" that is not truly free, free delivery that quietly requires a minimum spend, a discount from an inflated original price, or a countdown that never really ends. Google treats these as concealing or misstating information about the offer.

How to fix it

  1. Read the exact policy detail in Merchant Center to understand what was flagged.
  2. Make every promotion state its real terms up front, including any minimum spend, time limit, or conditions.
  3. Only show a struck-through original price if that was the genuine recent selling price.
  4. Remove fake urgency such as timers that reset or "limited" claims that are not true.
  5. Once the offers are honest and consistent across the site and feed, request a review.

Fixing it in your store

Misleading promotions usually live in banners, badges, and price displays on the site rather than in the feed. Align what the site advertises with what the checkout actually charges, make discount conditions visible next to the offer, and make sure any struck-through prices reflect a real prior price. Consistency between the promotion, the feed, and the final charged price is what rebuilds trust.

How long until it clears

If the account was suspended, a reinstatement review takes from a few days to a few weeks, and only clears once the promotions are genuinely honest.

Reference: Google's documentation

Still disapproved?

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