Amazon sellers who cross-list to Google Shopping get suspended at a significantly higher rate than direct-to-consumer stores. The causes are structural, not accidental. If you sell on Amazon and are trying to run Google Shopping ads at the same time, here is why suspensions happen and what you need to fix before running your first campaign.
The 4 structural causes
1. Checkout redirects to Amazon
If your product pages link out to Amazon for the actual purchase, Googlebot flags this as a checkout redirect violation. Google's policy requires that the full checkout happens on the merchant's own domain. A landing page that sends traffic to Amazon's cart is not a compliant checkout.
The fix: You must sell directly through your own website. If you only sell on Amazon, you are not eligible for Google Shopping. You need a real standalone store.
2. Price mismatch between feed and product page
Amazon prices change frequently, sometimes multiple times per day due to dynamic repricing. If your GMC feed pulls prices from one source and your product page shows another, Google will detect a mismatch. Even a $0.01 discrepancy triggers the price mismatch policy violation.
The fix: Sync your feed and product page prices from the same source in real time. Never let the two get out of sync for more than a few hours.
3. Missing policy pages
Many Amazon-first sellers launch a quick landing page without proper return policy, shipping policy, or privacy policy pages. Amazon has its own policies, so sellers often assume these are covered. They are not. Google requires the policies to be on your domain, accessible without login, and to contain actual content.
The fix: Add all three policy pages to your standalone store. The return policy must cover timeframes, conditions, and the refund process. The shipping policy must show actual shipping costs or a clear pricing table.
4. Product images owned by Amazon
Amazon's terms of service prohibit using Amazon-hosted images on third-party sites. Merchants who copy image URLs from their Amazon listings into their GMC feed violate both Amazon's terms and GMC's image policy. Broken or unauthorized image links trigger product disapprovals.
The fix: Use your own image hosting for all product images. Upload images to your own CDN or server and use those URLs in your feed.
The warning Google does not send
Most Amazon sellers who launch Google Shopping for the first time do not get a warning before suspension. GMC's automated compliance scanner detects a checkout redirect or price mismatch on the first crawl and either disapproves the product immediately or suspends the account depending on the severity.
If your account is already suspended, do not create a new Merchant Center account to work around the suspension. This is a circumventing systems violation and results in a permanent ban that is extremely difficult to appeal.
Before you appeal
If you are suspended, fix all four structural issues before submitting a reinstatement request. An incomplete appeal that addresses only one or two issues will be denied. Run the free 43-point audit at GMCSuspension.com to confirm every policy requirement is met before clicking Request Review.
The full guide covering each cause in detail, with specific step-by-step fixes and a reinstatement checklist for Amazon sellers, is at gmcsuspension.com/google-merchant-center-amazon-seller.html.
