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Free Google Shopping: step by step, from the account to your first listings

Google Merchant Center’s free listings show your products without paying for the click, in Google Search, Google Maps, Gemini, YouTube, the Shopping tab, Google Images and Google Lens. You need a Merchant Center account, a verified site, a complete product feed and pages that follow Google’s rules. This guide follows the exact order of the setup, with the checks that prevent rejections.

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What you will be able to do

  • Create the Merchant Center account and verify your site without errors.
  • Send a complete product feed, attribute by attribute, and keep it accurate.
  • Avoid rejections and suspensions, and know what to check every month.

For online shops that sell physical or digital products and have never connected Merchant Center, or whose products are rejected without them understanding why. No advertising budget is needed: this whole guide is about free listings.

Contents

  1. What free listings areThe same catalogue feeds free listings and paid ads; this guide only covers the free part.4 points
  2. Prepare the site before creating the accountGoogle reviews your site as much as your feed: it must be ready before the first upload.6 points
  3. Create the account and verify the siteHalf an hour is enough, as long as you have access to the site or its admin tool.5 points
  4. The product feed, attribute by attributeThe feed is the catalogue Google reads: one required attribute missing and the product is not shown.5 points
  5. Shipping and returnsShipping costs and lead times are part of the price, for Google as for the buyer.5 points
  6. The rules that get an account suspendedThe misrepresentation policy is the most feared cause of suspension: true facts are how you avoid it.5 points
  7. Structured data, alongside the feedYour pages’ markup helps Google check the feed and can also show your products in the standard results.5 points
  8. Common rejections: the checksMost rejections come from a gap between the feed and the page; each one is fixed with a single check.7 points
  9. The monthly routineTwenty minutes a month is enough to keep a clean catalogue.5 points

An extract: What free listings are

The same catalogue feeds free listings and paid ads; this guide only covers the free part.

  • Where your products can appearAccording to Google’s help pages, products can appear at no cost in Google Search, Google Maps, Gemini, YouTube, the Shopping tab, Google Images and Google Lens.
  • They are turned on by defaultGoogle says that in most cases they are turned on by default. Check it anyway on the “Free listings” page of your account.
  • Eligible does not mean shownThe “eligible” status allows free display but does not guarantee your products will be shown: relevance, price and data quality decide.
  • Free and paid are not mutually exclusiveShopping ads (and Performance Max campaigns) use the same feed. Starting with free listings lets you fix the catalogue before you spend a single euro.

Next: Prepare the site before creating the account

The rest is in the PDF: 47 points in all, 9 chapters, and a final page to run your website through the free audit.

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Frequently asked questions

Is Google Shopping really free?

Free listings are: your products can appear without paying for the click. Shopping ads are paid and use the same catalogue; they are optional.

How long before my products appear?

The feed is reviewed after each upload, then approved products become eligible. Google points out that eligibility does not guarantee display: relevance and data quality decide.

Can I sell digital products on Google Shopping?

Yes, if the product and the page follow Merchant Center policies. Declare the absence of physical shipping correctly and show the total price.

Guide sources

  1. Google Merchant Center Help, Free product listings
  2. Google Merchant Center Help, Product data specification
  3. Google Merchant Center Help, Misrepresentation
  4. Google Search Central, Merchant listing (Product, Offer) structured data (2026)
  5. Google Search Central, Merchant return policy (MerchantReturnPolicy) (2026)
  6. Google Search Central, Merchant shipping policy (ShippingService) (2026)
  7. Google Search Central, Product structured data (2025)
  8. DGCCRF (economie.gouv.fr, in French), Price reduction announcements: what you need to know (2026)

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