How do I pause a Google Shopping product without deleting it?
Direct answerSubmit pause as ads or all. Google’s pause attribute, reviewed November 2, 2026, hides a product that is still for sale on your site. Leave the attribute off, or empty, and Google assumes the product is not paused.
The two values
| Value | What Google says it stops |
|---|---|
| ads | All ads locations, including Shopping ads, Display ads, and local inventory ads. Google’s example is an in-stock product paused for ads and unpaused within 14 days. |
| all | Those ads plus free listings. The introduction says this value, held for more than 14 days, archives the product. |
A text feed uses ads. XML uses <g:pause>ads</g:pause>. The field does not repeat. An unsupported value fails the minimum requirements, and Google says the product is disapproved. This page does not print a 7-day suspension warning.
Fourteen days, and the status word to avoid
Read the clock as the page writes it, because the page says more than one thing. The introduction says pausing with all for more than 14 days archives the product, and that you restore it by removing pause or changing the value. The “when to use” section says products paused more than 14 days can take one or more days to be reactivated. The minimum requirements say to pause for 14 days or less, and to use excluded destination if you need a longer stop. They also say to use pause only for ads destinations, and excluded destination for a destination other than ads, with free listings as the example.
Do not delete the item to hide it. Google says putting the offer back after a deletion takes a significant amount of time before it can show again. Do not set availability to out of stock in order to pause ads or free listings. Out of stock is for a product that is not in stock and that you are temporarily not accepting orders for.
Sources
Reviewed November 2, 2026. Policies change. This is not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
Can I pause free listings and leave Shopping ads on?
Not with this attribute. Google says pause cannot hide only free listings. The value ads pauses ads, including Shopping ads, Display ads, and local inventory ads. The value all pauses those ads and free listings. To pause a destination other than ads, Google points to excluded destination.
What happens after 14 days?
The introduction says that setting pause to all for more than 14 days archives the product automatically. Removing pause, or changing the value, restores a product archived that way. The same page says products paused more than 14 days can take one or more days to come back, and its minimum requirements say to pause for 14 days or less and to use excluded destination for a longer stop.
Should I set availability to out of stock instead?
Only when the product is not in stock and you are not taking orders. Google says not to use out of stock as a way to pause ads or free listings. If the item is still for sale on the site and you only want it off Google for a short time, use pause. Deleting the product is the option this page says to avoid, because adding it back takes a significant amount of time.
Check the product is still the one on the page
LaunchGuarding can scan the landing page while a product is paused, so the page and the feed still describe the same offer when it returns.