Which products can I not list in Google Shopping?
Direct answerGoogle Shopping will not list some products even when a Search ad for the same business can run. The unsupported Shopping content policy, reviewed October 20, 2026, blocks future tickets, most vehicles, financial products, ebooks on Shopping ads, currency, open-loop gift cards, services that do not leave the buyer with a physical product, and property that cannot be moved. A warning is issued at least 7 days before account suspension.
What the listing can and cannot be
| Product | Shopping rule |
|---|---|
| Future transport or event tickets | Not allowed. Examples: concert tickets, airline tickets, bus reservations. |
| Motor-powered bicycles | Allowed when the bike meets the speed laws that apply, and the speed is on the landing page and in the title or the description. |
| Cars, trucks, RVs, boats, planes, motorcycles, mopeds, jet skis | Motor or sail vehicles used to carry people on public ways are not allowed. Cars, trucks, and RVs are allowed when they are used specifically in Vehicle ads. |
| Financial products | Not allowed. Examples: stocks, bonds, investment products, insurance policies, credit cards, money orders, cashier’s checks. |
| Ebooks and digital books | Not allowed on Shopping ads. Audiobooks are excluded. Free listings are excluded. Examples: PDFs, ePub, MOBI. |
| Currency and bullion | Not allowed when the price depends on a currency market, including discounted currency, exchanges, and currency backed by precious materials. Examples: gold bullion, precious metals, local currency, virtual currency. |
| Gift cards | A card with an expiration date that is redeemed only at specified companies is allowed. Prepaid cards branded by Mastercard, Visa, or American Express are not. |
| Services | Labor, time, or expertise that does not end in ownership of a physical product is not allowed, including a service bundled with a physical good. A home sample that a lab analyzes is not treated as a service. |
| Immovable property | Not allowed. Examples: real estate, non-portable homes, plots of land. |
Google’s e-bike example reads, in the parts that rendered clearly: “eBike, Top Speed 28mph, 150km Range, 504Wh, 21kg,” plus a wheel size and “Dark Colour.” If the speed is missing, the listing is disapproved.
A Search or social ad for a concert is the event ticket policy. This page is the Shopping product feed. A mortgage or credit card that can be a Search ad under loans and credit is still not a Shopping listing. The same split applies to housing ads and to crypto ads: the service may have its own certification path, and the coin, bullion, or house is still not a Shopping product.
Services and subscriptions
A certified U.S. online pharmacy may list prescription drugs with recurring billing that include a doctor visit or a bundled service, such as coaching. The merchant has to disclose every fee and say what the offer includes, for example “prescription drug only” or “bundled treatment plan,” on the product landing page. That allowance is this Shopping note. It does not replace prescription-ad rules.
Google’s example of a banned bundle is car repair sold together with tires. Maintenance, accounting, financial planning, streaming content, and online gaming currency are also named. Test kits where the sample is collected at home and analyzed in a lab are allowed, because Google says they are medical devices rather than services.
Recurring billing is allowed only for products Google lists:
- Magazine and newspaper subscriptions. The page points at the price attribute in the feed spec and does not reprint that spec.
- Software subscriptions that are prepaid and auto-renew only annually.
- Mobile products sold in installments or on a contract, in these Google product categories: Watches (201), Mobile Phone (267), Tablet Computers (4745), Mobile Phone Prepaid Cards and SIM Cards (6030), GPS Tracking Devices (6544).
- In the US, physical-goods subscriptions in these categories, when the required attributes are present: Apparel and accessories (166), Alcoholic beverages (499676), Coffee (1868), Health care (491), Medicine & Drugs (518), Home and garden (536), Personal care (2915), Pet supplies (2), Prepared foods (5814), Toys (1253).
Each of those physical-goods offers needs the subscription cost attribute: period (week, month, or year), period length, and amount. Only one week, one month, or one year is supported. Google says variable periods, such as a 3-month or 6-month plan, cannot be supported. The landing page has to state the terms, cancellation and refund steps, auto-renewal, how price or period changes are announced, and any mandatory fees. A link to those terms goes in the return-policy URL in Merchant Center. The ad and the landing page have to say the offer is a subscription for a physical good, including the cost, the period, and the period length.
Separately, payment methods that bill people on an ongoing basis at future intervals are not allowed. Google’s examples are a security or medical-alert system with a recurring fee, and digital content with a recurring subscription. Interpretation: the named product categories above are the allow list. An unlisted recurring bill is the ban, not a loophole around it.
An online payment that requires extra software before the purchase can finish is not allowed. The example is a digital photo album that can be bought only after more software is installed.
Promo text in a Search ad is a different problem, covered on ecommerce price claims. This page is whether the product is allowed in the feed at all.
Sources
Reviewed October 20, 2026. Policies change. This is not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
Can I list an e-bike?
Motor-powered bicycles are allowed when they meet the speed laws that apply and the listing states the bicycle’s speed on the landing page and in either the title or the description. If the speed is missing, Google says the listing is disapproved. Motorcycles and mopeds are in the not-allowed vehicle examples.
Are audiobooks banned with ebooks?
No. The ban is ebooks and digital books, and Google says it does not include audiobooks. The ban applies to Shopping ads. It does not apply to free listings. Named file examples are PDFs, ePub books, and MOBI.
Can a store gift card be a Shopping product?
A gift card with an expiration date that can be redeemed only at specified companies is allowed. A prepaid card branded by a credit-card issuer is not. Google’s examples are Mastercard, Visa, and American Express.
Check the product before it hits the feed
LaunchGuarding can scan the ad and the landing page for policy risk while you decide whether the SKU belongs in Shopping.