You’ve got products on your website and a Merchant Center account, but you don’t want to pay for ads just to be seen. This guide is for store owners in that position. After reading it you’ll be able to check that free listings in Google Merchant Center are switched on, meet the requirements, fix the issues that block products and know what to expect afterwards.
In most cases the Free listings feature is turned on by default[1]. Check it under Marketing > Marketing methods, make sure your shipping and product data are complete, then fix anything in the Needs attention tab[1]. Nothing here guarantees your products will appear.
Tip
You need Admin access to change the setting, so if you can’t edit anything, ask whoever owns the account to upgrade your role[1].
Step 1: Check free listings are switched on
Start with the setting, because it’s the quickest thing to rule out.
- Sign in to Merchant Center.
- Open Marketing and click Marketing methods.
- Find the Free listings card and check it shows as on.
Marketing methods used to be called Destinations, so older guides and forum posts may use that word[1][3]. Same thing, new name.
If you need to switch it on for a specific data source, there’s a second route. Go to Settings > Data sources, open the Product sources tab, then the Data source setup tab. Click the pencil icon next to Marketing methods, make sure free listings is selected and click Save[2].
Watch out
The account-level view and the per-source setting are two different places to check. If free listings look on in one and your products still don’t show, check the other.
Common mistake at this step
Assuming “on by default” means “done”. The switch only gives your products permission to be considered. Everything below still has to be in place.
Step 2: Confirm your country is covered and you know the cost
Free listings are available in 48 listed countries and regions, including the UK, US, Ireland, Germany and France[2]. They aren’t available everywhere, so check the full list in Google’s help page before you plan around them.
On cost: Google describes free listings as a way to show your products for free[2]. You still carry your own costs, such as your time and any tools you use to manage product data. The full breakdown is at https://oxfordimpulse.com/is-google-merchant-center-free-what-you-pay/ if you want it.
Step 3: Follow the free listings policies
Your products need to follow the policies for showing products for free[1][4]. Read them before you go further, and compare them with what your own store does.
In September 2026 Google consolidated the Shopping ads and free listings policies into one set of Shopping policies[5]. If you find an older free listings policy page, check it against the current Shopping policies in Merchant Center Help before you rely on it.
Go through your own store the way a stranger would. Can they see the price? Is the checkout working? Do the product pages match what you’ve submitted? Fix any mismatches between your feed and your site before you submit.
Step 4: Set up shipping
To show in free listings you need to set up Shipping settings or add shipping costs to your data in the countries where you sell. That applies across the 30 named countries, including the UK, US, Ireland, Germany and France[1].
Match your shipping information to what your checkout actually charges. If your site charges £4.95 and Merchant Center says free, that mismatch needs fixing.
The detail is long enough for its own guide: https://oxfordimpulse.com/google-merchant-center-shipping-settings-returns/ covers rates, services and returns in depth.
Step 5: Add your return policy
Add your return policy to your website. Adding it in Merchant Center as well is recommended[1][6]. The steps in Merchant Center are:
- Go to Products & store > Shipping and returns.
- Open Return policies.
- Click Add return policy and fill in the details.
Use plain language and say clearly how many days shoppers have, who pays postage and whether items must be unused. Then make sure the website page says exactly the same.
Step 6: Provide the required product data
Your products need these attributes at a minimum[1]:
- id
- title
- link
- image link
- price
- description
- availability
An attribute is just a labelled field in your product data. You can supply it by feed file, through a connected store platform or by adding products manually. If you use an app or plugin to send products, check what it actually sends rather than assuming it fills every field.
Tip
Write titles a shopper would recognise, with brand, product type and key detail such as size or colour. A title like “Item 4471” is valid data and useless to a human.
Common mistakes with product data
- Price differences. The feed says one price and the landing page shows another.
- Out-of-date availability. A product shows in stock but the page says sold out.
- Weak images. Placeholder pictures, watermarks or tiny files.
- Thin descriptions. One line copied from the supplier and repeated across many products.
Step 7: Fix issues in the Needs attention tab
Open Products and click the Needs attention tab[1]. This is where products with problems are listed, so work through the issues shown there.
Work in this order:
- Fix account-wide issues first, since they can affect every product.
- Fix issues affecting the most products next.
- Fix single-product issues last.
After fixing, resubmit or refresh your data and give it time to be reprocessed. If you see a warning about restricted visibility, https://oxfordimpulse.com/google-merchant-center-limited-status-meaning/ explains what a limited status means and what to do about it.
Step 8: Know what to expect
Your products may show on Google Search, Images, Lens, YouTube and Gemini[1][2]. May is the key word. Google doesn’t guarantee your products will appear, and it doesn’t promise traffic or sales.
Many things sit outside your control: competition, how shoppers search and whether your listing is relevant to a given query. What you control is eligibility, accuracy and completeness. A clean feed with accurate prices, real shipping costs and clear returns makes your products eligible to be considered. It guarantees nothing beyond that.
Check back on Products after you make changes. Look at whether issues have cleared and whether the number of approved products has gone up.
Free listings checklist
Work through the checklist this week, then recheck the Products page in 7 days. The Merchant Center hub at https://oxfordimpulse.com/google-merchant-center/ shows how the rest of the account fits together, and Oxford Impulse can review your setup with you if you would like help.
FAQs
How do you set up free listings in Google Merchant Center?
Check that Free listings is on under Marketing > Marketing methods. Then set up shipping, provide the required product attributes and fix anything in the Needs attention tab[1]. Approval and visibility aren’t guaranteed.
Are free listings on by default?
Do you need Admin access to turn free listings on or off?
Yes. You need Admin access to modify the setting[1]. If you can’t change it, ask an account Admin to do it or to raise your role.
What are Marketing methods in Merchant Center?
Which countries can use free listings?
Free listings are available in 48 listed countries and regions, including the UK, US, Ireland, Germany and France[2]. They aren’t available globally, so check Google’s current list for your country.
Which product attributes are required for free listings?
You need id, title, link, image link, price, description and availability[1]. Those are the minimum, and the Needs attention tab on the Products page shows what is missing.
Do you need shipping settings for free listings?
Yes. You need to set up Shipping settings or add shipping costs in the 30 named countries, including the UK, US, Ireland, Germany and France[1]. Keep them in line with what your checkout charges.
Is a return policy mandatory for free listings?
Where will your free listings appear?
Why are your products not showing in free listings?
Start with the Needs attention tab for issues, then check shipping, policies and whether your data matches your website[1]. Even eligible products are not guaranteed to show, so allow time after fixes.
Sources
- Google Merchant Center Help: Free listings for products support.google.com
- Google Merchant Center Help: Show your products for free on Google support.google.com
- Google Merchant Center Help: What are Marketing methods? support.google.com
- Google Merchant Center Help: Free listings policies support.google.com
- Google Merchant Center Help: Update to Google’s Shopping ads and free listing policies support.google.com
- Google Merchant Center Help: Set up your return policies for Shopping ads and free listings support.google.com
