Business identity in Merchant Center: show who runs your store

Updated 25 Sept 2026 · by Sergey Sachenok, Founder of Polyntor

Merchant Center showsBusiness information

In short

Google treats hiding who runs the store, where it operates or where orders ship from as an unacceptable business practice — a misrepresentation suspension with no warning.
Show a real legal name, a physical address and, if you dropship, where products actually come from.
Use one name everywhere: on the site, in Merchant Center under Business info, in your Google Ads account and in your identity documents.
If Merchant Center asks you to verify your business, the legal name and address on your documents must match your account exactly.

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What Google means by business identity

There is no single Merchant Center issue called "business identity". The problem shows up in other forms: a Misrepresentation suspension, a Missing contact information on your online store issue, or a request to verify your business with documents. Under all three sits the same question: can Google, and a buyer, tell who is behind this store?

The misrepresentation policy lists this under unacceptable business practices. It names using a false identity, business name or contact details; hiding or misstating where the business really operates, where its headquarters is, or where orders are fulfilled from; showing a false or virtual address as headquarters while working from somewhere else; and hiding where products ship from to look like a local seller. Google says it suspends accounts for these without prior warning, and that it looks at your site, your listings, your account and third-party information when it decides.

So this is not about paperwork for its own sake. A store with no name, no address and a vague "we ship worldwide" looks exactly like the stores the policy was written for, even if you run an honest business.

How to fix it, step by step

Write an About us page with real factsWho runs the store, when it started, where you work from, and what you sell and why. A founder photo or a photo of your workspace says more than a paragraph about "passion for quality". Avoid generic text that could sit on any shop. Link the page from the header and the footer.
Show your legal name and registration detailsPut the full legal name of the business in the footer and on the contact page, with the company or tax registration number if you have one. If your store name differs from the legal name, say so plainly: "Northline is a trading name of Northline Goods Ltd". Showing registration details is not a written Merchant Center rule, but consumer law in many countries requires it, and it is one of the clearest signs of a real business. Check the rules where you are registered.
Publish a real physical addressThe address where your business is registered or actually operates, as text rather than an image, in the footer and on the contact page. Google names a false or virtual address that hides where you really work as a violation, so a mail-forwarding address in another country is a risk, not a shortcut. More on the contact page itself in Insufficient contact information.
Say where your products ship fromIf you dropship or products come from a warehouse abroad, say so on the About us page, in the shipping policy and near the delivery estimate on product pages. Give the real delivery times for that route. Dropshipping is allowed; pretending to ship locally when you do not is what the policy names. More in Missing shipping policy.
Use one name everywhereIn Merchant Center, go to Settings → Business info and check the business name and address. The business name there is the short name buyers see on your listings — Google asks you to leave out suffixes like "Inc." or "GmbH" — so use your store name and make sure that name appears as text on your site. The address should be the same one you publish. In Google Ads, the business name must match your domain or your verified legal name and be clearly visible on the landing page. Google also asks for the same legal name, address, phone and email on your website and in Merchant Center.
Tidy up the domainRun the store on your own domain rather than a platform subdomain, and use an email address on that domain for support. WHOIS privacy is normal and Google does not name it anywhere in its Shopping policies; treat a hidden registrant as a weak signal at most. It will not cause a suspension on its own, and making WHOIS public will not lift one.
Ask for a review when everything is liveIf you were suspended, request the review only after all changes are published. A failed review starts a cool-down, and Google says it can grow with each unsuccessful attempt. The process is in Requesting a review after a suspension.

If Merchant Center asks you to verify your business

Google may ask you to verify your business with documents. The request confirms that the business legally exists and that the people managing the account are allowed to. For suspended accounts, Google lists completing this identity verification among the steps for a misrepresentation case. You may be asked for one or both of:

Self identity — a government ID of the person, such as a passport or a driving licence.
Organisation identity — official registration documents in the legal name of the business, such as a tax certificate.

Most failed attempts come down to a few avoidable things. The documents must be current, not expired, with all four corners visible, sharp and without glare. Google does not accept photocopies or screenshots. Above all, the legal name and address on the documents must exactly match what is in your Merchant Center profile or your Google payments profile. If your registration says "Northline Goods Ltd, 14 Harbour Road" and your payments profile says "Northline, 14 Harbor Rd", fix the profile before you upload, not after a rejection.

Google Ads has its own advertiser verification, which works the same way: the organisation name has to match your documents, and once you are verified your name and location can be shown publicly in the Ads Transparency Center. One more reason to settle on one legal name and use it everywhere.

What Polyntor checks for this

About us page: that it exists as its own page, is linked from the header and the footer, has real photos, and explains who you are and your background rather than generic template text
A legal or tax identifier on the site — company number, VAT number, EIN and similar
Business name and physical address as text in the footer, with an email and a phone number
Whether the business name, phone and email you declared in scan settings appear on your site
Whether product pages disclose dropshipping and who fulfils orders, where that applies
A support email on your own domain and a store on its own domain, not a platform subdomain
Organization structured data on the homepage
Domain signals from WHOIS: hidden registrant contacts and a short registration term, reported as warnings only

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Questions

Do I need a registered company to sell on Google?

Google’s help pages do not say that only companies can sell, and its identity verification covers individuals as well as organisations. What matters is that the name you show is real and matches your documents and your Merchant Center account.

My store name is different from my legal name. Is that a problem?

No, as long as both are honest and visible. Use the store name as the business name in Merchant Center, and show the legal name on the site, for example in the footer with a line like "a trading name of…". Your verification documents will carry the legal name, so your payments profile should too.

I work from home. Do I have to publish my home address?

Google does not publish a rule against home addresses. What it names as a violation is a false or virtual address that hides where you really operate. Whatever address you choose must be real, belong to your business, and be the same on the site and in Merchant Center.

I dropship from overseas. Will saying so hurt my listings?

Hiding it is the part the policy names: concealing where orders are fulfilled or shipped from is listed as an unacceptable business practice. Say where products come from and give honest delivery times.

Is WHOIS privacy on my domain a reason for suspension?

Google does not mention WHOIS in its Merchant Center policies, and privacy is the default at many registrars. It is a weak signal at most. Spend the effort on your About us page, address and legal details instead.

Why was my identity verification rejected?

Usually because the legal name or address on the documents does not exactly match your Merchant Center or payments profile, or because the image was expired, cropped, blurred, a photocopy or a screenshot. Correct the profile or the image and submit again.