How to fix: Online shop URL not verified

Complete the process of verifying your online shop URL

Why this issue is happening

You may be having trouble with claiming your online shop URL for several reasons.

You haven't verified your online shop URL

You can only claim an online shop URL for your Merchant Centre account after you've verified the URL. Verification happens through onboarding as part of the online shop confirmation step.

Your URL has been claimed at a higher level in the domain path

If you find an error saying that your URL has been claimed at a higher level, another Merchant Centre account has a claim that is taking precedence over yours. For example, you won't be able to claim the URL http://shop.example.com if another Merchant Center account has already claimed the URL http://example.com, because the latter is at a higher level in the domain path.

Try to resolve this issue in Merchant Center:

Select Business info in the left navigation menu.
Under 'Your online shop', click Edit online shop.
Remove 'www' or 'https' from the URL.
Click Save.

Note: If this doesn't resolve the issue, try removing all verification methods, then re-add them.

Website tags have been incorrectly placed or modified

If you've made modifications to the tag or if you've incorrectly placed it in your HTML code, you'll not be able to complete website verification. For example, if you're using an HTML tag, be sure that the meta tag is inserted into the <head> section of your site's homepage, before the <body> section.

If your online shop has website tags, you can also provide an email address associated with your online shop to help verify your URL. For specific tag implementation instructions on each of the five verification methods, read about verifying and claiming your shop's website.

There isn't an owner set in the Search Console

If you already have a Search Console account, the verification will be set if the Search Console owner matches a user in the Merchant Center. If the users are different, you'll need to make sure that the user who'll be verifying the website is added to both.

The person trying to verify doesn't have edit permissions

The Google Analytics user is required to have edit rights for the Google Analytics account used by that page, and they must also be a user or admin in Merchant Centre. If the users are different, you'll need to make sure that the user who will be verifying the website is added to both.

Your e-commerce platform requires you to use a different verification method

E-commerce platforms may have preferred options to help you verify your website with Google Merchant Centre or Google Search Console. Check with your platform for more information.

The person trying to verify doesn't have access to an email address that's associated with the website

Google requires that you can prove access to an email address that's associated with the website. The email address can be verified if the email is on the website domain, or if it's listed on the website.

Your confirmation email went to your Spam folder

Check all your email folders, including Spam, Social, Marketing and Promotions. If the confirmation email doesn't arrive after three minutes, resend the confirmation code in Merchant Centre.

The verification code isn't entered correctly

You must copy and paste the verification code into the code field in Merchant Center. The code field isn't autofilled by clicking the link in the verification email.

How to fix your issue

Step 1 Make sure that you verified your website using one of the five online shop URL verification methods.

Step 2 If you aren't the person who set up the account or verified your online shop URL, get in touch with the person who did, either to complete the process or to add you as someone who can complete the process.

FAQs

I'm getting a 'domain already claimed' error. What should I do?

This error typically occurs when the website URL is already claimed in another Merchant Centre account, or within a multi-client account (MCA) structure. Here's how to troubleshoot:

Check for Other Accounts: Ensure that the domain is not claimed in any other Merchant Centre accounts that you own. Only one standalone Merchant Centre account can claim a specific domain.
Multi-client account (MCA): If you manage multiple websites, you might need an MCA. In an MCA setup, the main domain should be verified and claimed in the parent MCA account. Sub-accounts then inherit the claim. Go to 'Business information' in Google Merchant Centre to see if you have the option to request an MCA.
Subdomains: If you are using subdomains (e.g. us.yourdomain.com, de.yourdomain.com), claiming the main domain in the MCA will allow the sub-accounts to automatically inherit the domain claim.
Shopify Integration: Make sure that you are only linking one Shopify store to one Google Merchant Centre account. If you have multiple Shopify stores, you'll need an MCA to manage them effectively.

What is a multi-client account (MCA) and do I need one?

An MCA is designed to manage multiple websites or businesses under one umbrella account. If you have separate shops for different countries, or multiple Shopify accounts, an MCA is the recommended solution.

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