Connecting Merchant Center

If no account is listed: register GSC Wizard with Merchant Center

Google refuses every Merchant API call from a Google Cloud project that your Merchant Center account has not registered as an API developer. When that happens, the picker says No Merchant Center accounts found for your connected Google accounts. and shows One more step in Merchant Center instead.

1. Enter your numeric Merchant Center id (top right in Merchant Center) and click Register project. GSC Wizard registers itself using your own Google logins that have Merchant Center access.
2. Google accepts this only from an admin of that Merchant Center account. Managing shops through an advanced (multi-client) account? Enter the advanced account’s id: Google refuses to register a sub-account through a parent login.
3. Registration can take a few minutes to apply. Then click Check again to list the accounts afresh.
4. Once registered, other users of that Merchant Center account do not need to repeat it. An admin can also register the project in Merchant Center itself, under Settings, then Apps and services.

What happens next

Saving the link starts a history sync. You do not have to wait for it: the reports read live from Merchant Center until it is done.

• GSC Wizard queues 180 days of performance history up to yesterday, 28 days of competitive visibility, and snapshots of product status, product links and prices.
• Until the warehouse holds the property’s data, every report reads live from the Merchant API, and the Organic Shopping timeline shows Source: merchant-api. Once synced, it shows Source: clickhouse.
• The sync works through its queue every 5 minutes. After that, a nightly run re-fetches the last four days and refreshes the snapshots, as long as the property owner has an active subscription or trial.
• Feed Audit does not run on its own straight away: start the first run on the Feed Audit page. A scheduled audit then repeats monthly.

Troubleshooting

What you see, why it happens, and what to do.

• “Merchant Center access was not granted, because its checkbox was left unticked”: Google’s screen was approved without the Merchant Center permission, so nothing was saved. Click Connect Merchant Center again and tick the box before you click Continue.
• The connect link expired, or failed a security check: more than an hour passed on Google’s screens, the browser dropped the cookie, or two connect rounds ran at once. Close any other tab where you started a connect, then start again and finish without pausing.
• Access was cancelled, came back incomplete, or your session ended: try again. If your GSC Wizard session ended, sign in first.
• “Search Console reconnected, but Merchant Center access was not granted again”: a Search Console reconnect asks again for the permissions that login held, and the Merchant Center box was left unticked. Connect Merchant Center again from Account settings.
• “No Merchant Center accounts found” with “One more step in Merchant Center”: Merchant Center has not registered GSC Wizard as an API developer yet. Follow the registration step above.
• Registration says none of your connected Google accounts is an admin: connect Merchant Center with an admin’s Google login, or ask an admin to register the project in Merchant Center under Settings, then Apps and services.
• “No Merchant Center accounts found” with an amber message naming a login: that login’s connection expired (reconnect Merchant Center from Account settings), Google refused to list its accounts (it may have no Merchant Center access; reconnect with one that does), Merchant Center is rate limiting the account, or the listing failed. For the last two, try again shortly.
• “Only advanced (multi-client) accounts were found” in the dropdown, or entries greyed out as “advanced account, pick a sub-account below”: Google does not report on advanced (multi-client) parents. Pick a sub-account, or ask for access to one in Merchant Center.
• Save says the account “is not available on your connected Google accounts”: none of your logins can see that id. Connect the Google login that can, then save again.
• Save says “Invalid site URL”: the property is not one you own in GSC Wizard (for example, it was shared with you), or it is not connected through Search Console. The owner links the account.
• “Merchant Center sync is paused”: Merchant Center no longer lets the property’s Google account read the linked account. Stored data stays, but nothing new arrives. Add that Google account again under People and access in Merchant Center, then reconnect Merchant Center from Account settings, or use Link a different account. The sync also retries on its own, first after 15 minutes and then less often.
• “Merchant Center is on a different Google account”: Merchant Center is connected on another login than the property’s Search Console account. The reports show live data, but the warehouse stays empty and Feed Audit runs are refused. Connect Merchant Center with the Google account that owns the property in Search Console.
• “Merchant Center’s daily API quota for this account is used up” or “Merchant Center is rate limiting this account”: the quota belongs to your Merchant Center account. The daily quota resets at midnight Pacific time, and the message says roughly when. For the rate limit, try again shortly.
• On a shared property, Organic Shopping, Feed Audit and Title Hygiene are missing: the owner has not switched on Merchant Center for your invite. Ask them to turn it on in Team Management, next to the GA4 toggle.

Changing or disconnecting later

Both controls sit in the Organic Shopping header, next to the account name. Only the property owner can use them.

• change reopens the picker. Choose another account and click Save. Switching to a different merchant clears the old merchant’s stored data and syncs the new one from the start.
• disconnect unlinks the account straight away, without a confirmation step. It pauses the sync and deletes the property’s stored Merchant Center data and its Feed Audit runs and score history. Nothing in Merchant Center itself is touched, and linking again queues the full history again.
• To withdraw the permission altogether, remove GSC Wizard at myaccount.google.com/permissions, or unlink the Google account in Account settings.

Sharing the reports with a collaborator

GSC Merchant Listings is visible to everyone a property is shared with. The three Merchant Center reports need the owner’s opt-in: in Team Management, switch on Merchant Center for that property, next to the GA4 toggle, either on an existing invite or when you send a new one. Collaborators then read through your connection and linked account; they cannot link or change the account themselves.