If you run an online store and opened Search Console this week, you probably saw a new report called Merchant listings. The old Product report seems to be gone. The merchant listings report shows whether Google can read the product markup on pages where people can buy something, and whether those pages can appear in Google’s shopping features without a Merchant Center account.
Google announced the change on 13 September 2022. In this guide I explain what changed, what the new report shows, how it differs from the Product snippets report, and what I would check first on a store.
What Google Announced on 13 September
Until now, the richer shopping features in Google Search were mostly for sellers who sent a product feed through Google Merchant Center. Merchant Center is Google’s tool for uploading product data for Shopping ads and free listings.
Google has now widened that. Stores can become eligible for these shopping experiences just by adding Product structured data to their pages. Structured data is a block of code that labels page details, such as the price or brand, in a format Google can read.
At the same time, Google changed Search Console. You can read the full announcement in the Google Search Central blog post on merchant listings. The main points are:
- The old Product structured data report has been replaced by two reports: Merchant listings and Product snippets.
- The Merchant listings report covers pages where shoppers can buy a product on your site.
- The Product snippets report covers a wider set of pages with product information, such as review pages.
- The Product snippets report keeps the error history from the old Product report.
- Google says shopping experiences may only be available in some countries.
In my view, this is one of the more useful Search Console changes for ecommerce this year. It gives smaller stores a route into shopping features without running a product feed.
Merchant Listings vs Product Snippets: The Difference
This is the part that confuses most people, so it is worth getting clear before you look at any numbers. Both reports read the same Product markup. The difference is the type of page and the type of search feature.
Merchant Listings
Merchant listings are for pages where a shopper can buy the product from you. Think of a normal product page with a price and an “Add to cart” button.
These pages can be eligible for shopping features such as the shopping knowledge panel (the product panel that can show on the right side of results), Popular Products, and shopping results in Google Images and Google Lens.
Product Snippets
Product snippets are the classic product rich results. These are the extra lines under a normal blue link, such as star ratings, review counts, price and stock status.
They are for a wider set of pages. A product review site, a comparison page or a blog post that reviews one product can all use Product markup for snippets, even though nobody can buy the item on that page.
Which Report Should You Check?
- You sell products on your site: check the Merchant listings report for your product pages. If you also publish reviews on pages that don’t sell anything, check Product snippets too.
- You review or compare products but don’t sell them: the Product snippets report is the one for you. The merchant listings report will most likely stay empty, and that is fine.
Most stores will see their product pages in both reports. That is normal, because one product page with full markup can qualify for both features.
Where to Find the Merchant Listings Report
- Open Google Search Console and select your property.
- In the left menu, scroll down to the Shopping section.
- Click Merchant listings.
- Look at the chart and the list of issues under it.
If you don’t see a Shopping section at all, Google has not found Product markup on pages it treats as merchant listings. That usually means the markup is missing, broken, or the pages don’t look like pages that sell something.
Product snippets sits in the same Shopping section. The reports may take a little time to fill in for some sites, so don’t panic if the numbers look thin on day one.
How to Read the Merchant Listings Report
The report works like the other enhancement reports in Search Console. If you have used the Video indexing report or the old Product report, the layout will feel familiar.
Errors, Warnings and Valid Items
- Errors: problems that stop the item from being eligible for merchant listing features. Fix these first.
- Warnings: missing recommended details. The item can still show, but with less information.
- Valid items: markup that Google could read with no problems.
Click any issue to see a list of example URLs. Then click a URL to inspect it or test it.
Items, Not Pages
The report counts items, not pages. One page can hold more than one Product item, for example a product page with several variants marked up separately. So the item count will not always match your number of product pages.
When I look at this report, I compare the item count with the number of product pages I expect Google to know about. A big gap in either direction tells me where to dig.
Impressions Have Moved
Google says product search impressions no longer appear in the Product snippets report. For clicks and impressions, use the Performance report instead. The enhancement reports are for markup health, not for traffic.
What Structured Data Merchant Listings Need
Both features use the schema.org Product type, with an Offer inside it for the price. Google’s Product structured data documentation lists the exact required and recommended properties, so treat that as the final word.
In practice, these are the details I make sure every product page has:
name: the product name.image: at least one real product image URL.offers: an Offer withpriceandpriceCurrency.availability: in stock, out of stock, pre-order and so on.brand, plus a product ID such asgtinormpnwhere you have one.itemConditionif you sell used or refurbished items.shippingDetailsif you want shipping costs to be clear.aggregateRatingandreviewonly if real customer reviews are shown on the page.
Google also says the merchant listings report covers more Product properties than before, such as apparel sizing and energy efficiency ratings. If you sell clothing or appliances, check the new warnings for those.
Here is a simple example of Product markup for one item:
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org/",
"@type": "Product",
"name": "Canvas Weekend Bag",
"image": "https://www.example.com/images/weekend-bag.jpg",
"description": "Water-resistant canvas bag with leather handles.",
"sku": "WB-102",
"brand": { "@type": "Brand", "name": "ExampleBrand" },
"offers": {
"@type": "Offer",
"url": "https://www.example.com/weekend-bag",
"price": "79.00",
"priceCurrency": "USD",
"availability": "https://schema.org/InStock",
"itemCondition": "https://schema.org/NewCondition"
}
}
</script>The values in the markup must match what a shopper sees on the page. If the page says $79 and the markup says $69, you are asking for trouble.
Common Problems I Expect Stores to See
This report is only a few days old, but it reads the same Product markup stores have used for years. So the problems are the same ones I already see in product markup audits.
Missing Price or Currency
A lot of themes add a Product block without a full Offer. Some leave out priceCurrency, or output the price with a currency symbol inside it. Use a plain number for the price and a three-letter code like USD or GBP for the currency.
Markup Only on Some Templates
Simple products often have markup while variable products, bundles or gift cards don’t. I usually see this when a store has added a plugin for some product types but not others.
Prices That Change With JavaScript
When a shopper picks a size or colour, the price on screen may change through JavaScript, while the markup still shows the starting price. Check that the markup Google gets matches the default price shown when the page loads.
Two Conflicting Product Blocks
This is very common after a theme or plugin change. The theme outputs one Product block and an SEO plugin outputs another. Google can end up reading two items with different details. I’d keep one source of markup and switch off the other.
Ratings Without Visible Reviews
Adding aggregateRating when no reviews appear on the page breaks Google’s guidelines. Only mark up reviews that a visitor can actually read on that page.
Category Pages Marked as Products
Some stores put Product markup on category or search pages that list many items. These pages are not where a shopper buys one specific product. Keep Product markup on single product pages.
How to Fix Issues in the Merchant Listings Report
Here is the process I follow when a store has errors in the report.
- Start with errors, not warnings. Errors stop items from being eligible. Sort issues by the number of affected items and take the biggest one first.
- Open a few example URLs. Click the issue, then pick two or three sample URLs. Use the URL Inspection tool to see what Google found on the live page. If you check many URLs at scale, the Search Console URL Inspection API can help.
- Find the template. Errors almost always come from a template, theme or plugin, not from single pages. Work out which template creates the broken markup.
- Fix the markup at the source. Update the theme, plugin or code so that every product page outputs a complete Product and Offer block.
- Test a fixed page. Run the live URL through the Rich Results Test to confirm Google reads the Product markup with no errors.
- Click Validate Fix. Back in the report, open the issue and click Validate Fix. Google will recrawl the affected pages over the next days or weeks.
- Then work on warnings. Add brand, GTIN, availability and shipping details where you have them. These help your listings carry more useful detail.
Validation can take a while on big stores, because Google needs to recrawl a lot of pages. I don’t click Validate Fix until I’m sure the fix is live on every template, because a failed validation just slows things down.
Do You Still Need Google Merchant Center?
Not to be eligible for merchant listing features in organic results. That is the main point of this change. Product structured data on your pages is now enough to be considered.
That said, I wouldn’t drop Merchant Center if you already use it. A product feed is still how you run Shopping ads, and a feed gives you more control over what Google shows. Many stores will use both: a feed in Merchant Center and good markup on the site.
If you are a small store with no feed, this change is your chance to show up in shopping features with work you can do on your own site. In my experience, getting markup right on a store is cheaper and faster than people expect, because the fix usually lives in one or two templates.
Should You Worry If Numbers Look Different?
Probably not. The old Product report has been split, so some items now appear under Merchant listings, some under Product snippets, and some under both. A drop in one report can simply mean the items moved to the other.
I would not compare the new reports with old Product report screenshots line by line. Instead, take a fresh baseline this week, then watch the trend from here.
It also helps to keep this separate from ranking changes. Google has run two product reviews updates this year, and the July 2022 product reviews update was about the quality of review content, not markup. A markup error does not mean your content was judged as weak, and good markup will not fix thin review content.
A Quick Checklist for Online Stores
- Open the new Shopping section in Search Console and note your current valid items, warnings and errors.
- Check that every product template outputs Product markup with a full Offer.
- Make sure price, currency and availability in the markup match the page.
- Remove duplicate Product blocks from themes and plugins.
- Add brand and GTIN or MPN where you have them.
- Only use review markup when real reviews show on the page.
- Check the Product snippets report too if you publish reviews or buying guides.
- Use the Performance report, not the enhancement reports, to track clicks.
Final Thoughts on the Merchant Listings Report
The merchant listings report is now the main place in Search Console to check whether your product pages are ready for Google’s shopping features. Merchant Center is no longer the only door in, so clean Product markup matters more for stores than it did a month ago.
My advice: open the report this week, fix errors at the template level, and then fill in the recommended details. If you want to see how Google reads a single product page in detail, start with the URL Inspection tool and work outwards from there.
