Price accuracy has always been an issue on eCommerce platforms, including Google Shopping.

In theory, a retailer could provide the same price on its landing page and Google Merchant Center. But, the product’s cost could suddenly increase — with hidden fees— when a customer adds it to their cart.

Admittedly, Google has a price enforcement policy in place for retailers that use its shopping platform.

However, it involved comparing the data on the seller’s Merchant Center with the information on their landing page. In other words, Google never confirmed price Accuracy when the product is in the customer’s cart.

As a result, this form of deceptive pricing has gone unchecked — until now.

In a recent announcement, the search giant emphasizes the importance of consistent and accurate pricing. Then, it introduced a new measure to enforce price accuracy on its platform.

The announcement on the Google Support page reads:

“Beginning April 6, in addition to reviewing and enforcing price accuracy between your Merchant Center product data and your landing pages, we will begin to review and enforce price accuracy at checkout.”

Here’s what you should know about the upcoming changes.

Google’s Plan to Enforce Price Accuracy on its Shopping Platform

According to the announcement, Google is giving retailers advanced notice about a change that’ll arrive in two months.

The search giant will start reviewing and enforcing price accuracy across the purchase journey. It begins with the data in Merchant Center product feeds down to the price that customers see when they check out.

Besides, Google’s old price enforcement policy still stands. That means it’ll continue reviewing the price accuracy of landing pages.

Sellers that are involved in any form of deceptive pricing will first receive a warning. After that, Google will give the retailer 28 days to resolve the discrepancy before suspending the Merchant Center account.

The announcement reads:

“…you will receive a 28-day warning to resolve these mismatches, otherwise your account will be subject to suspension at the end of the warning period.”

With that said, the price enforcement policy is not yet active. However, the search and advertising company promises to make another announcement when the change becomes official.

Until then, retailers can audit their price data to ensure that the data on their landing pages matches the one at checkout.

Read More: Google Adds new Label to Support Black-owned Businesses

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