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Verify and claim URL for Merchant Center
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Summary
Only one Merchant Center account can claim a specific URL. You must
verify the URL through your Merchant Center account to show that
you have administrative access to the website, and then claim that URL to link
its product data to your merchant account.
Consider the following guidelines when choosing a URL:
- Only approved developers can use the Content API for Shopping to overwrite a
website claim.
You need to have the existing claimant change the URL on
their account. If you need help, contact your Technical Account Manager.
You should only claim the highest domain level you need. Claims at higher
levels affect lower level URLs. For example, a merchant claiming
example.com means that another merchant can't claim
merchant.example.com or example.com/merchant.
Manual steps
Verify a URL
- Sign in to your Merchant Center account.
- From the navigation menu, click the tools icon.
- Under Tools, select Business information.
- Click the Website tab.
- Enter the URL, starting with
http:// or https://. Use a domain that you
own and maintain.
- Click Continue.
- Choose one of the available options to verify the website.
Claim a URL
Claiming a website gives you the exclusive right to use that website for product
data on your Merchant Center account. You must verify a website before you can
claim it.
After verifying the website, click Claim website.
If you’ve already created a feed, you’ll need to refetch it after you’ve claimed
a website. If you use the Content API, you’ll need to re-upload your feed so it
can be recrawled.
See Verify and claim your website URL for more detail.
Automatic steps
There are two steps to claim a website with Google APIs. These are verifying the
website with the Site Verification API and then claiming the website with the
Content API for Shopping.
Use the Site Verification API to verify that you have access to the
website. Multiple Google accounts can verify access to the same website, but
only one account can claim the website. You can only claim a website after
you have verified your access to it.
If the account you authenticate with for the Site Verification API
doesn't have access to the merchant account you're claiming a website for,
you should add the email of an account that doesn to the
owners field before calling
insert or
update.
Once verified, approved developers can use the accounts.claimwebsite
method in the Content API for Shopping to claim the website to their
Merchant Center account. Contact your Technical Account Manager for details.
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC.
[null,null,["Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eOnly one Merchant Center account can claim a specific URL, requiring verification to demonstrate administrative access and link product data.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eURL claims should be made at the highest necessary domain level, as they impact lower-level URLs and restrict claims by other merchants.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWebsite verification can be done manually through the Merchant Center account settings or automatically using Google APIs by approved developers.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eClaiming a website grants exclusive rights for product data usage on the associated Merchant Center account, requiring prior verification.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAfter claiming a website, existing feeds might need to be refetched or re-uploaded to ensure updated information is reflected.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Verify and claim URL for Merchant Center\n\nSummary\n-------\n\nOnly one Merchant Center account can claim a specific URL. You must\nverify the URL through your Merchant Center account to show that\nyou have administrative access to the website, and then claim that URL to link\nits product data to your merchant account.\n\nConsider the following guidelines when choosing a URL:\n\n- Only approved developers can use the Content API for Shopping to overwrite a website claim.\n- You need to have the existing claimant change the URL on\n their account. If you need help, contact your Technical Account Manager.\n\n- You should only claim the highest domain level you need. Claims at higher\n levels affect lower level URLs. For example, a merchant claiming\n `example.com` means that another merchant can't claim\n `merchant.example.com` or `example.com/merchant`.\n\nManual steps\n------------\n\n### Verify a URL\n\n1. [Sign in](//merchants.google.com/mc/) to your Merchant Center account.\n2. From the navigation menu, click the tools icon.\n3. Under **Tools** , select **Business information**.\n4. Click the **Website** tab.\n5. Enter the URL, starting with `http://` or `https://`. Use a domain that you own and maintain.\n6. Click **Continue**.\n7. Choose one of the available options to verify the website.\n\n### Claim a URL\n\nClaiming a website gives you the exclusive right to use that website for product\ndata on your Merchant Center account. You must verify a website before you can\nclaim it.\n\nAfter verifying the website, click **Claim website**.\n\nIf you've already created a feed, you'll need to refetch it after you've claimed\na website. If you use the Content API, you'll need to re-upload your feed so it\ncan be recrawled.\n\nSee [Verify and claim your website URL](//support.google.com/merchants/answer/176793) for more detail.\n\nAutomatic steps\n---------------\n\nThere are two steps to claim a website with Google APIs. These are verifying the\nwebsite with the [Site Verification API](/site-verification/v1/getting_started) and then claiming the website with the\n[Content API for Shopping](/shopping-content/reference/rest/v2.1/accounts/claimwebsite).\n\n1. Use the [Site Verification API](/site-verification/v1/getting_started) to verify that you have access to the\n website. Multiple Google accounts can verify access to the same website, but\n only one account can claim the website. You can only claim a website after\n you have verified your access to it.\n\n If the account you authenticate with for the Site Verification API\n doesn't have access to the merchant account you're claiming a website for,\n you should add the email of an account that doesn to the\n [`owners`](/site-verification/v1/webResource#owners) field before calling\n [`insert`](/site-verification/v1/invoking#exampleInsert) or\n [`update`](/site-verification/v1/invoking#exampleUpdate).\n2. Once verified, approved developers can use the [`accounts.claimwebsite`](/shopping-content/reference/rest/v2.1/accounts/claimwebsite)\n method in the Content API for Shopping to claim the website to their\n Merchant Center account. Contact your Technical Account Manager for details."]]
