# Policies and restrictions

This page describes policies that you must comply with to participate in the
vehicle listings program. Be aware that these policies can be updated at any
time.

## Overview

When Google evaluates your feed, we exclude individual vehicles that don't
include any of the required fields listed in the
[Feed specification](https://developers.google.com/vehicle-listings/reference/feed-specification) or that
violate the policies on this page. Additionally, we might exclude entire
dealerships that violate the policies below, or if the inventory is incomplete
when we compare it to the dealership's website.

## Dealership policies

- The dealership must have a claimed and verified Business Profile on Google. See [How to verify your business on Google](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7107242).
- The Business Profile must have the Place type [`vehicle_dealer`](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/supported_types). See [How to choose a category for your Business Profile](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7249669/choose-a-business-category-computer).
- The dealership must be based in a country where the vehicle listings program is supported, which is currently limited to the U.S. \& U.S. territories.

## Vehicle policies

- Only include vehicles with a valid [Vehicle Identification Number](https://developers.google.com/vehicle-listings/reference/feed-specification#vin):
  - Vehicle parts, accessories, tires, and services are not supported.
  - Vehicle auctions and auction pricing are not supported.
  - Vehicles available for rent, lease or subscription are not supported.
  - Examples of supported vehicle types: passenger cars and trucks, RV, ATV, motorcycles, trailers.
- Only include vehicle inventory for sale directly from the dealership. Vehicles from private sellers, individuals, or auto brokers are not permitted.
- If a vehicle isn't located at the dealership, mark the vehicle as `IN_TRANSIT` or `SHIP_TO_STORE`. See [vehicle_fulfillment](https://developers.google.com/vehicle-listings/reference/feed-specification#vehicle_fulfillment).

## Image policies

For the best viewing experience on both large and small screens, we require high
quality images that show the vehicle for sale with minimal background. Only
provide images that you're permitted to share for use by Google.

### Image Specifications

| Attribute | Requirement |
|---|---|
| File Formats | JPEG (`.jpg` or `.jpeg`) or PNG (`.png`) |
| Minimum Dimensions | 256 x 256 pixels (recommended is 800 x 600) |
| Maximum image size | 64 megapixels |
| Maximum file size | 16 MB |
| Recommended aspect ratio | 4:3 |

### Image quality issues

The following types of images will be excluded:

- Images with inappropriate or sensitive visuals.
- Images that can't be crawled by Google.

While images may not be excluded for the reasons below, we've heard from users
that they do not contribute to a good user experience and could negatively
impact your vehicle listings performance. We recommend avoiding these types of
images for best results. Google may utilize technical solutions, like the ones
described in [Automatic image improvements](https://developers.google.com/vehicle-listings/integration-process/image-improvements),
to modify these images to be more consistent with our guidelines.

- Images that don't have stable URLs.
- Images that have watermarks or overlays.
- Placeholder images which don't show the vehicle available for sale.
- Stock images, especially those which don't show the correct vehicle exterior (for example, color, model, etc.)

Please refer to this [documentation](https://developers.google.com/vehicle-listings/support/how-to-fix#how_to_fix_invalid_image)
about how to fix image issues.

Vehicles without images might be ranked lower on Google. For this reason, although vehicle images aren't required, we strongly recommend uploading high quality images for every vehicle.

## Price policies

We want to show the lowest possible price that is publicly available to all
consumers. Any discount shown needs to apply to all consumers. For instance,
don't include veterans discounts.

If you would like to show only MSRP prices for a new vehicle, put the MSRP price
in both the `price` and `vehicle_msrp` fields.

We exclude vehicles with prices that fall outside of the range of prices that we
expect, based on similar vehicles that are available for sale.

## Mileage policy

We exclude any new vehicle with more than 20,000 miles.

## Business Profile Products

We hide the [Business Profile Products](https://support.google.com/business/answer/9124203) when showing vehicle
listings on Business Profiles.

### Can we enable both vehicle listings and Products on our Business Profile?

Our users found it confusing to see two similar modules next to each other.
Additionally, vehicle listings consistently have significantly higher
interaction rate compared to Products, so we believe it provides users with the
best experience when searching for vehicles.