Placeholder and template content that fails a Merchant Center review
By Terry Ecom · Last reviewed 2026-08-31 · Source: Google Merchant Center Help
Placeholder content signals an unfinished business, which is the thing the whole website audit is really testing for. This is a manual pass: it is the one item on this list that GMC Scout does not currently detect.
What Google published
The editorial and technical requirements ask that a site be finished and understandable, and call out placeholder and templated copy — “Lorem ipsum”, “add reviews here” — along with broken destinations and obstructive interstitials.
The prepare-your-website guidance for new accounts says the same thing from the other direction: original About and product language, working contact details, no under-construction banners.
The Shopify version of this problem
Actual Lorem ipsum is rare on a real store. What is common is subtler and, for a reviewer, just as telling:
- A refund or shipping policy still on Shopify’s generated template text, with the specifics never filled in.
- Bracketed prompts left in a policy — [COMPANY NAME], [NUMBER] days.
- Demo products and theme sample images from the installed theme still live.
- An About page that describes a generic “passionate team” and names no business.
- Collections created and never filled, or navigation pointing at pages that were never written.
Why it carries more weight than it looks like it should
Every item on the website audit is a proxy for one question: is there a real business behind this storefront that a shopper can hold to account? Template copy answers that question badly, which is why it appears in the editorial requirements next to genuinely mechanical failures like broken links.
It is also the cheapest category to fix. Nobody needs a developer to replace the default returns text with their own terms.
Where GMC Scout helps — and where it does not
Being straight about this: Scout does not currently have a placeholder-copy check. It will tell you a policy page is missing, or that the return window, shipping cost or refund timing could not be found on the page — which catches the most damaging version of this problem, because an unedited template usually states none of those facts.
It will not flag a bracketed [COMPANY NAME], a demo product, or a generic About page. Read those yourself before you appeal, and do not treat a clean Scout report as proof that this item is clear.
FAQ
Does Google really check for Lorem ipsum?
Placeholder text is named in the editorial and technical requirements. The realistic risk on a live store is not literal Lorem ipsum — it is an unedited default policy page, which fails the same requirement.
Does GMC Scout find placeholder text?
No. There is no placeholder-copy check today. Scout catches the consequence — missing return window, shipping cost, refund timing and similar facts — but a bracketed template prompt is a manual read.
Do I have to remove the theme’s sample images?
Google’s guidance asks for a finished store with original content. Demo imagery and sample products are the clearest signal that a store is not finished.
Sources
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