A worrying Google issue could leave small businesses playing catch-up with back-to-school sales – here is what to do
- Google product approvals are being delayed, impacting small businesses
- Experts advise businesses not to resubmit products needlessly
- Google has not yet commented on the issue
Local SEO professionals, agencies, and small businesses have been reporting widespread issues with new and existing product listings becoming trapped in Google’s approval process, leading to concerns over the upcoming back-to-school period.
According to reports, the issues have been ongoing since July 30 2026, with it being raised both in Google’s own support community and leading local search forums. Businesses from multiple countries have reported the same glitch.
Google has not yet publicly acknowledged the issue, frustrating businesses that are preparing for the upcoming busy period.
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Small business reliance on Google
The issue highlights a wider problem for small businesses that rely on platforms like Google to drive traffic to their products and services.
With small budgets and time constraints, small businesses often rely on just a handful of sources to drive the bulk of traffic to their websites. For example, a small store may rely primarily on their Google Business Profile to be the main way potential customers discover them.
So, when issues like these occur and platforms like Google fail to address them, it leaves small businesses frustrated and making best guesses on how to proceed.
Don’t panic
Some businesses have reported continuously editing and submitting products in the hope that they will eventually be approved. According to some experts, this is exactly the wrong approach to take.
“Your first instinct is usually to keep editing the product or submit it again, hoping it will finally go live. Unfortunately, that’s often the worst thing you can do,” says Thomas Phillips, Founder and Marketing Expert at DTC SEO Agency. “If this is a platform-wide issue, every resubmission effectively sends your product back into the review process. Instead of getting approved sooner, you risk resetting the clock each time.”
For now, it appears the best course of action is to continue updating your site as usual and to avoid purposefully updating and submitting products several times in an attempt to get them approved.
Phillips also advises checking trusted SEO communities to see if others are facing a similar challenge before taking drastic action:
“When multiple agencies start reporting the same behaviour at the same time, it’s usually a sign that the problem sits with the platform rather than the business.”
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Google product approvals are being delayed, impacting small businesses Experts advise businesses not to resubmit products needlessly Google has not yet commented on the issue Local SEO professionals, agencies, and small businesses have been reporting widespread issues with new and existing product listings becoming trapped in Google’s approval process, leading…
