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Fixing 'Google Merchant Center Contact Information' Errors in WooCommerce

25 threads Sep 22, 2025 Plugin → Google for woocommerce

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Many users of the 'Google for WooCommerce' plugin encounter a frustrating roadblock during setup: the error message "There was an error loading Google Merchant Center contact information" or its close relative, "Unable to update your Google Merchant Center contact information." This often appears on step 3 of the setup process, halting progress entirely.

Based on numerous community reports, this error is typically a permissions or communication issue between your WooCommerce site, the plugin's infrastructure, and Google's servers. It is not usually a sign of a broken plugin, but rather a misconfiguration that needs to be resolved.

Why This Error Happens

The error can be triggered by several underlying causes:

  • Insufficient Permissions: The Google account you used to connect may not have full administrative owner-level permissions for the Merchant Center account you are trying to link.
  • API Communication Block: Your web host or a security plugin might be blocking the connection to the critical WooCommerce API endpoint (api-vipgo.woocommerce.com) or blocking XML-RPC, which is used for some site communications.
  • Email Address Mismatch: The email address associated with your WordPress site (often from your Jetpack connection) might be different from the one used for your Google Merchant Center account.
  • Cached Data or Plugin Conflict: A conflict with another plugin or theme, or stale data from a previous connection attempt, can cause the process to fail.

Most Common Solutions

Try these troubleshooting steps in order. Most users resolve their issue with the first or second method.

1. Perform a Full Account Reset and Reconnect

Often, the connection process can leave behind incomplete data. A full reset clears this out.

  1. Navigate to your site's Connection Test page by going to: https://YOURSITE.com/wp-admin/admin.php?page=connection-test-admin-page (replace YOURSITE.com with your actual domain).
  2. On this page, click to disconnect all services: Merchant Center, Google Account, and Jetpack.
  3. Go to Marketing > Google Listings & Ads and start the setup process from the beginning.
  4. Ensure you are logged into the correct Google account that has admin/owner access to the Merchant Center you wish to use.

2. Verify Account Permissions and Unification

This is a critical step that is often the root cause.

  • Log into your Google Merchant Center directly.
  • Go to Account Access under the settings menu. Confirm that the Google account you are using to connect the plugin has Admin privileges.
  • Ensure the primary email address on your WordPress/Jetpack profile matches the email of the Google account that owns the Merchant Center. Using the same email across all services is highly recommended.

3. Check for Host or Plugin Blocks

The plugin needs to communicate with external servers.

  • Test the API Connection: Open a new browser tab and visit https://api-vipgo.woocommerce.com. You should see a simple JSON message. If you see a hosting error or a blank page, your server may be blocking the connection. Contact your web host and ask them to allow connections to api-vipgo.woocommerce.com.
  • Basic Conflict Test: Temporarily switch your theme to a default theme like Storefront and disable all plugins except for WooCommerce and Google Listings & Ads. Then attempt the connection process again. If it works, re-enable your plugins and theme one-by-one to find the culprit.

4. Review System Requirements

Ensure your site meets the minimum requirements. The threads often show sites with low PHP memory limits or old PHP versions. The 'Google for WooCommerce' team recommends:

  • PHP 7.4 or greater
  • PHP Memory Limit of 256MB or higher
  • cURL enabled on your server

You can check your site's environment in WooCommerce > Status > System status.

When to Seek Further Help

If you have tried all the steps above and the error persists, you will need to gather more information to get help from the community.

From your WordPress admin, go to WooCommerce > Status > Logs. Look for any log files that start with google-listings-and-ads or fatal-errors. These logs often contain specific error codes that are crucial for diagnosing the issue. You can share these (after redacting any private information) on community forums.

Remember, resolving this issue is almost always a matter of correct permissions and unblocking communication pathways. Methodical troubleshooting will usually lead to a solution.

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