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Fixing 'There was an error loading Google account info' in Google for WooCommerce

13 threads Sep 23, 2025 Plugin → Google for woocommerce

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One of the most common errors users encounter when setting up the Google for WooCommerce plugin is the frustrating "There was an error loading Google account info" message. This error can prevent you from connecting your store to Google Merchant Center and listing your products. Based on community reports and error logs, this issue typically stems from a few specific causes.

Common Causes of the Connection Error

Analysis of support threads reveals several patterns behind this error:

  • SSL Certificate Issues: The most frequent cause, where your server cannot verify the SSL certificate used by the WooCommerce API (api-vipgo.woocommerce.com or api.woocommerce.com). Error logs often show cURL error 60 with messages like "SSL certificate problem: certificate has expired" or "unable to get local issuer certificate".
  • Invalid or Expired Tokens: Authentication tokens can become invalid, leading to 401 Unauthorized errors in the logs.
  • Plugin Conflicts: Sometimes, other plugins or your theme can interfere with the connection process.
  • Incomplete Connection State: A previous connection attempt may have left the plugin in an inconsistent state.

Step-by-Step Troubleshooting Guide

Solution 1: Address SSL Certificate Problems (Most Common Fix)

If your error log contains cURL error 60, the issue is likely with your server's ability to verify SSL certificates.

  1. Contact Your Hosting Provider: This is the most effective step. Ask them to ensure their server trusts the ISRG Root X1 certificate. This is a known requirement for modern SSL certificates.
  2. Update Server Certificates: Request that your host updates their certificate bundle (often ca-certificates.crt).
  3. Verify Your Site's SSL: Ensure your own website's SSL certificate is valid and not expired. You can check this by visiting your site and looking for a padlock icon in the browser's address bar.

Solution 2: Perform a Full Plugin Reset

If the connection is in a bad state, a complete reset can help.

  1. Go to your WordPress admin area.
  2. Navigate to the hidden connection test page by visiting: https://YOURSITE.com/wp-admin/admin.php?page=connection-test-admin-page (replace YOURSITE.com with your domain).
  3. On this page, look for the Merchant Center section.
  4. Click the button to Disconnect your Google account.
  5. Also, go to Marketing > Google Listings & Ads and disconnect from WordPress.com if necessary.
  6. Clear any cached data from your caching plugins.
  7. Start the setup process again from the beginning.

Solution 3: Conflict Test

To rule out conflicts with other plugins or your theme:

  1. Temporarily switch your theme to a default WordPress theme like Storefront.
  2. Deactivate all plugins except for WooCommerce and Google Listings and Ads.
  3. Attempt to connect your Google account again.
  4. If it works, reactivate your plugins and theme one by one, testing the connection after each, to identify the culprit.

Solution 4: Check for Known Issues and Updates

Occasionally, specific version updates of the plugin can introduce bugs.

  • Ensure you are running the latest version of the Google Listings and Ads plugin.
  • Check the official GitHub repository for the plugin to see if your issue matches an open bug report. For example, a 400 Bad Request error with the message "Unable to retrieve merchant accounts" was a known issue tracked in a GitHub thread.

Need More Help?

If none of these solutions work, gathering more information can help the community assist you further. When seeking help, be prepared to share the exact error logs from WooCommerce > Status > Logs (select the latest google-listings-and-ads log file). This provides crucial clues for diagnosing the problem.

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