Getting approved by Google
Approval is the part of whitelabel that takes real time, and almost all of that time is Google’s. The work on your side is a brand, a domain and a decision.
The sequence
- Choose a provider. Compare on pricing, support, and above all the quality of the comparison website they will build, because that is what Google audits.
- The CSS Center account is registered under your brand. This is the account that will submit your clients’ products to Shopping.
- The comparison website goes live on your domain, with your branding, carrying real product listings from real merchants.
- Google audits. They review the application and the site. This is the step whose duration you do not control.
- Certification, then onboarding. Client Merchant Centers are added to your CSS, and their Shopping ads begin carrying your name.
How long
One to four weeks end to end, depending mostly on where Google’s audit queue happens to be. With Cobiro the process typically completes in one to two weeks, because the site and the application are prepared to the standard the audit looks for rather than iterated against it.
Plan client communication around the audit, not around your launch date. Telling clients their ads will change branding "next week" and then waiting three more is the avoidable version of this.
What you need ready
- A brand name for the CSS, which will be visible under every client ad.
- A domain you control for the comparison site.
- Logo and basic visual identity for the site.
- A decision on which clients move first.
What can go wrong
Nearly always the comparison site: too thin, too few merchants, listings that do not resolve, or a domain that does not look like a going concern. A provider whose site template has been through the audit repeatedly is worth more than one whose is being built for the first time on your account.
After approval
Onboarding a client is the same five-minute association as any CSS switch, multiplied by your client count and done from one dashboard. Nothing about a client’s campaigns, feed or history changes; only the attribution line does.