Product Feed CheckGuide

Google for WooCommerce and the Content API shutdown: what to check

Updated 2026-10-13 · by Hieu Tran, written with AI agents and checked against the sources below

Google sunset the Content API for Shopping on 18 August 2026. Since 1 September 2026, requests from projects without an approved extension fail with HTTP 410 Gone, intermittently at first and more often over time, and Google plans to turn all endpoints off in early 2027. Google for WooCommerce moved to the replacement, the Merchant API, in version 3.8.0 (21 July 2026). Stores that couldn't update are still on the old API.

Free tool: Check your store's products against what Google and Meta need, no plugin or login

Reads the store's public product data and a few product pages. A WordPress plugin version is in review.

Who is affected

How to check in two minutes

  1. In WordPress, go to Plugins and read the Google for WooCommerce version. 3.8.1 or later is on the Merchant API (WooCommerce support says updating handles the move; no Google Cloud steps needed).
  2. If it says it's up to date but you still see an old version or an update notice, check WooCommerce's version: the plugin won't install where WooCommerce is older than it requires. One merchant on WooCommerce 10.6.1 had the plugin's internal version stuck at 3.6.0 after a reinstall.
  3. In Merchant Center, look at when your products were last updated. Prices and stock that stopped changing in September point to a failing sync.
  4. In WooCommerce → Status → Logs, look for google-listings-and-ads errors mentioning 410 or content_api_sunset.

If you can't update yet

Google lets you request an extension for a Google Cloud project that still uses the Content API, but extensions end at the final shutdown in early 2027. For a store using Google for WooCommerce, the practical path is updating WooCommerce first, then the plugin, on a staging copy if you have one. Meanwhile a scheduled feed file from a feed plugin keeps Merchant Center fed without the API.

Free tool: Check your store's products against what Google and Meta need, no plugin or login

Reads the store's public product data and a few product pages. A WordPress plugin version is in review.

Did your Merchant Center products stop updating at some point this autumn, and how long was it before you noticed?

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