
New Google Play policy requires opt-in dialog to show ads - smartician
http://developer.android.com/distribute/googleplay/policies/ads.html#disclosure
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bad_user
A little offtopic, but maybe someone can enlighten me.

Right now there are 12 countries that are EU members and who's citizens cannot
have Google merchant accounts and therefore cannot sell apps on Google Play.
And this isn't even mentioning the countless others that aren't supported.

They promised they'll work on adding more countries, but it's has been years
since the Marketplace opened and it hasn't happened.

Their policy also bans other payment processors, so the only way for us to
monetize apps is to either serve ads or to start a company in another country,
which is a huge PITA.

I do not have problems with either the iTunes Store, or with Amazon. Amazon in
particular simply sends cheques by snail mail. What's so hard in doing that?

For a company with the ability to move mountains, all I can understand from
this is that Google simply doesn't care about developers like myself.

~~~
neurhyu
> Right now there are 12 countries that are EU members and who's citizens
> cannot have Google merchant accounts and therefore cannot sell apps on
> Google Play.

really?!

Which countries? Where can I find the list?

~~~
bad_user
Here you go: [https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-
developer/answ...](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-
developer/answer/150324?hl=en)

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lutusp
> New Google Play policy requires opt-in dialog to show ads

That is false, and anyone who wants to understand the actual policy will have
to read the article -- the submitter's title is wrong.

Google _suggests_ and _recommends_ an opt-in / opt-out dialog, but it's
optional.

~~~
smartician
IANAL, could you explain how one can distinguish between optional guidelines,
and requirements that absolutely _have_ to be met?

From the linked document:

> You must make it easy for users to understand what ads will be shown in your
> app, where they will be shown, and what the associated behaviors are, if
> any.

> Further, you should ask for user consent and provide options for managing
> ads or opt-out.

So the first one is a hard requirement ("you _must_ "), but it doesn't really
explain what's acceptable to meet it. Is the second one an optional
requirement, because it uses the wording "you _should_ "? In addition, the
same requirement is mentioned again in a set of "guidelines". The whole
section is really unclear to me.

~~~
lutusp
> IANAL, could you explain how one can distinguish between optional
> guidelines, and requirements that absolutely have to be met?

(I am also not a lawyer.) Certainly. Violating a requirement might result in
your app being expelled from the Play Store. Violating a guideline might
result in a warning or a a strongly worded message to clean it up.

> You must make it easy for users to understand what ads will be shown in your
> app, where they will be shown, and what the associated behaviors are, if
> any.

Yes, but this doesn't require an opt-in dialog as the title suggests. The opt-
in reference is a guideline.

> Further, you should ask for user consent and provide options for managing
> ads or opt-out.

There's that word "should", as in "people should avoid walking on the grass."

> So the first one is a hard requirement ("you must"), but it doesn't really
> explain what's acceptable to meet it.

You've raised an interesting point, one that lawyers are at pains to express
if they can. A requirement that's ambiguous loses its authority. A requirement
must be unambiguous in its meaning.

> The whole section is really unclear to me.

Yes, in which case it can't really be described as a requirement. These are
suggestions, guidelines, not strict rules.

~~~
smartician
So, in your opinion, do you think opt-in wouldn't be necessary if the app just
shows "vanilla" banner and interstitial ads? Is it sufficient to disclose the
use of ads in the app description in the Google Play store, and mention them
in the privacy policy?

Why mention this opt-in dialog at all if it's optional? I can't think of an
instance where a developer would choose to implement this voluntarily.

~~~
lutusp
> Why mention this opt-in dialog at all if it's optional?

But you might ask why mention anything that isn't required. I suspect that
Google is trying to get voluntary compliance for behaviors it can't require.
The reason it can't require them might be that there are practices that
violate the guidelines in Google's own advertisement activities. I don't know
this for a fact, but it might be a reason to be less than demanding toward the
Google Play app submitters.

For me, this is academic -- I have a number of Android apps at the Google Play
store, but they're free and they don't show ads. Which means everybody else
hates me. :)

[https://play.google.com/store/search?q=paul%20lutus&hl=en](https://play.google.com/store/search?q=paul%20lutus&hl=en)

------
joosters
Their example policy has some very surprising terms. When you click on an
advert, they'll send them your email address. Really? Apps do that kind of
thing? That's truly scummy and shouldn't be allowed, EULA or not. No-one
expects that kind of privacy invasion on a web browser ad, why should it be
allowed in an app?

------
mscottmcbee
The wording makes it unclear. Early in the first paragraph it uses the word
"must", then says:

"Further, you should ask for user consent and provide options for managing ads
or opt-out. Here are some guidelines"

The words "should" and "guidelines" make me unsure, but I can't tell if their
loose meaning it intended, or just word choice.

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depoll
I don't think that this page is actually the policy. The intro text points
here: [http://play.google.com/about/developer-content-
policy.html](http://play.google.com/about/developer-content-policy.html)

And the relevant text in the intro points out that these are guidelines to
help you follow the policies: "The sections below highlight best practices and
common examples to help you avoid the most common types of policy violations."

~~~
depoll
FWIW, the official policy document I linked above makes no mention of opt-in
whatsoever.

~~~
droidist2
It makes no mention of disclosure of ads either.

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sergiotapia
It's a shame how god damn _ugly_ ads are in apps. Is it so hard to make them
blend a bit better within the app aesthetic?

If your entire UI is a light color scheme, nice on the eyes, don't make the ad
300px high with a bright cyan 2px border.

~~~
Kiro
The ads are served by an external service so not sure how the app developer
would prevent that.

~~~
sergiotapia
I get that; I'm talking about the ad containers. Not the ads themselves.

------
kintamanimatt
The thing with EULAs in Android apps is that I always click decline. I tend to
assume that if an app is including a EULA they're asking permission to do
something egregious so I just uninstall the app because I don't have the time
or inclination to actually read the EULA. (Yes, I actually read, or at least
skim them when it matters!)

Anyway, the guidelines seem fairly easy to meet and pretty inconsequential:

> Tell users about your ads—Create a simple, complete disclosure that tells
> users how your app uses ads, where the ads are shown, and how they can
> manage ad options. Take common-sense steps to make the disclosure as clear
> as possible.

Do this in the app description on Google Play.

> Make sure users know—Present your ads disclosure is an easy-to-see location,
> rather than hiding it where users are not likely to find it.

Do this in the app description also.

> Ask for consent (opt-in) at launch—Where possible, include your ads
> disclosure in the app description as well as in an Ads Terms, End User
> License Agreement (EULA), or similar document. Display the terms at first
> launch and ask for the user's consent before continuing to the app.

This is optional; don't do it. Any modal dialog that asks for permission to do
something is UX friction and EULAs are offputting because they're not the norm
on Android.

\--

The submission title is misleading but I think Google has intended to mislead
developers into doing stuff they don't need to do.

------
donnfelker
If you need some code to implement this in an app, I wrote an example Simple
EULA provider here: [http://www.donnfelker.com/android-a-simple-eula-for-your-
and...](http://www.donnfelker.com/android-a-simple-eula-for-your-android-
apps/)

Download, include it in your app. DONE. Move onto the next problem.

