declare ad status

StephyAP

A few days ago I received a email from google play:

Hello Google Play Developer,

At Google I/O, we launched “ad-supported” labels for apps in the Designed
for Families program. Today, we’re announcing the expansion of this program
to all apps on Google Play. Early next year, users will start to see the “Ads”
label on apps that contain advertising, both inside and outside Designed for
Families.

By January 11, 2016, you must sign in to the Play Developer
Console and declare whether your apps contain ads (such as ads delivered through
third party ad networks, display ads, native ads, and/or banner ads). After this
date, the ads declaration will be required to make any updates to your apps.
Please note that misrepresenting ad presence violates Google
Play Developer Program Policies and may lead to suspension. You can visit
our help
center to learn more.

While developers are responsible for accurately declaring ad presence in
their apps, Google may verify this at any time and display the “Ads” label if
appropriate.

If you feel your app has been incorrectly flagged for containing ads, please
contact our policy
support team.

Regards,
The Google Play Team

------------------

I took a look in the google developer account.

If I klick at "no, I don't use any ads - appeas a message that "SDK: AdMob" was found in a automatic scan.

I checked again all settings of my apps in andromo for monetization and services. They are all not acitive.

why was found "SDK: AdMob" and how can I change it, so that google find no AdMob?

thanks and best regards,

Stephy

meoldTest

Hi,

We're aware of the issue and are currently looking into it. For now, hold off on specifying your app's ad status. We'll update you guys when we know more and have a resolution.

Darryl

StephyAP

thanks for the quick response

Insplisity

I already labeled all my apps as "ad supported", because I have ads in every single one of them. I suppose in this case, everything's OK?

meoldTest

@hendrixs
Yes, it's only an issue for apps that don't contain ads.

Insplisity

Thanks @darryl, good to know.

meoldTest

Hi guys,

In regards to the ad status declaration issue in Google Play, we wanted to get back to you with it's status. The issue is caused by the fact that Andromo apps contain the Google Play Services client library which also contains the AdMob SDK.

We spent time last week investigating the problem, however were unsuccessful in getting a result that prevented Google Play's detection. While there is no code included in your app to show an ad when you have ads disabled, and portions of the AdMob SDK are successfully being stripped out during the build process using the optimization tool ProGuard, it's not removing it entirely resulting in it's detection.

As part of our next major update (release date unknown), we're currently updating our build process which utilizes a newer build framework. That new system will enable further control over selective dependency management.

All that being said, as long as your app does not show any ads as outlined in the article below, you should still be able to select "No, it has no Ads" followed by "Submit update" at the top to comply with their policies.

https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/113469#ads

Note: All apps built using the Trial version of Andromo contain ads. Ads can only be disabled with an Andromo subscription.

Darryl

Insplisity

Thanks for the update and for striving to keep Andromo always up to date.

StephyAP

Dear Darryl, thank you for update the status.

Im a little bit scared to select "no, it has no ads".
I've got already two warnings from googleplay in the last three years.
Is it sure that I won't be banned, if I select "no..." ?

And what would happen if I select "yes" ?

I have another question.
One of my apps includes a link to a Facebook fanpage.
Is it right, that I have select "yes..." regarding to https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/113469#ads in this case?

thank you in advance for your help.

Stephy

meoldTest

@Stephy

I definitely understand your concern. My information was based on comments made in the developer community some of who had received that information from the Google Play Support chat. Unfortunately I can't make any guarantees, and all I can really confirm is that when ads are disabled in Andromo, no ads will be shown because there is no code included to show them. When an ad network is enabled, we include it's SDK in the build, however AdMob is an exception since it isn't a standalone SDK, it's part of their Google Play Services library. This applies to the SDKs on the monetization tab of your project.

As for your question regarding the Facebook fanpage, from my interpretation that case may fall under the following category:
"Native ads: My app includes ads natively, indistinguishable from other content (e.g. sponsored articles, ads within a feed, etc).

It's difficult to tell, but it sounds like it would apply to any web content containing ads.

Given your previous warnings, it may not be a bad idea to contact their support using that link on their help page though to get a definitive answer from them, and have some record of their response in case something happens. I would imagine choosing "yes" would be a lot safer than choosing "no" given what they're trying to accomplish, but you never know.

Darryl

StephyAP

@darryl: Thank you very much.

I have contacted the google support and will keep you up to date. maybe the response is useful for someone else here.

Stephy

meoldTest

Yes, we all would appreciate that very much Stephy, let us know how they respond.

StephyAP

that was fast... Pleasantly surprised..

-------------------------------------
Answer from Google Play Developer Support:

Hi Stephanie,

Thanks for contacting Google Play Developer Support.

I understand you are concerned about the warning you are seeing regarding ads
within your app.

If the app has an ad SDK, but it doesn’t display ads to users, you can select “No,"
then submit your changes. However, you’ll want to select “Yes” for any app that
actually shows ads to users.

For more information about Ads Badging, please see the following Help Center
article: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/113469?ads

If you have any additional questions, please let me
know.

Regards,
Stephanie T.
Google Play Developer
Support

Did you know we offer chat support in English? Chat with us from Monday
through Friday, 6 am to 5 pm PT by going to https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/?hl=en#contact=1

meoldTest

In your question, did you ask about the Facebook page, or did you leave that part out? I was a little curious if my interpretation was correct as far as web content containing ads. Just wondering if it was part of your question.

StephyAP

I did ask separately.

StephyAP

this answer, regarding link to facebook page is more characteristic. It doesnt help!

----------------------

Hi Stephanie,

Thanks for contacting Google Play Developer Support.


For your reference, starting early next year, apps on Google Play that
contain third party ad networks, display ads, native ads, and/or banner ads will
have an Ads badge applied.

By January 11, 2016, you'll need to sign in
to the Developer Console and declare whether your apps contain ads. The ads
declaration is a quick, one-question section on the Pricing & Distribution
page.

You can declare whether or not your app has ads from the Developer
Console: https://play.google.com/apps/publish

1.
Select an app
2. Click on the Pricing & Distribution tab
3. Scroll
down to just below the country list and select yes or no
4. Submit the
update by clicking the Submit Update button in the top right of the page


If the app has an ad SDK, but it doesn’t display ads to users, you can
select “No”. However, you’ll want to
select “Yes” for any app that actually shows ads to users.

For more
information about Ads Badging, please see the following Help Center article: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/113469?ads


Please let me know if you have any additional questions. I’m happy to
help.

Regards,

Choi
Google Play Developer Support

meoldTest

lol, nope, not helpful at all Oh well, worth a try, and thank you for letting us know what they had to say. For what it's worth, I'd recommend stating it contains ads if it contains any web-related content containing ads (such as ad-sense).

SSBASIRKA

Hi Darryl, concerning ads policy, please should i declare my Apps contained ads now, or i have to wait till 11

 January? and if i have many Apps i must do it for each one or there is another way of doing many at once?

 And  actually i'm afraid of doing it because i got warning last time..what will happen if i didn't do it? 

 thank you

meoldTest

No, you don't have to wait, you can do it anytime now. Based on the letter posted above, after Jan. 11th that setting will be mandatory when publishing or updating apps. Setting that declaration basically modifies the listing page, so it needs to be published, therefore I'm not aware of any shortcut other than setting it for each one. It's unclear based on their information what will happen if you don't do it though.