PSA: Updates to trader requirements in the Chrome Web Store

[Oliver Dunk]

TLDR: The Chrome Web Store will start collecting additional information from trader accounts which will be verified and displayed publicly alongside items. For now, these changes only apply to new developers and existing developers who change their account from non-trader to trader, although we expect this to change later in the year.

Hi,

Over the next few weeks, the Chrome Web Store will begin collecting additional information as part of the trader identification process. This includes verifying and displaying publicly a phone number and organization DUNS number if applicable alongside the physical address and contact email shown today.

While we appreciate that showing this information on the store listing may be a concern, we needed to make these changes to comply with EU regulations which apply to all online marketplaces.

For now, these changes apply to new traders only (including existing developers that switch from non-trader to trader status). We do expect that we will need to make this a requirement for all traders later in the year. We do not anticipate any changes for developers marked as a non-trader.

Thanks,
Oliver on behalf of Chrome Extensions DevRel

[Casey Cupp]

Hi Oliver and the Group:
It would be great to get a clear and direct guidance on how to proceed verifying our account as a trader. I'm a developer for a company that is a trader, although we do not collect any payments from our users via the extension. However, the trader verification process is requiring a personal ID (driver's license, passport, etc), that would not be available for my company to provide. Also, for the phone number, my company's phone number cannot be used for mobile verification purposes, as it cannot receive texts. Is there a way we can bypass this step that requires me to provide my personal ID and phone number, which seems like will be displayed publicly?

Thanks,
Casey

[Ken Morse]

Yes, to add to Casey's request, please consider an alternative to SMS verification as it isn't always appropriate for a company. See Account verification for chrome extensions should include voice in this group.

Thanks,

Ken

[Oliver Dunk]

Hi both,

If you switch to non-trader, and then back to trader, you should be able to mark your account as an organization. That will give you some additional verification options outside of personal ID.

Unfortunately, we do require a phone number at the moment. As mentioned in the other thread, I'm making sure to pass on the feedback about that.

Oliver Dunk | DevRel, Chrome Extensions | https://developer.chrome.com/ | London, GB

[Ken Morse]

One other thing to consider, Oliver: if a company has already gone through the verification process for another division of Google, could that verification result be used for the Chrome Web Store, rather than going through the whole verification process again?

Thanks,
Ken

[Oliver Dunk]

Given the different systems at play, I suspect this is unlikely. It's an interesting suggestion though and I'll mention it to the team :)

Oliver Dunk | DevRel, Chrome Extensions | https://developer.chrome.com/ | London, GB

[SmartSpeaker]

Oliver,

Thank you for your replies here. Can you tell me, is it possible trader / non-trader options will impact rankings in the Chrome store or the visibility of an extension in terms of being recommended in any way?

We were previously set as a trader, yet were still asked to verify again. However, for our organisation we're being asked for a D-U-N-S number which we do not have, and will take ~30 days to get.

We can either select non-trader (we're not selling anything, so that seems to be fine) or register as a business, which we're happy to do but literally can not for around a month. 

I would really rather my home address and phone number were not listed on our extension page (verifying as a person), but at the same time I'm worried moving to non-trader will impact rankings and installs.

Can you confirm I'm thinking too much and that would not be an issue? Or it could be a problem?

Thank you so much!

[Casey Cupp]

I have tried the flip from Trader -> Non Trader -> Trader and I still get ID requirement. ( I tried logging out and coming back in)

messages :
Trader Declaration : Until your account is verified, your public listing will continue to be labelled as "non-trader".

Account Verification : You need to take additional action in order to verify your account. This is required to keep your publisher status. You must use the account that originally initiated the verification.

When I click on Verify Now button : 

What you’ll need for verification

The info you provide will be shown to customers in your Chrome Web Store public item listing

You'll need a mobile phone to verify it's really you

• You'll receive a code on your mobile phone

An ID to verify it’s really you
Accepted documents include:

• Driver License
• Passport
• State ID
• Green Card

You'll need a document showing your name and current address
Accepted documents include:

• A government-issued document or photo ID
• A utility or phone bill (with a date in the last 60 days)
• A bank statement (with a date in the last 60 days)
• A lease or mortgage agreement

[Oliver Dunk]

Hi both,

Your trader / non-trader status, as well as the status of any additional verification, has no impact on your search rankings or discoverability. So please do pick whichever option fits your situation.

Casey, the verification options you're shown are based on the type of payment profile you selected in the first step. If you're selecting an individual profile there, could you try creating a new Organization payment profile and seeing if that offers you more appropriate options?

Thanks,

Oliver Dunk | DevRel, Chrome Extensions | https://developer.chrome.com/ | London, GB

[Casey Cupp]

Thank you, switching the payment profile worked.

[Harpaul Sambhi]

Hi all - wanted to get clarification on what is a trader account. Mind providing a definition in laymen terms?

[Oliver Dunk]

Hi Harpaul,

This is a term defined in legislation, so it is a determination you need to make yourself. Unfortunately we're not able to provide much more information here.

The best resource is our documentation here.

Thanks,

Oliver Dunk | DevRel, Chrome Extensions | https://developer.chrome.com/ | London, GB

[Matthew Grover]

Has there been any update on the requirement for a public phone number capable of SMS verification for Organizations?

We have a public company phone number but that goes straight to voicemail and isn't capable of SMS and obviously I don't want to associate my personal phone number with an Organization account. An option to use a private number for verification whilst also providing a public phone number would work for us. This is currently blocking me filling out the new verification requirements,

thanks,

Matt

[Oliver Dunk]

Hi Matt,

There aren't any updates yet. We're definitely still looking at this though - as I'm sure you can imagine, there are some non-trivial engineering questions and broader conversations before making any changes here, but we are looking to see what we can do.

Thanks,

Oliver Dunk | DevRel, Chrome Extensions | https://developer.chrome.com/ | London, GB

[Charley David]

Hey folks,

Just to weight in as well as this phone verification is an impasse for us as well. 

We would not mind putting a work mobile phone if it was not public.

Thanks,

[Lukas Demaeght]

Hey,

Just mentioning that this is an issue for us as well, as our company phone number cannot receive text messages.
And we don't want to put down personal phone number, since it will be publicly available.

Thanks

Lukas

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