Contains in-app purchases - is it mandatory?

[Anton]

My extension is 90% free and offers an extra functionality with paid subscription. 

So, following instructions, in Developer Dashboard > Distribution
I select:
contains in-app purchases
Your item contains functionality to purchase items, additional features or subscriptions. Selecting this option will display an "in-app purchases" badge on the item detail page

But I see that majority of paid extensions, including my competitors don't bother stating that their 90% of functionality is behind paywall. 

Is the selection that extension "contains in-app purchases" is purely optional and not mandatory?

Thank you.

[Oliver Dunk]

Hi Anton,

Our policies do require that you fill out your store listing accurately, and based on what you've said "Contains in-app purchases" seems to fit your situation.

I can't comment on other extensions unfortunately. You can report anything you're concerned about at https://support.google.com/chrome_webstore/contact/one_stop_support, although if you feel this is a wider problem, flagging it here (which I'll pass along) is probably more helpful than reporting a large number of individual cases.

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

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[Anton]

Thank you Oliver for prompt reply.

It isn't hard to find examples. It's almost all of them

Let's just check few top Chrome extensions
Grammarly: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/grammarly-ai-writing-and/kbfnbcaeplbcioakkpcpgfkobkghlhen
Evernote: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/evernote-web-clipper/pioclpoplcdbaefihamjohnefbikjilc
Loom: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/loom-%E2%80%93-screen-recorder-sc/liecbddmkiiihnedobmlmillhodjkdmb
Bitly: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/bitly-short-links-and-qr/iabeihobmhlgpkcgjiloemdbofjbdcic
Speechify: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/speechify-text-to-speech/ljflmlehinmoeknoonhibbjpldiijjmm
NaturalReader: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/naturalreader-ai-text-to/kohfgcgbkjodfcfkcackpagifgbcmimk
Dark Reader: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/dark-reader/eimadpbcbfnmbkopoojfekhnkhdbieeh

It's almost any extension with 100K+ users and company as publisher, you'll find monitezation, which is great, imho.
But it's a very, very, very rare when you can see "Offers in-app purchases" on their listing pages.

[Oliver Dunk]

One thing I'm not sure about is whether the extensions you linked accept payment within the extension, or this is done externally and linked to your account.

It doesn't seem like the item is "free of charge" in that case, but I can also see why a developer might not say it has in-app purchases.

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

[Anton]

My extension doesn't accept payment within extension. User goes to web and maintains subscription on the web page. 
Should I remove "Offers in-app purchases" from extension listing, like everyone else?

[Oliver Dunk]

Hi Anton,

We don't have specific guidance on this I'm afraid. You will need to make the best judgement based on the policy and your extension.

I do think this could be clearer and I'll speak to the team about if we can improve our guidance in the future.

Thanks,

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