Admob requirements to comply with Google play App Content settings

[Sach]

Hi

• I have an app on Google play which has the target audience age set up as mixed audience.  - (The target age group for your app is: Aged 5 and under, 6-8, 9-12, 13-15, 16-17 and 18 and over)
• Its not currently setup as - Designed for Families - (Your app is not enrolled in the Designed for Families programme)
• The Content Rating - (Suitable for Age 3+ etc)

As my app targets users age 0 - 18+, I would like to understand all the points I need to consider when using Admob, also show ads based on the user's age.

On Admob if I set the settings as below to maximise the fill rate

• Maximum app setting: Mature Audiences
• Sensitive Categories - (Enable All)

Please advise the following is the right way of using Admob Ads on my app

1. Using Google Play certified ad network (Only using Admob)
2. Create a neutral age screen on the app and verify the age on app startup. (Please see the screenshot) (also as explained on https://playacademy.exceedlms.com/student/activity/14639-comply-with-families-policies-and-program-requirements)
3. User needs to enter the dob to be able to use the app
4. Until the user confirms the date of birth , Admob will be initialised by using

RequestConfiguration.Builder adRequestBuilder = MobileAds.getRequestConfiguration().toBuilder();

adRequestBuilder.setMaxAdContentRating(MAX_AD_CONTENT_RATING_G)
RequestConfiguration requestConfiguration = adRequestBuilder.build();
MobileAds.setRequestConfiguration(requestConfiguration);
MobileAds.initialize(this,'app_id');

And then the age will be used and adRequestBuilder.setMaxAdContentRating will be set to MA, T, PG, G based on the age of the user

if(age >= 18){
 adRequestBuilder.setMaxAdContentRating(MAX_AD_CONTENT_RATING_MA);
}
else if(age >= 12){
 adRequestBuilder.setMaxAdContentRating(MAX_AD_CONTENT_RATING_T);
}
else if(age >= 7){
 adRequestBuilder.setMaxAdContentRating(MAX_AD_CONTENT_RATING_PG);
}
else{
 adRequestBuilder.setMaxAdContentRating(MAX_AD_CONTENT_RATING_G);
}

5. What's the difference of setting the max content ratings as above and using the following method

Bundle extras = new Bundle();
extras.putString("max_ad_content_rating", "G");

6. What' are the other requirements I need to implement to comply with Google play / Admob policies? - (To have an app targeted for all ages and serve ads based on the user age)

7. Do I also need to use setTagForChildDirectedTreatment or / and setTagForUnderAgeOfConsent? if so how to do that based on the user age?

8. Again whats the difference of doing the above in requestConfiguration or setting up in Bundle extras.

The documentation says that you can set the ad content rating to G to target mixed audience but it doesn't explain, how we can use different content ratings based on the users age.

Targeting

https://developers.google.com/admob/android/targeting

Setting a maximum ad content rating

https://support.google.com/admob/answer/7562142?hl=en&ref_topic=7384665

Comply with Google Play’s Families Policy

https://support.google.com/admob/answer/6223431?hl=en&ref_topic=7384665

If someone / Admob can clarify all the points above , that would be much appreciated.

Many Thanks

Sac

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hello Sach,

Our forum deals with Mobile Ads SDK related technical implementation issues only. All your queries seems to be general product related and I would suggest that it's best to raise this over to the Product Support Team or the AdMob Help forum as these are the appropriate channels to give you further insights on this general product related and policy issues as well. Additionally, you may refer to the following Help Center articles for relevant information.

• Setting a maximum ad content rating

• Tag an ad request from an app for child-directed treatment
• Using AdMob with the Designed for Families program

If you have any issue with the SDK integration, feel free to reachout to us and we will be happy to assist you. 

Regards,
Deepika Uragayala
Mobile Ads SDK Team
 

ref:_00D1U1174p._5001UOEOAG:ref

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hello Sach,

I have gathered some more information that could help you for the questions that you have posted which are within our scope to answer. Please find the response for the questions inline : 

5. What's the difference of setting the max content ratings as above and using the following method

There is no difference except the Bundle method which has been deprecated and you need to use the RequestConfiguration moving forward and you will have all the related guidelines in this section . 

6. What' are the other requirements I need to implement to comply with Google play / Admob policies? - (To have an app targeted for all ages and serve ads based on the user age)

You can read about them from the help center articles provided here :

• Setting a maximum ad content rating
• Tag an ad request from an app for child-directed treatment
• Using AdMob with the Designed for Families program

7. Do I also need to use setTagForChildDirectedTreatment or / and setTagForUnderAgeOfConsent? if so how to do that based on the user age?

You need to know whether your app is targeting child based users or not and target your ads based on this information.

8. Again whats the difference of doing the above in requestConfiguration or setting up in Bundle extras.

 Bundle extras method is deprecated via the latest version of the SDK. You need to use RequestConfiguration moving forward.

[Sach]

Hi Deepika

Thanks very much for your response.

According to

https://support.google.com/admob/answer/6219315?hl=en&ref_topic=7384665

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) applies to websites, apps, and services directed to children under the age of 13 and general audience apps, websites, or services with users known to be under the age of 13.

According to 

https://developers.google.com/admob/android/targeting#child-directed_setting

1. Call setTagForChildDirectedTreatment with TAG_FOR_CHILD_DIRECTED_TREATMENT_TRUE to indicate that you want your content treated as child-directed for purposes of COPPA.

2. Call setTagForChildDirectedTreatment with TAG_FOR_CHILD_DIRECTED_TREATMENT_FALSE to indicate that you don't want your content treated as child-directed for purposes of COPPA.

3. Call setTagForChildDirectedTreatment with TAG_FOR_CHILD_DIRECTED_TREATMENT_UNSPECIFIED if you don't want to indicate how you would like your content treated with respect to COPPA in ad requests.

• As per the above I need to use the option 1 for ad requests for users under 13. Please confirm

• What do I have to set it for users of age above 13?

is it setTagForChildDirectedTreatment TAG_FOR_CHILD_DIRECTED_TREATMENT_FALSE or TAG_FOR_CHILD_DIRECTED_TREATMENT_UNSPECIFIED

Or ignore that method completely in my code?

• On the above page it says

For purposes of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), there is a setting called "tag for child-directed treatment". By setting this tag, you certify that this notification is accurate and you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the app. You understand that abuse of this setting may result in termination of your Google account.

What does it mean by abuse of this setting? 

Many Thanks

Kind Regards

Sach

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hello Sach,

Please find my response for your questions inline :

What do I have to set it for users of age above 13?

This is really up to you as the developer. If your app is targeting users under the age of 13 then you might need to look into this target or else ignore it.

What does it mean by abuse of this setting?

That means violating any policy or the restrictions mentioned by AdMob. As this is an SDK related forum and we would not be able to comment much on this.  You can reach out to our Product Support Team for such kind of policy or general concerns.

[Sach]

Hi Deepika

Thanks for your response. When I ask the same question from the product support team they direct me to the SDK support team. (Please see attached - last paragraph )

So it seems like everybody is passing the responsibility to other departments but no one is responding to actual the question. If you are unable to answer the question do you have anyone senior at Admob who might be able to help as I do not wish to go back and forth forwarding the same question to different departments and yet get the same response.

Many Thanks

Kind Regards

Sach 

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Sachith,

 

Apologies for the back and forth. I'm Ziv, Deepika's colleague, and I'll be assisting you on this one since Deepika's currently out-of-office.

 

Kindly note that we are unable to comment on any policy or legal-related concern, outside of the available help pages. To that end, do note that tagging ad requests for child-directed treatment will fall into a more law-related domain, and thus we would be unable to provide insights on this.

 

For users above the age of 13, I would suggest that you setTagForChildDirectedTreatment as TAG_FOR_CHILD_DIRECTED_TREATMENT_FALSE, in order to be consistent with your app's conformity to COPPA.

 

As for "abusing the child-directed setting": I'm afraid that this is still strictly a policy-related concern, and I and the rest of the SDK team will be unable to provide insights on this. I would recommend posting this concern once more on the AdMob Help Center for further assistance; you may want to reiterate there that you're looking for the details on the policy side of that particular statement.

 

Regards,

Ziv Yves Sanchez