Google announces ban on full-screen interstitial ads in Android apps/games
According to the new Play Store policies for developers, developers are not allowed to “accidentally” display full-screen ads in games and applications, otherwise, they may be forcibly removed from the shelves. This new policy will take effect on September 30, 2022, and developers must complete the rectification before this date. If the subsequent rectification is not made, the update may be refused.
The reason for this policy is that Google found that many apps and games use full-screen ads to harass users and interrupt users’ use, resulting in a very bad experience. For example, when you are playing a game, a full-screen advertisement suddenly pops up on the screen. This advertisement may cause your game to be interrupted and may also cause you to lose the game.
Here’s a list of what Google announced and when these policies will kick in:
Effective September 30, 2022
Better Ads Experiences
Developers are required to comply with the following ads guidelines to ensure high quality experiences for users when they are using Google Play apps. Your ads may not be shown in the following unexpected ways for users:
- Full screen interstitial ads of all formats (video, GIF, static, etc.) that show unexpectedly, typically when the user has chosen to do something else, are not allowed.
- Ads that appear during game play at the beginning of a level or during the beginning of a content segment are not allowed.
- Full screen video interstitial ads that appear before an app’s loading screen (splash screen) are not allowed.
- Full screen interstitial ads of all formats that are not closeable after 15 seconds are not allowed. Opt-in full screen interstitials or full screen interstitials that do not interrupt users in their actions (for example, after the score screen in a game app) may persist more than 15 seconds.
This policy does not apply to rewarded ads which are explicitly opted-in by users (for example, an ad that developers explicitly offer a user to watch in exchange for unlocking a specific game feature or a piece of content). This policy also does not apply to monetization and advertising that does not interfere with normal app use or game play (for example, video content with integrated ads, non-full screen banner ads).
