I’m hosting ads through Unity and saw the update Google has with their ad tracking policies. I saw all I need to do is add a small snippet of code to update the meta data of my advertising profile.
MetaData metaData = new MetaData("privacy");
metaData.Set("mode", "mixed"); // This is a mixed audience game.
Advertisement.SetMetaData(metaData);
MetaData metaData = new MetaData("user");
metaData.Set("nonbehavioral", "true"); // This user will NOT receive personalized ads.
Advertisement.SetMetaData(metaData);
The snippet above is from the documentation. As my target audience is not kids, but kids might play my game as it is rated as E10+, I assume I would need to add the snippet. I know it needs to be added before initializing any sort of ads, but I wanted to make sure the snippet is for mixed users and not just kids. As the second parameter dictates if a user receives custom ads how does it distinguish between users? Will this snippet know who to serve personalized vs not personalized ads to?
I tried contacting Google about the policy but all they could tell me is that they do not give any clarification regarding their policies. The rep told me once my app is terminated, suspended, or flagged I could appeal it, and only then I can talk with a policy specialist. Seems you have to get your app removed or suspended to know what their vague wording means.
The biggest part I am caught up on now is Google’s wording regarding who is considered a child. From their policy page:
“Your app is designed for everyone, including children”
My target audiences range from 13-15, 16-17, and 18+. My understanding is a child is anyone younger than 13, but further on in the same Google documentation, it states:
9-12
“Note that this age group is considered to include children in most locales.”
13-15
16-17
“Note that this age group may be considered to include children in some locales.”
What exactly would this mean? If your app is targeting these age groups and is played in whatever these locales are you need to comply? Would the metadata understand what these locales/ages are? Or is it just a blanket age check regardless of where a device is located? How is any of this decided? It would just be easier to say anyone under the age of 18 can not have targeted ads instead of this convoluted incomplete documentation from Google.
Would be a long shot, but does anyone else have a good answer to this question or if any Unity rep has an answer to this question would greatly appreciate it. Still unsure if I even fall under this policy and if I do, I would like to know that the metadata properly accounts for the most/some locales.
I would suggest if we don’t get an answer to this we enable the instructions as per the ‘Mixed’ metadata to be safe by the deadline. This is the plan for my app, as I would rather take lower income for now and remove it later when this is properly answered then potentially be suspended/removed from the app store.
TEEBQNE, I think I figured it out. In Google’s policy they say “If the target audience for your app includes both children and older users, you must implement age screening measures and make sure that ads shown to children come exclusively from one of these self-certified ad SDKs.”
What I read from this is that we have to implement age screening ourselves if our audience is mixed. That’s the only way we can enable targeted ads to our users if our audiences are mixed.
How we go about this is a little more murky, but it looks like there’s no one answer. I think something like an are you 13 or older might suffice, but I’m not 100% on this part.