Ad Fraud - Play Console Help (original) (raw)

Disclaimer: Policy summaries and Key Considerations are overviews only; always refer to the full policy for compliance. The full policy takes precedence in case of conflict.

Ad Fraud

Policy Summary

To maintain the mobile ad ecosystem trust, Google Play strictly prohibits Ad Fraud, which is a form of invalid traffic, and defined as any ad interaction that tricks an ad network into believing traffic is from real user interest. This includes showing hidden ads, auto-clicking ads, faking install attributions, showing ads outside the app, or misrepresenting your app's identity (like its package name or device type) to ad networks. Please review the full policy to ensure compliance.

Full Policy

Ad fraud is strictly prohibited. Ad interactions generated for the purpose of tricking an ad network into believing traffic is from authentic user interest is ad fraud, which is a form of invalid traffic. Ad fraud may be the byproduct of developers implementing ads in disallowed ways, such as showing hidden ads, automatically clicking ads, altering or modifying information and otherwise leveraging non-human actions (spiders, bots, etc.) or human activity designed to produce invalid ad traffic. Invalid traffic and ad fraud is harmful to advertisers, developers, and users, and leads to long-term loss of trust in the mobile Ads ecosystem.

Here are some examples of common violations:

An app that renders ads that are not visible to the user.
An app that automatically generates clicks on ads without the user's intention or that produces equivalent network traffic to fraudulently give click credits.
An app sending fake installation attribution clicks to get paid for installations that did not originate from the sender’s network.
An app that pops up ads when the user is not within the app interface.
False representations of the ad inventory by an app, for example, an app that communicates to ad networks that it is running on an iOS device when it is in fact running on an Android device; an app that misrepresents the package name that is being monetized.

Key Considerations

Do	Don't
Ensure all ads are visible to users and properly rendered within the app interface.	Don't render ads that are hidden, off-screen, or invisible to the user.
Ensure all ad clicks are a direct result of genuine, intentional user interactions.	Don't automatically generate clicks or use bots, scripts, or other non-human actions to create ad traffic.
Accurately represent your app's identity to ad networks, including its correct package name, device type (e.g., Android), and all ad inventory.	Don't implement ads in a way that tricks or incentivizes users into accidental clicks.
Ensure all traffic, clicks, and installation attributions are the result of authentic user interest.	Don't display ads (like pop-ups) when the user is not actively in your app.

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