Google Introduces New App Review Process to Keep Policy Violations under Check

Google rolls out a new app review process for both developers as well as advertisers to aid them in resolving the issues upfront and to lessen the likelihood of future policy violations.

The firm has stated that the new process would aid in improving the mobile app inventory quality for developers who prefer to monetize with either AdMob or Ad Manager Platforms.

In a blog post, the company reveals, "App review is a new process that evaluates a mobile app's inventory quality before allowing unrestricted ad serving. In going through the process, publishers will get a unified view of all their apps' approval status with actionable feedback."

However, the App reviews would be rolled out gradually this year with two features: app claiming and app readiness.
With app readiness, publishers has to link new mobile apps they want to monetise with AdMob or Ad Manager to at least one supported app store.

Linking an app will kick off a review process which checks things like the app source, the publisher's ownership of the app, and compliance with AdMob or Ad Manager Policies.

With app claiming, publishers could declare a comprehensive list of their apps' inventory with the capability to handle and track all apps' review status directly in their AdMob or Ad Manager account.

Google further states, "With this feature, publishers will receive suggestions of mobile apps that are being monetised using their publisher ad code, but haven't been added to their AdMob or Ad Manager account."

Publishers could act on the suggestions initiating in mid-2021, and eventually it would be required to add all apps to their account to permit unrestricted ad serving.

The company states that it recommends publishers to conclude the app review process by linking mobile apps to supported app stores and claiming their mobile apps to avoid potential interruptions in monetisation.

Furthermore, Google had announced last month to lower its planned commission rate for app developers, post complaints raised from software makers over steep fees.

Google announced that it would levy a 15 percent rate on in-app purchases to all developers for annual sales of up to $1 million and take a 30 percent commission from revenues over the $1 million mark. Consequently, the new policy would take effect in July.