[Google Play] Target audience and content settings for the Families policy
Buzzvil periodically publishes store policy guidance to help partners maintain sustainable app development and operations. Review the information below against your app's setup.
Topic: Addressing Google Play's Families policy
🤝 Related policy
Designing apps for children and families on Google Play
As more young children use mobile devices and apps, Google Play continues to update its policies to protect them. In addition to store content ratings, Play Console introduced a Target audience and content section in 2019. It helps Google review whether child-directed apps show appropriate content and ads, and whether apps that do not target children nevertheless appeal to them.
If you indicate in Target audience and content that your users are aged 13 or younger and that the app may appeal to children, the app becomes subject to Google Play's Families policy regardless of whether it integrates Buzzvil SDK. It must meet all nine requirements described here.
Apps that do not comply with applicable Families policy requirements may fail review, be removed from the Play Store or stop appearing in the store.
The sections below explain how to address these risks and the safeguards Buzzvil provides for advertising.
🤝 Related policy
To go directly to the recommended steps, see Configure your app.
Understanding Google Play's Families policy requirements
When registering an app on Google Play, you configure age-related information in both Content rating and Target audience and content. The latter determines whether the Families policy applies.
| Target audience and content | Content rating |
|---|---|
|
|
🤝 Note
This guidance describes Google's Families policy requirements as applying to children under 13. The following excerpt is from Families | Google Play Console:
If you select age groups under 13, you may be asked follow-up questions about your app's content, including collection of children's personal and sensitive information, compliance with laws and regulations concerning children, and advertising. Google reviews your answers before publication and may reject or remove your app if it finds Families policy violations.
Applicability by target age group
| Target audience age group | Families policy applicability |
|---|---|
| Children (under 13) | All nine Families policy requirements must be met. |
| Children (under 13) and general users |
|
| General users (excluding children under 13) | The Families policy does not need to be applied. |
Families policy requirements
The requirements listed in this guidance are below. See Families policy requirements in Designing apps for children and families for details.
- App content
- App functionality
- Play Console answers
- Ads
- Data practices
- APIs and SDKs
- Augmented reality (AR)
- Social apps and features
- Legal compliance
Buzzvil advertising SDK safeguards
For apps whose target audience includes users under 13 (described in this source as 14 and younger in Korea), Buzzvil SDK does not allocate ads to users in that age group. The SDK therefore includes a safeguard intended to address Families policy requirements.
Configure your app
If your target audience includes children under 13, all app content must meet the nine Google Families policy requirements. Failure to meet any one of them may result in suspension or removal. This guidance recommends setting Target audience and content to ages 13 and older to address this issue.
🤝 This guidance states that Target audience and content settings do not affect app search results or installation in the Play Store.
You can configure your app's Target audience and content age groups in Google Play Console using the following steps.
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Sign in to Google Play Console and go to App content → Target audience and content.
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Under Target age, select ages 13 and older.
- Select one or more of 13–15, 16–17 and 18 and over.
- Do not select ages 5 and under, 6–9 or 9–12.
- Under App details, select No for Appeals to children.