Google Play Store now lets you know if an app has ads before you download

So back in 2015, Google started emailing devs to encourage them to log in to the developer console and flag whether or not their apps contained ads. They were told that sometime early this year, the Play Store would start displaying a notification signifying if an app was garnished with ads. This week, a sharp-eyed redditor noticed that Google had made good on its word. Regardless of whether it’s a paid app or has in-app purchases, the Play Store now has a “Contains ads” line that appears directly under the Install/Open button.

It looks like a server-side change, so you might not see it on your device yet. Nevertheless, you can expect it to rollout to you soon. The addition of the ads notifier is a good thing for both users and Google. For users, it’s naturally beneficial to understand what they’re getting into when they download an app. Ads are something of a necessary evil if you want free content, but if you fork over cash for an app, you generally expect an ad-free experience.

On Google’s side of things, extending this common courtesy to users is just part of developing a good relationship with the people who download apps from the Play Store on a daily basis. An informed user is definitely a happier one