“Contains ads” means the app shows advertising from an ad network, and the developer had to declare it before publishing. “In-app purchases” (Google Play writes it as “Offers in-app purchases”) means the app sells digital items for real money inside the app. An app can have both, either, or neither, and the labels say nothing about how many ads there are or how much the items cost.
Those two lines carry a lot of weight when you’re deciding whether to let a game onto your phone, or your child’s. Here’s what each one covers.
What does “Contains ads” mean on Google Play? #
Google requires every developer to declare whether their app contains ads, and apps that do get a “Contains ads” label that Google’s help page says is “visible to all Play Store users.”
The declaration covers more than the obvious banner. According to Google’s developer documentation, ads include:
- Banner and interstitial (full-screen) ads served through an ad SDK
- Native ads that are hard to tell apart from content, such as sponsored items in a feed
- “House ads” that promote the developer’s own other apps
There’s one exception. A plain “More Apps” section in a menu that cross-promotes the developer’s other titles and doesn’t interrupt gameplay doesn’t count as ads. Google also says it verifies these declarations itself and will apply the label if a developer gets it wrong, and that misrepresenting ads can get an app suspended.
The App Store doesn’t have an equivalent one-line label. Apple handles advertising through the age rating questionnaire and its review process instead, so on iOS you often have to read the description or the reviews to find out.
What counts as an in-app purchase? #
Apple’s developer documentation defines four types, and between them they cover nearly everything you’ll meet in a game:
| Type | What it is | Game example |
|---|---|---|
| Consumable | Bought repeatedly and used up | A pack of gems or coins |
| Non-consumable | Bought once, kept forever | Removing ads, a level pack |
| Auto-renewable subscription | Renews until you cancel | A monthly battle pass |
| Non-renewing subscription | Fixed period, then it ends | A season of content |
Google Play describes them more plainly, with examples like “A sword that gives you more power in a game,” or a key that opens up more features of an app.
How to see them before you install #
On the Play Store, an in-app purchase note sits near the Price or Install button, and the web listing shows “Offers in-app purchases” under the app name. On the App Store, the product page lists the actual items: Apple lets developers showcase up to 20 of them, so you can often see the price of the biggest coin pack before you download anything.
What about random items and loot boxes? #
This is where the labels get more specific. The ESRB’s ratings guide uses two separate interactive elements. The first, “In-Game Purchases,” means the game “Contains in-game offers to purchase digital goods or premiums with real world currency, including but not limited to bonus levels, skins, music, virtual coins and other forms of in-game currency, subscriptions, season passes and upgrades (e.g., to disable ads).”
The second is narrower and matters more for kids. “In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)” means the game contains offers “for which the player doesn’t know prior to purchase the specific digital goods or premiums they will be receiving (e.g., loot boxes, item packs, mystery awards).”
Store descriptions sometimes say it outright. Angry Birds 2’s App Store text notes that the game “may include loot boxes or other game mechanics with random rewards,” and Cut the Rope’s says some items can be bought “including randomised items.”
What the labels don’t tell you #
This is the part that catches people out. Neither label describes intensity:
- How many ads. “Contains ads” reads the same whether there’s one banner or a full-screen video between every level.
- How interruptive they are. A banner you can ignore and an unskippable 30-second video get the same label.
- Whether ads are optional. Rewarded videos you choose to watch count the same as ones forced on you.
- How much things cost. “Offers in-app purchases” covers a $0.99 hint pack and a $99.99 gem bundle equally.
- Whether the game is playable without paying. Some free games are complete; others stall until you buy.
The fastest way to fill those gaps is to sort the store reviews by most recent and look for the words “ads,” “pay” and “paywall.” Recent reviews matter more than old ones, because monetization changes with updates.
A worked example #
Kitty Kaboom, our cats-versus-robots slingshot game, carries “Contains ads” on Google Play and no in-app purchase label on either store. Behind those labels: a banner at the bottom, a full-screen ad after roughly every second level result with the first three completions left clear, an ad when you open the app, and four optional rewarded videos that give you extra cats, double coins, a level skip or a daily coin gift. Nothing in the game is sold for money, so all 60 levels, all seven cats, every upgrade and every hat are earned by playing. The full breakdown is in is Kitty Kaboom free?
That’s a fairly typical ads-only setup. A game with both labels usually has a currency you can either grind for or buy, which is a different kind of pressure.
How to check a game before you install it #
- Read both labels on the store page, and on iOS scroll to the in-app purchase list if there is one.
- Check the age rating. Apple’s tiers are 4+, 9+, 13+, 16+ and 18+. A 9+ rating can come from something as mild as infrequent cartoon violence.
- Sort reviews by recent and search them for “ads” and “pay.”
- Try it for ten minutes and count the full-screen ads. That’s your real answer.
- Set up the controls first if it’s for a child, covered below.
Parental controls for both stores #
On Google Play, open the Play Store app, then Settings, Family, Content restrictions. You pick the highest content rating you’ll allow and set a PIN that’s needed to change it. Google’s help page notes an important limit: content restrictions “don’t prevent restricted content as a search result or through a direct link,” so they filter browsing rather than blocking everything.
On iOS, Apple’s Ask to Buy sends a request to a parent or guardian when a child tries to make an in-app purchase. Apple also requires apps in the Kids Category to put a parental gate in front of purchases and links out of the app, and requires that any advertising shown in them be human-reviewed for age appropriateness.
Our picks that keep both labels simple are in cat games for kids and physics puzzle games for kids.
Frequently asked questions #
Does “Contains ads” mean the app is free? #
Not necessarily. Paid apps can show ads too, though it’s uncommon. The label only describes advertising, not price, and a game can be free with no ads at all if it’s funded another way, such as an Apple Arcade subscription.
Can a game add in-app purchases later? #
Yes. Labels reflect the current version, and an update can add purchases or ads. That’s why recent reviews are more useful than the overall star rating when you’re judging monetization.
Do ads work offline? #
Mostly not. Ads download when they’re shown, so with no connection you’ll usually see few or none. The trade-off is that rewarded videos stop working too, so any bonus tied to watching one is unavailable until you reconnect.
What’s the difference between “Contains ads” and the age rating? #
The ads label is about advertising in the app. The age rating is about the app’s own content, and it’s assigned from a questionnaire the developer fills in. A 4+ game can contain ads, and a 9+ game might have none.
How do I stop a child making in-app purchases? #
Use Ask to Buy on iOS, or Google Play’s purchase verification and content restrictions on Android. Removing the saved payment method helps too. The surest option is to choose games with no in-app purchases in the first place, which the store page tells you before you install.