1. The trigger is who sees the ad, not how the listing looks. Per Families Policy Requirements (https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9893335), if your app displays ads to children or to users of unknown age you must: use only Google Play Families Self-Certified Ads SDKs for those users; keep interest-based advertising and remarketing off; keep ad content appropriate for children; follow the Families ad format rules; and meet local law on advertising to children. Apps whose audience is children only may ship certified SDK versions and nothing else. Mixed child-plus-adult apps may use a non-certified SDK for ads only behind a working neutral age screen, and only for users verified as not children.
2. The certified list is version-specific, not vendor-specific, and it moves. The authoritative page ("Participate in the Families Self-Certified Ads SDK Program", https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/12955712) currently lists AdColony 4.8.0+, AddApptr AATKit-family-safe 3.8.3+, Chartboost 9.1.1+, DT Exchange (com.fyber marketplace-sdk) 8.2.1+, Google Ad Manager interactive-media 3.19.0+ and play-services-pal 18.0.0+, Google AdMob play-services-ads 19.0.0+, HyprMX 6.0.3+, InMobi 10.5.5+, ironSource mediationsdk 7.2.1+, Kidoz 8.9.4+, SuperAwesome 8.4.3+, Unity Ads 4.0.1+ and Vungle 6.10.4+. AppLovin has left the program (families developers had to transition by 2023-05-31) — if it is still anywhere in your mediation stack, you are out of compliance.
3. Certification can be revoked after you ship. Help states that if Google becomes aware a self-certified version violates program requirements, that version's self-certification is removed from the list, and a policy violation can also remove the SDK from the program. Recommended practice per Google: consult the page before publishing a new app or pushing an update to confirm the self-certification status of the versions you actually bundle.
4. Child-directed treatment must be requestable and actually honored. The SDK must allow publishers to request child-directed treatment on a per-request or per-app basis, and Google requires that treatment to disable personalized ads, interest-based advertising and remarketing. When real-time bidding serves ads to children, creatives must have been reviewed and rated and privacy indicators must be propagated to the bidders. If you buy through mediation, the mediation platform must itself use self-certified SDKs or equivalent safeguards and must receive the ad content rating plus any child-directed treatment flag — a certified network behind an uncertified mediation path is still non-compliant.
5. Two cases do not require self-certification: in-house advertising (SDKs used for cross-promotion of your own apps or other owned media and merchandising) and direct deals with advertisers where the SDK is used only for inventory management. You remain responsible for that ad content and for data collection under the User Data Policy and Families Policy.
6. Ad format limits are policy, not UI taste. For children or users of unknown age: no ad walls or full-screen monetization without a clear means to dismiss; rewarded or opt-in ads that interfere with normal use must be closeable after 5 seconds; no interstitial shown immediately at app launch; one ad placement per page (a banner showing multiple offers, or more than one banner/video, is a violation); ads must be clearly distinguishable from app content (offerwalls and immersive ad experiences children cannot identify as ads are not allowed); no shocking or emotionally manipulative tactics to encourage viewing; and SDK providers must watermark creatives so their inventory can be visually identified.
7. An uncertified SDK is also a data problem. Apps that solely target children must not transmit AAID, SIM Serial, Build Serial, BSSID, MAC, SSID, IMEI or IMSI, should not request the AD_ID permission when targeting Android API 33 or higher, and may not request location permission or collect, use and transmit precise location. Mixed-audience apps must not transmit those identifiers from children or users of unknown age. Disclose every collection of personal and sensitive information from children — including through APIs and SDKs — in Policy → App content → Data safety and in the privacy policy.
8. Pre-release checklist: (a) dump the merged manifest and list every ads and mediation SDK with its exact version; (b) compare each against the certified list, adapters included; (c) pin versions so an auto-upgrade cannot pull a non-certified release; (d) wire child-directed treatment into the ad request; (e) verify 5-second dismissal, one-placement-per-page and ad-versus-content distinction in the real child-facing build; (f) remove AAID/AD_ID and precise location from children-only builds; (g) refresh Data safety and the privacy policy for the SDK set; (h) re-check the certified list before every release, because a version can lose certification after you shipped.