Key takeaways
- A free app has to be funded by something: advertising, in-app purchases, subscription, or cross-promotion of something else.
- Ad formats differ substantially in how intrusive they are — banners, interstitials and rewarded ads make very different trades with the player.
- Google Play requires developers to declare whether an app contains ads, which is why the 'Contains ads' label appears on listings.
- Ad networks collect data, and Play's Data safety section is where a developer must declare what is collected and shared.
- The honest framing is a trade: you are paying with attention and some data rather than with money.
A free app has to be funded by something. Development, testing, store fees, servers and updates all cost money, and a free download generates none. Advertising is one of a small number of ways to close that gap.
We publish ad-supported apps, so treat this as an explanation from an interested party. It is still the accurate explanation.
The available funding models
| Model | What the user pays | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Advertising | Attention, some data | Free to install; interruptions |
| In-app purchases | Money, optionally | Free to install; can distort design |
| Subscription | Money, recurring | Predictable for the developer; a barrier to trying |
| Paid up front | Money, once | No interruptions; far fewer installs |
| Cross-promotion | Attention | Only works if you have something else to promote |
Most free apps use advertising, in-app purchases, or both. The reason is straightforward: a price is the largest barrier to installation, and an app nobody installs earns nothing regardless of its model.
The ad formats, and what each costs you
They are not equivalent, and the differences matter more than the presence or absence of advertising.
Banner ads. A strip at the edge of the screen. Least intrusive, lowest revenue, permanently present.
Interstitial ads. Full-screen, shown at a transition — between levels, after a run. More intrusive, higher revenue. The quality of the implementation is entirely about when they appear: at a natural break, tolerable; mid-action, not.
Rewarded ads. The player chooses to watch in exchange for something — a continue, a bonus, currency. Opt-in, so the least intrusive of the three, and often the best revenue per impression precisely because attention is voluntary.
Native or offerwall formats. Integrated into the interface. Varies enormously in how honest the integration is.
The format mix tells you a lot about how a developer thinks about the player. Rewarded-heavy is a good sign; frequent unskippable interstitials at arbitrary moments is not.
What Google Play requires
Two disclosures matter to you as a user:
The "Contains ads" label. Developers must declare whether an app contains advertising, and the label appears on the store listing before you install.
The Data safety section. Developers must declare what data the app collects and shares, including data collected by third-party SDKs such as ad networks. Google's own documentation for developers sets out what has to be declared.
That second one is the more informative. An ad-supported app almost certainly involves some data collection for ad delivery and measurement, and the Data safety section is where that has to be stated. Google Play's Data safety section explained covers reading it.
Permissions are a separate question
Worth separating, because they get conflated.
Permissions control access to protected data and capabilities — location, camera, contacts — and are governed by Android's permission model, documented in Android's permissions overview.
Data safety declarations cover what the app collects and shares, whether or not a permission was involved.
An app can collect data without requesting an unusual permission, which is why checking permissions alone is not sufficient. Android app permissions explained covers the permission side.
The honest framing
A free app is not free of cost. It is free of price.
You are paying with attention and, usually, with some data. Whether that is a good trade depends on the app and on you — and it is a real trade rather than a hidden one, which is why the disclosures exist.
Two practical suggestions:
Check the Data safety section before installing, particularly for apps that will hold anything you care about.
Judge the ad implementation, not the presence of ads. Ads at natural breaks and rewarded opt-ins are a reasonable trade. Frequent interruptions mid-action are a design that values impressions over players.
What we do
Our apps are free to download on Google Play and supported by ads, with optional in-app purchases on most of them. That is the model described above, and we are not going to present it as anything else.
Space Shooter - Galaxy Arcade and Zombie Survival: Last Survivor both carry the "Contains ads" declaration on their listings, along with their content ratings and in-app purchase disclosures. Every app page on this site states the same facts, verified against the live listing rather than written from memory — the verification date is shown on each page.
Where our apps store data you enter, they store it on your device rather than on our servers. Our privacy policy sets out the detail.
Offline arcade games for Android covers what works without a connection — relevant here, because an app that needs a connection for ads behaves differently offline. Battery and performance in mobile games covers the other cost that free apps can carry.
Everything we make here is under action and arcade games.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Why do free games show ads?
What is a rewarded ad?
What does 'Contains ads' mean on a Play listing?
Do ads collect data about me?
Is paying to remove ads better?
Sources
- Provide information for Google Play's Data safety section (opens in a new tab)Google Play Console Help — accessed
- Permissions on Android (opens in a new tab)Android Developers, Google — accessed
