Google Play Advertiser ID

Monetizing, Advertising & Marketing Advertising Networks
1

Just wondering if there a way to find out if an SDK is using Android ID rather than Advertiser ID by looking into permissions or any logs?

2

You cannot know through permissions. However you can see if the app is using google play services as a lib or check your AndroidManifest file for this:

       <meta-data
            android:name="com.google.android.gms.version"
            android:value="@integer/google_play_services_version" />
3

A little offtopic. I use ANDROID_ID for control sums to make sure people don’t change saved games. I acquire it like that (and I don’t send it anywhere, just use as a salt for thing saved to SharedPreferences):

deviceId = Settings.System.getString(getContentResolver(), Settings.System.ANDROID_ID);

I wonder if I should remove it, since Google might autimaticaly ban anyone having ANDROID_ID reference in code at some point… Or am I too paranoid?

4

Hey @Magnesus. I am just trying to help…I don’t think that you will have any issue with that kind of usage with current Google policies. However since we have seen Google following the pattern of Apple in terms of the advertising id, in some point in the near future I expect policies to “forbid” accessing and using this identifier as it happened with UDID in iOS. Generally speaking your usage of Android ID is local and very “innocent” from my perspective for you to worry about… :slight_smile:

5

Thanks. If Apple disallows such usage, I will probably change it anyway since as you say Google might do so too. And it should be easy to do (ignore the control sum if the data comes from old version and create a new sum).

6

I use ANDROID_ID also do much similar as Magnesus is doing - i.e. to mix up some preferences etc.

However this is a local use of this ID - and I would guess this type of use should be ok.

Otherwise Google may as well just remove the ANDROID_ID access from it’s SDK - if it really wants to ensure that ?

7

Well local use I believe is a safe way to use it anyway and it does not violate any policy. If Google decides to disallow it will most probably make it deprecated in the SDK too as you said.