If you’re an Android dev and have your app published on Google Play, you should have been notified by now that they’ve released new Google Play badges. If you use those badges externally, it’s mandatory to switch to the new ones according to their guidelines.
The refreshed badges basically just feature the new Google Play logo, so it’s not a drastic change.
You can generate your new Google Play badges here:
- if you have an Android app/game you can generate Google Play badges here: https://play.google.com/intl/en_us/badges/
- if you are an artist (lucky you) you can generate Google Play Music badges here: https://play.google.com/intl/en_us/badges-music/
They do have a few dos and don’ts for using the badges, so overall just be sure you follow-up these guidelines:
- Don’t use out-of-date badges
- Don’t edit the colors of the logo or badge
- Don’t remove/re-arrange the elements on the badge
- Make sure it’s legible so don’t shrink the badge or use blurry versions
- The Google Play badge should be the same size or larger the iOS one (if you use them side by side). I’m not kidding, they truly have this as a guideline, so I guess they want theirs to be bigger (who doesn’t?).
- Link the badge only to the Google Play store when publishing it online.
- If there’s enough space, you must include legal attribution (i.e. “Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.”)
- The use of Google Play badges must be manually approved by Google if you use it in a TV commercial or a marketing campaign that receives more than 1 million impressions.
That’s basically it, just head onto their badge generator and you’ll be able to create one – be sure you have your Google Play URL handy as that’s mandatory.
I also bet that you didn’t know one thing about using “Google Play” in your marketing text: Any use of Google Play or Android in text in your marketing material must be reviewed and approved by the Google Play Partner Brand team.
So for instance if you pay for an online ad/banner that says “Get our free app for Android on Google Play” that’s not allowed unless you ask them for approval first.
Want to be even more bamboozled? Any use of the Google Play name in your marketing or communications must be accompanied by a legal attribution footer stating: “Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.”
Don’t worry though, if you don’t have a very popular app/game you’ll never be on their radar so just stick to using the badge correctly and you will be fine.
