Google Play Trader Status: The Store Page From 1 March 2027

On 1 March 2027 a Google Play listing stops being only a description of your app and starts carrying legal disclosures. From that date, a developer who declared trader status shows contact details to users everywhere, a D-U-N-S number in the "App support" section, and a terms of service link if one was supplied. Users in the EEA and the UK see two more things: the developer name replaces Google in the "Offered by" field of "About this app", and the trader's self-certification that it offers only products and services that comply with local law.

None of those fields is typed into the store listing editor. They are derived from an account declaration due by 1 February 2027 plus a per-app confirmation that most developers have not opened yet. This post covers the listing half: which of the five disclosures your live apps are still missing, where each one is set, and what to fix before the date. If you have not answered the account question at all, start with the trader status section of our account registration and verification guide, which covers who qualifies as a trader. This one assumes that answer is already in.

What changes on the store page on 1 March 2027

Five disclosures, two audiences. Three appear to users everywhere, two only to users in the EEA and the UK, and the difference is the part that catches developers who check their own listing from outside Europe and conclude the change did not happen.

• Contact details, users everywhere. The name and email the account already holds. A personal account that declares trader status must add a phone number, and the address is displayed too.
• D-U-N-S number in "App support", users everywhere. Nothing new to supply: the number collected during developer identity verification is the one displayed.
• Terms of service link, users everywhere but only "if you provided one". A URL per app, supplied during the per-app trader confirmation.
• Developer name in the "Offered by" field, EEA and UK only. Nothing new to supply: your declared trader name replaces Google there.
• The self-certification statement, EEA and UK only. A commitment accepted during the per-app confirmation.

Google frames the whole change as a transition "to an online marketplace model in the EEA and the UK effective March 1, 2027". The practical reading for a developer with live apps is narrower than the framing: your app is not reviewed again, but the identity of the seller becomes visible on the page that sells it. Two of the five fields depend on data you may never have entered anywhere.

The declaration deadline is 1 February 2027, a month earlier than the switch

The declaration opened in November 2026. Google's 29 October 2026 policy announcement states it plainly: "Starting in November 2026, you must declare your trader status in Play Console in accordance with new Console requirements." New accounts answer at creation; existing accounts have until 1 February 2027, and the obligation applies "regardless of where apps are targeted or distributed".

1. November 2026 — the declaration opens at account level, in Manage account > Account details > About you.
2. 1 February 2027 — deadline for existing accounts. Missing it may block app updates and remove apps globally.
3. 1 March 2027 — the five disclosures above go live on every trader's listing.
4. After 1 March 2027 — the EEA and UK additions appear, visible only from an EEA or UK account.

The gap between the two dates is the useful part. A developer who declares on 31 January 2027 and stops there has an account-level answer and no per-app confirmation, which means some apps show a trader's contact details and others may not. Google's help page puts the per-app step in its own section, separate from the account section, for a reason.

Auditing the five disclosures, one app at a time

Contact details are where a personal account has to decide something public

For an organization account, the displayed contact details are business details that are already public. For a personal account, Google's wording is unusually direct: "you must provide a contact phone number to be displayed on Google Play. Be aware that your address will also be publicly displayed."

That is a real change for a solo developer publishing from a home address, and it is not reversible by editing the listing afterwards, because the display comes from the declared status rather than from a text field. The alternative is registering the account as an organization, which replaces personal details with business details but brings its own verification requirements. We cover that trade-off in organization vs personal Play accounts.

The D-U-N-S number is display, not a second verification

A common worry is that this is the identity verification process all over again. It is not. Google answers it directly: "The trader status declaration is separate to the existing developer identity verification process... You are not re-doing the D-U-N-S verification; instead, if you are a trader, the D-U-N-S number you already provided will be displayed to users on your app's detail page."

The practical consequence is that an account with no D-U-N-S number on file cannot complete a trader declaration with all its fields intact, so the two workstreams are sequential even though the requirements are separate. Check that the number exists before 1 February rather than discovering the gap during the declaration.

The terms of service link is the gap that shows

Traders are asked "to provide the link to the terms of service for each of your apps", and the disclosure is conditional: the link appears "if you provided one". Conditional display is not the same as optional compliance, and it produces the most visible asymmetry on a real listing. Two apps from the same developer, both traders, can sit side by side with one showing a terms link and one showing nothing, and the difference is not explained anywhere on the page.

Three properties matter for the link itself, and none of them is spelled out in the policy text as a formatting rule:

• It has to resolve without a login. A terms page behind an account wall, or a PDF served from a drive folder that silently expires, is a broken disclosure even though the field was filled in.
• It has to be the terms for that app. A single generic document covering a whole portfolio is common and leaves the app-specific clauses (subscriptions, user content, liability) unaddressed for the app the user is actually installing.
• It has to match what the app does today. A terms page written before in-app purchases were added, still describing the app as free, is a mismatch a consumer authority can point at, and Google's text puts the responsibility for accuracy on the account holder.

The link is also the one disclosure you can prepare without waiting for anything: a public page, per app, reachable from the listing's target countries. Everything else in this article is a Console step.

The self-certification is a public commitment, not a checkbox

Traders self-certify "that you commit to only offer products or services that comply with applicable laws", and in the EEA and UK that commitment is displayed. It is worth reading as an undertaking rather than a formality, because Google's enforcement section treats a false status claim as a breach of the Developer Distribution Agreement rather than a data-entry mistake.

Two fields you cannot see from home

The "Offered by" change and the self-certification statement render for EEA and UK users only. A developer in Bangladesh, India or Brazil who opens their own listing after 1 March will see the three global disclosures and nothing else, and may reasonably conclude the switch did not happen. The only way to confirm the EEA view is to look from an EEA or UK account. Our own tester network spans 80+ countries, which is how we check listings for clients whose published store pages we cannot see from here; the same trick works with one colleague or tester in the EU.

A one-sitting audit for a live portfolio

1. List every published app in Play Console, including the ones with a handful of installs. The per-app confirmation applies to all of them, not only to the app you are actively working on.
2. Confirm the account-level answer first. Manage account > Account details > About you. If it is unset, nothing downstream can be completed.
3. Open each app's App content page. Monitor and improve > Policy and programs > App content. This is where the per-app status is confirmed and where the terms link is requested.
4. Test every terms URL in a private window, with no session, from a country you sell in. Anything that redirects to a login is not a usable disclosure.
5. Decide the personal-versus-organization question before the deadline, not after. A personal-account trader is publishing a phone number and address; that decision is easier to make in December than in February.
6. Write the date into the release calendar. 1 February 2027 for the declaration, and a check on or just after 1 March 2027 to confirm the page renders as expected.
7. Verify from an EEA account after the switch. Screenshot the "Offered by" field and the self-certification for at least one app, so a later discrepancy has a baseline.

What this does not change

Worth stating, because several summaries of the change overreach. The policy does not trigger a new app review, does not require a new build, does not repeat identity verification, and does not alter how payments, refunds or the data safety form work. Nothing in the help text describes a ranking or discoverability consequence for traders or non-traders.

The one substantive change for a non-trader is a notice, not a penalty: where displaying trader status is required, Google says it will "inform consumers in these regions that consumer rights stemming from consumer protection laws do not apply to contracts between you and them". A non-trader keeps publishing; the listing tells EEA and UK users something different about their rights. That is the honest framing of the choice, and it is why declaring non-trader to keep an address private is a bad trade rather than a clever one.

Ways developers get this wrong

Declaring non-trader to avoid the phone number. Google prohibits creating the impression that you are not a trader, and its help page ties misrepresentation to Section 11.4 of the Developer Distribution Agreement, with suspension or termination possible under Section 10.3(a). The address is a smaller problem than losing the account.

Doing the account answer and skipping the per-app confirmation. The two live in different parts of the Console, and the second one carries the terms link.

Supplying a terms URL that only works on desktop. Many developers host terms on a marketing site whose mobile layout hides the page or drops it from navigation. The link is followed from a phone.

Assuming the EEA and UK rules only matter if you sell there. The contact details, D-U-N-S number and terms link are shown to users everywhere; only the "Offered by" change and the self-certification are regional.

Treating it as a one-time task. Google allows the declaration to be updated at any time, which cuts both ways: a hobby app that starts earning needs its status revisited, and an app that stops selling needs the same. Our policy deadline tracker for live apps exists because obligations like this one rarely arrive alone.

What we see across the campaigns we run

Based on our internal campaign records, most of the closed-testing campaigns we handle are run for personal developer accounts rather than organization accounts. That matters here more than in most policy changes, because the personal-account path is the one that ends with a phone number and an address on a public page. Our store listing review checklist covers the rest of what a listing has to get right before review; this disclosure layer sits underneath it and is checked by nobody at Google before it goes live.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to declare trader status if I do not sell in the EEA or the UK?

Yes. Google states the declaration must be completed "regardless of where apps are targeted or distributed". The one documented shortcut is for developers who do not distribute in the EEA or the UK at all: Google says they "can declare as a non-trader".

Will my home address really appear on Google Play?

If the account is a personal developer account and you declare trader status, Google says you must provide a phone number to be displayed and that "your address will also be publicly displayed". An organization account displays business details instead, which is the main reason to consider switching before the deadline.

Is the terms of service link mandatory?

Traders are asked to provide a terms link for each app, but the store page only shows it "if you provided one". Google does not describe a penalty for a missing link in that FAQ, and the self-certification applies either way. Our recommendation is to supply one: it is the only visible difference between two otherwise identical listings.

Does the trader declaration replace developer identity verification?

No. Google describes them as separate requirements. Identity verification collects and verifies information about every developer; the trader declaration determines what is displayed on the store page. If you are a trader, the D-U-N-S number you already provided is displayed rather than re-verified.

What do EEA and UK users see for a non-trader?

Google says it will inform consumers in those regions that consumer rights stemming from consumer protection laws do not apply to contracts with that developer. The app stays published; the consumer-facing statement changes.

Can the declaration be changed after 1 March 2027?

Yes, at any time in Play Console, for example when a hobby app starts earning or when an app stops being sold. Google also states that if it detects activity suggesting a non-trader declaration is wrong, it may ask the account to confirm or update the status, and apps may be removed if the account does not respond in the stated timeframe.

Why can I not see the "Offered by" change on my own listing?

Because that field, and the self-certification, render for EEA and UK users only. The three global disclosures appear everywhere. Check the EEA view from an account in one of those countries rather than concluding the change failed.

Sources

• Google Play Console Help, Trader status declaration — definitions, deadlines, per-app confirmation, the three global disclosures and the two EEA/UK additions, contact-detail requirements, enforcement wording. Read 13 November 2026.
• Google Play Console Help, Policy announcement: October 29, 2026 — the "Starting in November 2026, you must declare your trader status in Play Console" line. Read 13 November 2026.
• European Commission guidance on the concept of trader (Section 2.2), linked from Google's page as the criteria Google points developers to.