Eligibility, reach, and ongoing requirements

What to expect

To integrate the Engage SDK, follow these steps:

  1. Review the following requirements to determine if your app meets the eligibility criteria.
  2. Submit the Engage SDK interest form. Google reviews your app's eligibility and replies within two weeks.
  3. Follow the category-specific integration guide and integration workflow after your app is approved.
  4. Complete testing, verification, rollout, and monitoring during onboarding using the instructions provided by Google.

Eligibility

To appear on Engage SDK surfaces, your app must meet the following eligibility conditions:

  • Be in good standing on Google Play and in compliance with all Play policies.
  • Be downloaded or updated by the Play Store in at least one supported market (currently active in 140 countries; coverage varies by surface).
  • Be in a supported app category: Media & Entertainment, Books & Reference, Comics & Manga, News & Magazines, Music & Audio, Shopping, Food & Drink, Social, Travel & Local, Events, Health & Fitness, and Education.
  • Provide browseable content that can be consumed or ordered digitally.
  • Not be primarily intended for an unsupported subcategory or use case, such as utilities, tools, and controls. For the full list, see the Category and use case support table.
  • Meet one of the following scale criteria:

Additionally:

  • Pass manual verification confirming that your integration functions correctly and content meets required specifications (data quality, image specs, well-formed metadata, Play policies, refresh cadence, and valid deep links).
  • After approval, your app may be re-verified at any time and must continuously meet these verification requirements.

Personalization requirements

Engage SDK supports both personalized and non-personalized recommendations. However, personalized content is mandatory to be shown on specific surfaces (such as the Play Store You tab) and for Apps Experience Program (AEP) compliance, unless an exemption applies.

Surface-specific requirements

Select surfaces, like the Play Store You tab, require timely, personalized content. To be included on these surfaces, apps must pass a stricter threshold during verification. If your Engage SDK recommendations don't accurately reflect user interests and actions, your app won't qualify for inclusion on the You tab.

AEP personalization requirements

To meet AEP guidelines, Engage SDK recommendations must be personalized by developers, which typically means they reflect demonstrated user interests and recent activity in your app in a timely manner. For more information about the specific requirements and potential exemptions, see the AEP Engage SDK guideline.

While there are cases where apps may be exempt from this personalization requirement for AEP, surfaces like the You tab still require timely, active personalization.

Evaluation

Because Engage SDK content remains on-device and isn't processed by Google, Google doesn't inspect production user data to assess personalization quality. Instead, a Google developer support team evaluates personalization during manual verification using dedicated test accounts. Testers build a consistent interest profile over several days to verify that Engage SDK recommendations accurately reflect native app behavior.

Apps Experience Program (AEP) requirements

Engage SDK integration is required for apps participating in Google Play's Apps Experience Program (AEP) whose use cases fall within the scope of the AEP Engage SDK guideline, unless an exemption applies. AEP enforces standards that go beyond basic Engage SDK eligibility requirements—specifically, your recommendations must be personalized and update frequently, your continuation content must reflect user activity in a timely manner, and content must be published across all required form factors and active regions.

You can review the specific requirements in the AEP Engage SDK guideline. To read more about the broader program guidelines and the program rate card, see the Apps Experience Program guidelines overview.

Supported apps and surfaces

Engage SDK lets integrated app content appear across multiple Android-powered device touchpoints and Google Play Store surfaces. The following tables outline supported surfaces, country availability, eligible verticals, and category-specific rules.

Category and use case support

The following table outlines supported Engage SDK subcategories and use cases, and highlights adjacent subcategories and use cases that aren't supported. Not all supported subcategories are eligible to appear on every Engage SDK surface, as each Engage SDK surface may enforce unique content policies.

Collections category Supported use cases and subcategories Unsupported use cases and subcategories
Apps won't be eligible if their primary use case falls into one of these unsupported categories
Social
  • Social networks
  • Image / memes
  • Video clips / short-form video
  • IRL meetups
  • Cloud photo storage
  • Live Video Chat
  • Instant messaging, sharing online presence, or live real-time data (such as location or chat rooms)
  • File-sharing & downloaders
  • Dating
  • Avatar generators
Watch
  • Movies & TV streaming
  • Live TV / Sports
  • On demand video clips
  • Sports videos
  • Drama Shorts
  • Remote controls
  • Video downloaders, players, and editors
  • Movie & TV reviews
  • Movie tickets
  • TV guides
  • Video calls & chatrooms
Read
  • eBooks
  • Comics
  • Audiobooks
  • UGC long-form reading content
  • Blogs
  • News & Magazines* (Not eligible for Play Store)
  • eBook or PDF readers
  • Book reviews
  • Encyclopedia / Dictionary
  • Translator
  • Religious text
Listen
  • Music streaming
  • Audiobooks
  • Podcast
  • Live radio
  • MP3 player / library
  • Music maker
  • Audio recorder / converter / tool
  • Music recognition
  • Music education (supported in education)
Shop
  • Clothes shopping
  • Online marketplace
  • Retailer
  • Food & drink shopping / grocery
  • Discounts & coupons
  • Pet / supplies
  • House & home / Real estate
  • Shopper app
  • B2B Shopping
  • Seller / merchant app
  • Receipts scanner rewards
  • Telecom service
  • Buy now pay later
Food
  • Food / coffee / drink ordering or delivery
  • Restaurant / Food discovery, reviews, & reservations
  • Meal subscriptions
  • Recipes
  • Driver / deliverer app
  • Cooking tools / controls
Travel
  • Travel & local
  • Events
  • Pet activity, monitoring, sitting, walking
  • Flight trackers
Health & Fitness
  • Fitness classes
  • Fitness routines
  • Relaxation & meditation
  • Routes / trails discovery
  • Meal planning
  • BMI calculator
  • Physical activity tracker / Step counter
  • Calorie counter
  • Sleep tracker
  • Tools / Remotes
  • Medical
Education All education subcategories supported

Surface and country availability

The following table lists the supported markets, cluster types, and subcategory exceptions for each Engage SDK surface:

Surface Supported markets and countries Supported cluster types Subcategory exceptions
Collections
(Play-enabled Android phones and tablets)		 85 Countries
US, AU, BR, CA, FR, DE, IN, ID, IT, JP, MX, ES, GB, AR, AT, BH, BY, BE, BO, CL, CO, CR, CZ, DK, DO, EC, EG, SV, EE, FI, GR, GT, HN, HK, HU, IE, JO, KW, LV, LB, LT, LU, MY, NL, NZ, NI, NO, OM, PA, PY, PE, PH, PL, PT, QA, SA, SG, SK, KR, SE, CH, TH, TR, AE, BA, KH, HR, CY, IS, JM, MK, MT, MD, NP, PG, SI, LK, ZA, TW, UA, UY, VE, VN, AM, AW, HT 		Continuation, Reorder, Carts, Lists, Recommendation, Featured, User Management None (all eligible apps supported)
Entertainment Space
(Select Android tablets)		 134 Countries
US, AU, BR, CA, FR, DE, IN, ID, IT, JP, MX, ES, GB, AR, AT, BH, BY, BE, BO, CL, CO, CR, CZ, DK, DO, EC, EG, SV, EE, FI, GR, GT, HN, HK, HU, IE, JO, KW, LV, LB, LT, LU, MY, NL, NZ, NI, NO, OM, PA, PY, PE, PH, PL, PT, QA, RU, SA, SG, SK, KR, SE, CH, TH, TR, AE, BA, KH, HR, CY, IS, JM, MK, MT, MD, NP, PG, SI, LK, KZ, RO, DZ, AZ, BD, BG, GH, IL, KE, LA, LI, NG, PK, SN, RS, ZA, TW, UA, UY, VE, VN, AM, AW, HT, KG, UZ, AL, AO, AG, BS, BZ, BJ, BW, BF, CM, CV, CI, FJ, GA, GW, MO, ML, MU, MZ, MM, NA, NE, RW, TJ, TZ, TG, TT, TM, UG, ZM, ZW 		Recommendations Only entertainment categories supported (Watch, Read, Listen)
Play Store Apps tab 140 Countries
US, AU, BR, CA, FR, DE, IN, ID, IT, JP, MX, ES, GB, AR, AT, BH, BE, BO, CL, CO, CR, CZ, DK, DO, EC, EG, SV, EE, FI, GR, GT, HN, HK, HU, IE, JO, KW, LV, LB, LT, LU, MY, NL, NZ, NI, NO, OM, PA, PY, PE, PH, PL, PT, QA, SA, SG, SK, KR, SE, CH, TH, TR, AE, BA, KH, HR, CY, IS, JM, MK, MT, MD, NP, PG, SI, LK, KZ, RO, DZ, AZ, BD, BG, GE, GH, IQ, IL, KE, LA, LI, MA, NG, PK, SN, RS, TN, ZA, TW, UA, UY, VE, VN, AM, AW, HT, KG, UZ, AL, AO, AG, BS, BZ, BJ, BW, BF, CM, CV, CI, FJ, GA, GI, GW, MO, ML, MU, MC, MZ, MM, NA, NE, RW, SM, TJ, TZ, TG, TT, TM, UG, YE, ZM, ZW 		Recommendation News & Magazines not supported (per Play Premium Growth Tools criteria)
Play Store You tab Continuation, Reorder, Carts, Lists, Recommendation News & Magazines not supported (per Play Premium Growth Tools criteria)
Play Store store listing pages Continuation, Reorder, Carts, Lists, Recommendation News & Magazines not supported (per Play Premium Growth Tools criteria)
Google TV All Google TV markets Continuation, Recommendations, Entitlements Only apps with video content