The whole policy
How ads work.
PlayBurst is free and carries advertising. It was built because most free mobile games are unplayable for the advertising, so this is the part it is strictest about. The rules below are the same for all 48 games, and every one of them has to pass before an automatic full-screen ad is allowed to appear.
Automatic ads: all four conditions.
Condition 1 of 4
The game is over
An automatic full-screen ad is only considered once you finish a game. Nothing interrupts a hand, a board or a level in progress.
Condition 2 of 4
You have finished at least 3 games, ever
A new player gets through their first few games without seeing one at all. The counter is for the lifetime of the install, not the session.
Condition 3 of 4
At least 3 games since the last one
Not three since you opened the app. Three since the last full-screen ad you were actually shown.
Condition 4 of 4
At least 3 minutes since the last one
A wall clock as well as a counter, so three quick games of Tic Tac Toe cannot stack ads up behind each other.
There is a fifth condition in the code, that ads have not been removed by purchase. It has something to check: the shop sells an ad-free week and an ad-free forever, and a player who has bought either sees no interstitials, banners or optional video offers. Hints and continues keep their coin prices; if the balance is below the price, the use is included while the ad-free pass is active.
Where a banner can be.
On the app’s five tabs: Games, Rewards, Leaders, Profile and Shop. Nowhere else. A game screen is not part of that layout, which is why a banner cannot appear underneath a board you are playing on. It is not a rule somebody has to remember, it is where the component is mounted.
- No automatic ad between a menu and a game, or between levels.
- Optional rewarded videos may be offered for one extra hint or continue. They start only when you choose Watch ad, with a coin option and Not now alongside. Confirmation requires the ad server. At most five attempts per account in 24 hours, with three minutes between full-screen ads. Availability depends on the build and ad service.
- No ad chosen from a profile of you, unless you have told the app you are 13 or over.
- No selling of personal information.
Contextual advertising, by default.
PlayBurst is a general audience app rather than a children’s one, and rather than ask every player their age, it applies children’s advertising protections to all of them until a player says otherwise. Those are not in tension: personalised advertising would mean knowing you are an adult, that would mean an age gate in front of the games, and we would rather give up the revenue than put a question in front of 48 games nobody needs to be qualified to play.
Contextual by default
Google AdMob is instructed to treat you as a child for advertising purposes unless you have told the app you are 13 or over, which switches off personalised and interest-based selection. While it is on, ads are not chosen using a profile of you or what you have played.
G-rated
Ad content is capped at a “G” rating, the most restrictive setting AdMob offers. That one applies to every player, at every age, with nothing that turns it off.
One question, once
The only thing PlayBurst asks about your age is a year of birth, on the friends screen, the first time you would be put in touch with another player. It is asked once and cannot be retyped. An answer under 13 stays on your device; an answer of 13 or over is stored on your account too, so that turning the friends feature off cannot be undone by reinstalling.
Answer that question with a year making you 13 or over and the protection above stops: from the next launch, advertising for you can be personalised. Answer younger, or never open the friends screen at all, and it stays on. Deleting the app takes the copy on the device with it; a stored year goes when you delete your account.
The full detail is in the privacy policy.
Questions
About advertising.
Does PlayBurst show ads?
Yes, PlayBurst is free and ad-supported, but an automatic full-screen ad has to clear three limits at once. It can only appear after a game has finished, and only if you have finished at least 3 games in total, at least 3 games have passed since the last full-screen ad, and at least 3 minutes have passed since the last one. No automatic ad interrupts a game. Where available, you can choose an optional video for one extra hint or continue, with a coin option and dismissal alongside.
Does PlayBurst use personalised advertising?
Not unless you have told the app you are 13 or over, which almost nobody will have. PlayBurst is a general audience app rather than a children’s one, and it still instructs Google AdMob to treat you as a child for advertising purposes, which switches off personalised and interest-based ad selection. That is deliberate: personalised advertising would mean knowing you are an adult, knowing that would mean an age gate in front of the games, and we would rather give up the ad revenue than put a question in front of the app. The one age question there is sits on the friends screen, so a player who never opens it stays on the protective setting forever. Ad content is limited to a G rating either way, for everybody, at every age.
Is PlayBurst free?
Yes. All 48 games are free and there is nothing to unlock. The shop sells coins and removing the ads, and that is the whole of it: no game sits behind a purchase, and nothing you buy gives you a game somebody else does not have.
Are hints free or do they cost coins?
Your first 3 hints each day are free, shared across games that offer hints. The allowance resets at 00:00 UTC. After that, an extra hint costs 100 coins, or you can choose an optional rewarded video where available. The button and offer show the allowance or cost before use. A connection is needed to check and claim hints. Undo, instructions and Hangman's fixed clue remain free.
How do hints and continues work if I have removed ads?
An active ad-free pass removes automatic ads and optional video offers. Hints and continues keep their regular coin prices. When your balance is below the price, the use is included with your pass and no coins are deducted. The offer says this before you use it, and the benefit lasts while the pass is active.