How to transfer transaction data using Custom Revenue after the suspension of Google Play Billing for users from Russia

March 22, 2022

The suspension of Google Play Billing

Developers were notified of Google Play Billing being suspended starting March 10, 2022. The official announcement was also posted on the Support Play Console portal.

According to it, “[the pausing means] users cannot purchase apps and games, make subscription payments or conduct any in-app purchases of digital goods using Google Play in Russia.” The company did not report on the timing of the suspension.

According to Google, existing subscriptions will continue until the end of the then-current billing period, but will not be able to be renewed and will be canceled. Free trials will continue to work until a payment is attempted.

Solution for app owners

If you opt for alternative payment methods in your app, such transactions can be sent to MyTracker as Custom Revenue (CR).

More information on Google Play's and App Store's policies on alternative payment methods can be found here:

Interaction with ad buying partners

Similar to payment postbacks, CR postbacks can be sent to partners to optimize ad buying.

CR data transfer process: useful tips for successful tracking

First, inform your app users about the alternative payment method. Once the transaction is verified by the bank, transfer the transaction data to MyTracker.

To successfully process a transaction via MyTracker system, you will need:

idApp – app ID in MyTracker;
customUserId – project user ID;
eventTimestamp – payment event time;
idTransaction – unique ID of the transaction;
Currency – currency code;
Total – payment amount (without taxes and commissions cleared).
For mobile app payments:
- instanseId – S2S device ID.
For desktop payments:
- lvid – S2S device ID.

Advantages and restrictions of Custom Revenue

CR advantages

Conventional metrics for revenue tracking: Revenue, LTV, First time payers, etc. For data analysis, you can add the Revenue Type dimension to separate Custom Revenue from other payment processing methods.

CR restrictions

You cannot specify the product name and revenue type (subscription, in-app purchase, ad monetization).
Payment verification takes place on the sender side, which means that in MyTracker, Custom Revenue transactions will be marked as verified.

Instructions

Custom Revenue in a nutshell

How to send Custom Revenue data to MyTracker

S2S tracking: data needed to collect the device and user IDs

Follow these instructions to get S2S device ID:

Tags: monetization