Google Play Store now tells you which apps have ads

New information could help you avoid at least some advertisements and tracking

Starting this week, Google Play now identifies apps that display ads while you are using them (WSJ)

Feeling irritated due to pestering advertisements on Android apps? Here is a quick-fix from Google that will help you skirt past apps with in-built advertisements (ads).

Starting this week, Google Play now identifies apps that display ads while you are using them. Any app on the store that has ads now shows a line of text will read "Contains ads" just beneath an ad-supported app's green install button. This is the same spot where Google has long pointed out apps that have in-app purchases.

"The goal is to provide more transparency and help users make more informed decisions," WSJ quoted a Google spokesperson while he was explaining why the company made the change.

The policy change also assumes significance as many apps not only show ads but add a layer of tracking personal information. A recent peer-reviewed study from Carnegie Mellon University found that many popular Android apps collected a user's location as often as every three minutes, and that 73% of the time, that location data is shared with an advertising network.

But don't get too happy as ads will still be embedded within apps as they are the bread and butter for developers on Android and typically apps on the Android store brings in less money than an app on the Apple app store. Also, ads are not the only way that developers track your data. So be careful when you grant permissions to your apps.