Written by Krisztián Stark
Key takeaways
- As of October 2026, Google has announced no deprecation date for the Google advertising ID, and its Android documentation and Play policies still describe it as current.
- The planned replacement, the Privacy Sandbox on Android, was retired in October 2025, including Topics, Protected Audience, Attribution Reporting and SDK Runtime.
- The practical issue is that the ID reads as zeros in several common cases, such as user deletion, a missing AD_ID permission, or child-directed apps, so build measurement that also works without it.
Is the Google advertising ID being deprecated in 2026?
No. As of October 2026, Google has not announced any date to deprecate or remove the Google advertising ID (GAID, also called AAID), and it is still provided by Google Play services and governed by Google Play policy. Google did say in 2022 that it wanted to move Android advertising beyond cross-app identifiers, but the replacement it was building, the Privacy Sandbox on Android, was retired in October 2025. If you need the basics of what the ID is and how it compares with Apple’s IDFA, start with What are GAID and IDFA? This article covers only the deprecation question.
GAID deprecation timeline: what Google actually said
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Late 2021 to April 1, 2022 | A Google Play services update made the ID return zeros once a user deletes it in settings, first on Android 12, then on all devices that support Google Play. | Play Console Help |
| February 16, 2022 | Google announced the Privacy Sandbox on Android, aiming for ad solutions that work without cross-app identifiers, including the advertising ID. It said it would support existing ads platform features for at least two years and give substantial notice before future changes. | Google blog |
| Android 13 (API level 33) | Apps targeting Android 13 or later must declare the AD_ID permission, or they receive zeros. | Play Console Help |
| April 2025 | Google said Chrome would keep its current approach to third-party cookie choice and would not roll out a new standalone cookie prompt. | Privacy Sandbox blog |
| October 17, 2025 | Google retired most Privacy Sandbox technologies, including Topics, Protected Audience and Attribution Reporting on Chrome and Android, plus Protected App Signals, On-Device Personalization and SDK Runtime. The announcement does not mention the advertising ID. | Privacy Sandbox blog |
| February 2026 | Android’s developer page on the user-resettable advertising ID was updated and still presents it as the current solution, with no deprecation notice. | Android Developers |
| August 2026 | Google’s feature status page lists all six Android Privacy Sandbox technologies as scheduled for phaseout, without removal dates. | Feature status |
Confirmed, announced, or speculation?
Many articles still repeat the 2022 plan as if it were on schedule. Here is how the claims sort out against Google’s own pages.
- Confirmed. The advertising ID works today. Users can reset or delete it, and a deleted ID reads as a string of zeros. The AD_ID permission is required from Android 13. Google Play policy still sets the rules for using it, including respecting the ads personalization opt-out and never linking it to persistent device identifiers such as IMEI or MAC address without the user’s explicit consent. The Android Privacy Sandbox APIs are retired.
- Announced, no dates. Google says it will follow its normal Chrome and Android processes to phase out the retired technologies and will share updates. Its 2022 promise of substantial notice before any change to existing ad features has not been withdrawn.
- Speculation. Any 2026 removal of the ID, or an Apple-style consent prompt for it on Android. Some 2026 industry posts still describe the ID returning null on a growing share of Android 13 devices this year. We found no Google source for that claim.
What is actually changing for advertisers
The ID is not disappearing, but there are several common cases where it reads as zeros. It reads as zeros when the user deleted it, when the app reading it did not declare the AD_ID permission, and in apps for children. Google Play’s Families policy says apps that solely target children must not transmit the advertising ID, and apps for mixed audiences must not transmit it from children or users of unknown age.
Illustrative math: how much attribution depends on the ID
Say an app gets 10,000 installs from a campaign and 15% of them report a zeroed ID. A measurement setup that matches installs only by ad ID can credit at most 8,500 of them, and the missing 1,500 make the campaign look about 18% more expensive per install than it really was, because the same spend is divided by 8,500 installs instead of 10,000. The 15% is an example; check your own share in your MMP.
Because the Privacy Sandbox APIs were retired, there is no Google replacement to plan around. The fallbacks are the ones that already exist: the Google Play Install Referrer, click IDs, and server-to-server tracking with postbacks.
What advertisers, app developers and publishers should do
App developers
- Declare the AD_ID permission only if your app or an SDK in it really reads the ID, and disclose it in your Data safety form and privacy policy.
- Read the ID each time you need it. Android’s documentation says not to cache it, because the user can reset it while your app runs.
- Drop Android Privacy Sandbox work from your roadmap, and ask your SDK vendors to confirm they have done the same.
Advertisers
- Ask your MMP what it does when the ID is zeros, and what share of your installs that is.
- Prefer channels that confirm results with your own server events, so a missing ID does not mean a missing conversion.
Offerwall publishers
- Identify users by your own account ID, passed in a signed offerwall link, not by the ad ID.
- If your app passes the ad ID to any partner, send it only where policy allows, never from child-directed apps. Offerwall COPPA rules covers the age rules.
This is general information, not legal advice. Check the linked Google pages before deciding.
Results that do not depend on an ad ID
Sharklio does not need the advertising ID to credit a result. Publishers add the offerwall through a signed link, an iframe, or the Offers API, with their own user ID, and receive signed server-to-server postbacks for every credit and reversal. Advertisers pay only for approved results: task completions they review themselves, or offer steps their own server confirms by postback, with up to 15 paid steps per offer. See Sharklio for advertisers or Sharklio for publishers.
Related terms: SKAdNetwork and ATT on iOS and attribution in mobile marketing.
Frequently asked questions
Is Google deprecating GAID in 2026?
No date has been announced. Google’s Android documentation and Play policies still describe the advertising ID as current, and its 2022 plan promised substantial notice before any change.
Did the Privacy Sandbox on Android replace the advertising ID?
No. Google retired its main Android Privacy Sandbox APIs, including Topics, Protected Audience, Attribution Reporting and SDK Runtime, in an announcement on October 17, 2025, before they replaced anything.
Why does my app get an advertising ID of all zeros?
Usually because the user deleted the ID, or because your app targets Android 13 or later without declaring the AD_ID permission. Apps for children must not transmit the ID at all.
Is AAID the same as GAID?
Yes. Both names refer to the advertising ID provided by Google Play services. Google itself mostly calls it the advertising ID.
