Getting verified by Google for OAuth consent screen?
Anybody have experience getting their app verified by Google when requesting access to "sensitive" APIs? Are you willing to share?
I have gone back and forth on email 4 times with Google over the last week, trying to get my app verified.
On the one hand, it's been frustrating -- they give vague templated answers that are hard to interpret and they only highlight one problem at a time, delaying the process.
On the other, they have always responded within 1-2 days (even on the weekend), and their requests have actually made my site better. It's been humbling getting advice from them :) I'm going to write a post about it when it's over.
Does anyone else have experience?
P.S. I'm requesting read-only access for user's Google Analytics data for www.usersentry.com
/cc @kamerontanseli
The one time I tried to get an app verified it was a very frustrating experience that did point out some flaws in the way I was attempting to use the service. Just like your report, the email exchanges were relatively quick but the guidance was vague and contradictory. Sorry to hear you are also struggling with this.
Thanks for sharing. Good to know my experience is not unique. Did you eventually get approved? I'm worried after all of this they might say "we've decided your application isn't suitable for our API...[more vague reasons]"
All that said, I've worked on applications that are susceptible to spam/abuse before and totally understand why they can't give people the script for getting approved.
I unfortunately did not, as I abandoned that particular project for unrelated reasons. I never saw the process through to the end.
At my last company we integrated with Gmail.
I get the impression Google outsourced the reviewing of their APIs. Some of the suggestions they come back with gave me the impression they had never used the service. Basic things like asking me change the scopes in a way that simply wouldn't work.
Yeah same, I get the impression they are not actually signing up for the service but just looking at the homepage.
Still, stick with it. If you're doing the right thing, you'll get improved eventually!
There should be a form you fill out to request verification, right? That form was broken for me for a long time, had to work with Google support to get the bug fixed that was preventing me from submitting it. But after I did, all communication ended there, and I believe I was approved. I was requesting the same scope, btw, GA read-only access.
Yup -- I submitted the form, it appeared to work, and they answered quickly.
They had nits about the wording of the privacy policy, the styling of the button that triggers authorization, how my website is described and how it enhances Google analytics, etc etc. I fully expect the next email will come with some other minor thing to update.
@csallen What type of app/feature were you building that require GA read-only access?