Google Play Custom Store Listings: When and How to Use Them

TL;DR: Custom store listings let you show a different app name, icon, descriptions and graphics on Google Play to a specific audience: visitors from one country, pre-registration visitors, lapsed or churned users, people arriving from ads, or anyone who opens a unique listing URL. Use them when an audience needs a different message, not just a translation of the same one.

A custom store listing is an alternative version of your Play Store page. The app people install is the same; only the listing changes. Google's help page describes what's customizable and what stays shared:

Two rules shape how you use them. First, the Metadata policy applies to every listing, so a custom page can't promise features the app doesn't have. Second, custom listings aren't translated automatically: visitors see the listing's default language unless you add translations yourself.

If your main listing isn't in good shape yet, fix that first with the Google Play store listing guide. A custom listing multiplies whatever quality your main listing has.

Each custom listing is tied to an audience. These are the options Google's help page lists at the time of writing:

Some limits apply. Each country can be targeted by only one custom listing at a time. Country targeting requires that your app is released and distributed there on production or a testing track. Churned and lapsed segments don't apply to new apps. And Google currently notes that ad-targeted listings appear only for part of your ad traffic, so expect fewer visits than your campaign totals.

Custom listings are powerful but every one of them is another set of text and graphics to keep up to date. Use them when the message genuinely changes:

• Different value in different markets. A hypothetical budgeting app that supports local bank syncing in one country should lead with that feature there.
• Win-back. People who left months ago need to hear what's new, not the pitch they already ignored.
• Paid campaigns. If an ad promises "meal plans for runners", the page it lands on should show exactly that.
• Pre-launch. A pre-registration listing can explain what the app will do before release.
• Partner or creator traffic. A unique URL lets you match the listing to the audience of one newsletter or community.

Don't create one when only the language differs. That's what translations of your main listing are for, and our app store localization guide covers that workflow. And never use custom listings to target keywords with irrelevant text; the same policies apply.

1. In Play Console, open your app and go to Custom store listings in the store presence section of the menu.
2. Create a new listing and give it an internal name that says who it's for, such as "Germany, bank sync".
3. Choose the audience: a country or region, pre-registration, a user segment, ads traffic or a unique URL.
4. Fill in the app name, short description and full description. Starting from a copy of your main listing and editing is usually faster.
5. Upload the icon, feature graphic and phone and tablet screenshots for this audience.
6. Add translations for every language this audience uses, because nothing is translated for you.
7. Save and publish. Expect the listing to go through Google's review, so publish it before any campaign that depends on it.
8. For ads, select the listing as a landing page in Google Ads. For URL targeting, share the listing link with its listing parameter.

The graphics usually take the most time. Keep the same visual style as your main listing so the brand stays recognizable, and change the headlines and screen order to match the audience. The feature graphic design tips apply to every listing you create.

A custom listing is a hypothesis: this audience converts better with this message. Check it.

• Compare like with like. Look at the listing's visitors and installs in Play Console and compare its conversion with your main listing over the same period.
• Give it traffic. Listings with few visitors may not show up in performance reports at all, and small numbers swing a lot.
• Test inside the listing. Google's help page says store listing experiments can run on custom listings too. See store listing experiments for setup.
• Retire what doesn't work. If a custom listing performs no better than the main one, delete it and save yourself the maintenance.

Apple's closest feature is custom product pages. They solve a similar problem but work differently.

The biggest practical difference: on Play you can change the name and description per audience, while Apple's pages keep your name and description and change the visuals and promotional text. More in our guide to custom product pages.

• Forgetting translations, so visitors see the wrong language
• Targeting a country where the app isn't released or distributed
• Running an ad that promises one thing while the listing shows another
• Building a churned-user listing for an app that has no past users yet
• Changing the app name so much that existing users don't recognize it
• Redesigning the app and leaving old screenshots on every custom listing