Google is working on a new feature that will display a warning to users when they are interacting with a page that might charge them through mobile subscription. We are talking about services that send you bills as part of your mobile bill. For example, a gaming service that will charge you via your ATT or Verizon bill.

In Google’s own words:

Picture this: Andrea is browsing the web on a mobile connection to access a gaming page and they’re presented with a page that asks them for their mobile phone details.

They fill in the blanks with their mobile number and press and get access to the content.

The next month, the phone bill arrives and they see a charge they were not expecting. Was the subscription to the online gaming service really that expensive? Did they really agree to pay that specific price for the service? How much did they agree to be charged to access the content?

To avoid such situations, Google has come up with a set of best practices for sites that use mobile subscription.

Eventually, Google will notify webmasters who do not comply with these best practices, via Search Console.

If you are a webmaster with mobile subscription pages, read this blog post to find more about this new policy.