If there’s one thing that’s arguably at the heart of the Android world, it’d be the Play Store. What used to be known as the Android Market has now become big business for Google, as well as a one-stop-shop for Android users looking for both apps and games as well as all manner of digital content. There are now more apps than we could possibly enjoy in a single lifetime, and given that many of them are pretty similar to one another, it’s perhaps not surprising that Google is cracking down on how apps and games can be promoted. The only thing that’s surprising is why they’re making these changes now, rather than some time ago.
The Google Play Developer Policy page has been updated with clear examples of what developers aren’t allowed to put into their app listing in the Play Store. These include things such as “user testimonials”, “excessive details” and perhaps most importantly “repetitive, excessive or irrelevant keywords”. That first example is perhaps a precursor to a big crackdown on fake user reviews that have been flooding the Play Store, as it’s far too easy for a developer to get someone to leave a fake review and then quote it inside their Play Store listing. As for the “excessive details” note, Google makes a clear example on their developer pages, showing off a Play Store listing that describes a number of different dogs, with the only difference between them being their color. The point is that they’re all dogs, and a color is not a major change, making the lengthy list of dogs excessive in Google’s eyes.
While this sort of clear and defined example of what developers can’t use in the Play Store is nice, it remains to be seen just what Google is going to do about those that have been caught violating these rules. Fake reviews have become pretty common in some parts of the world, and given how inaccurate the Play Store’s search can be thanks to the abuse of keywords and such, it’s clear that Google has their work cut out for them. Giving developers the tools to make sure they know what Google is looking for however, is a good way of staying on the side of the community.
