Google Play Purge: Google to remove millions of apps from the Play Store

36015-google_play_teaser

Over the past 24 hours, Google has sent out notices to developers globally with the intimation to either remove or “limit visibility” of the so-called zombie apps! These android mobile apps are primarily the ones that have violated Google’s User Data Policy in one or the other way. For most developers, the primary violation is the lack of a privacy policy.

Google’s plan to fend off these apps, littering around the play store is likely to affect millions of apps! The App Store also cleansed by removing close to 60,000 apps by the end of last year; simply strictly maintaining quality apps on the store. Post this, the Play Store Purge is surely coming where poor performers either won’t have the motivation or the know-how of creating a privacy policy.

The popular Hip-hop Ninja App Creator- Jack Cooney believes the move is a positive one, saying, “I think it’s fantastic, this will clear the Google Play store of so many junk and zombie apps that our games will find increased visibility on the store as the search terms will become much less cluttered.

This will make it easier for people to be able to find our app’s like Hop Hop Ninja! with better keyword searches like ninja or Nerd Agency and find much more relevant results.” (A previous pain point of developing for Android).

What Jack suggests here is significantly a common gripe among Android developers. After segmentation, what makes finding an app difficult is an overcrowded marketplace. The purge, a positive side effect of consumer privacy concerns, will certainly help clear the clutter to help users reach a more relevant search result.

The App developers who received the intimation have  until March 15, 2017, to make the addition to their apps, or as the email warns “administrative action will be taken to limit the visibility of your app, up to and including removal from the Play Store.”

Developers whose apps require sensitive permissions for access to phone, contacts, account, camera, microphone, pictures etc., but have no privacy policy are the primary group to have received the intimation. They have also been asked to provide a link to the policy in the Store Listing page and in the app as well. As an alternative, the app makers will have to altogether remove these permissions to sensitive data.

The purge will as well rival to the App Store Purge, in all certainty, making the discovery of the best Android Apps and Android Developers easier.

For app developers new in the industry, apart from knowing what can make users delete your app, now they also need to know what can make Google delete their app.

Thanks to The Next Web, we got a copy of the email. Here’s what it read:

google-warning

Guilty of Gluttony!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *