Earlier this week we had talked about how fake VPN apps which only serve ads were filling up the Play Store. We are glad to see that Google is taking some cognizance of this widespread issue, taking cheating developers to task. Google also banned cryptocurrency miners, which utilize the phone’s CPU/GPU to mine cryptocurrencies.
Apart from this, Google is also banning apps which have “repetitive content.” Google describes as “multiple apps with highly similar content and user experience,” or “apps that are created by an automated tool, wizard service, or based on templates and submitted to Google Play by the operator of that service on behalf of other persons.” If you want an example of this try searching for ludo apps on the play store, and you will have a fair idea of what that means.
For apps that try to mislead users, Google categorizes them as apps or developer accounts that impersonate any person or organization, or which misrepresent or conceal their ownership or primary purpose.
Google has also banned applications that “facilitate the sale of explosives, firearms, ammunition, or certain firearms accessories” are now banned. This includes apps that provide instructions for users to make their own guns/ammunition/accessories, or to convert a weapon to be semi-automatic/automatic using accessories.
Source:Â Google Play Developer Policy Center
