The history of the blocked application

A few days ago I wrote in this article about the details of how you can download videos from YouTube. In the same article there was a link to an Android application using the described algorithm. In the comments to the article I was warned that the application may soon be blocked, because it violates the rules for using the service YouTube. And so it happened ... Two days after publication, the application became unavailable for installation from the Android Market. The purpose of writing this article: to show by example what real sanctions Google is expecting a developer if his application turns out to be “outlawed”.
If interested, welcome under cat.


First, here are some statistics:

• Almost 48 hours have passed since the publication of the lock;
• During this time, the application has been installed 26,943 times;
• Thanks to the built-in advertising, I earned about $ 100 (although I could not remove them, details are below).

Developing YouTube Downloader, I did not expect that such an application would enjoy such wild popularity. Considering that I did not make any special efforts to somehow promote it, except that I posted on my Facebook, Vkontakte pages, Twitter messages like “I wrote a new application, if you can install it interestingly”. The development of the code took about 8 hours in total. Naturally, there was no special design there, as in design I am not too strong. Purely for the sake of interest, I also built into the application 2 of the smallest banners (320x50) available in the AdMob system. The app was free. There was a thought to make it paid, but I am from Ukraine, therefore at the moment it turned out to be impossible.
Within a few hours after publication, there were more than a hundred installations. Along with the installation went and clicks on the banners. Initially, the increase was about $ 0.5 per hour, then more and more. By the beginning of the second day on the virtual account was already about $ 40. I have already decided that I came across a gold mine. In my mind, I imagined that at six months I would be dissecting at a BMW-Z4 in my native city at that rate. But it was not there…
After another update of the statistics page in the market, I saw that the application had switched to the status of “Suspended”.


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Almost at the same time, a letter came from the following support:

Hello,

This is a notification that the application has been removed from the YouTube Market Report. Please review the Content Policies , Developer Distribution Agreement , and the Business Applications Program . Please also consult our guidelines on rating your application . It allows for it; Please make a comment and you’re compliant with the above Terms.

If you’re on your own account, you’ll be able to follow your account.

The Android Market Help Center for additional information.

Thanks,
The Android Market Team

Of course, I was upset, but I was not surprised (I was warned) and first went to read YouTube’s rules for using the service and found a point according to which you can definitely say: downloading videos from YouTube is prohibited (unless otherwise indicated). Here is an excerpt from the rules:

IS IS. You can access the Terms of Service. You can’t download any content. You must not have the copyright law. Identity Service and the Content.

Thus, all downloaders, services, scripts, browser extensions and similar utilities are outlawed. You can download only allowed for downloading videos, and everything else is from the evil one.
But the blocking of the application did not end the sanctions. The next day I tried to log into the AdMob account to check how much it “dripped” and could not do it: the account was blocked. Official message at login:

For account activity violations. For example, it can be found that there is a rule of thumb, that is, surf, autosurf, and click-exchange programs, or any any deceptive software. If you have any questions, we can take it.

It turns out that all that was earned with the help of an illegal application can not be obtained, it is not worth feeding false hopes. Moreover, the only way to get your account back is to fill out this form and count on the administration’s condescension. But that's not all. If the account is not unblocked, and you create a new one and this new account will be found out in connection with the blocked one, then the new one will be blocked. It turns out a life ban and in the future you can forget about making money on your applications with the help of AdMob. And this is already a pretty serious demotivator ...

findings

• The wave is real for a short time and without much investment to write a popular application that will bring a good additional income;
• Before you publish an application, you should make sure that it does not infringe copyrights and does not use illegal content;
• If the application violates someone’s rights or uses illegal content, it will be blocked;
• If an illegal application showed ads for AdMob, the corresponding account will also be blocked for making clicks and getting it back will be extremely difficult.

Instead of epilogue

I told this story to show what consequences await you if you inadvertently approach the issue of copyright infringement. However, if you are the same as me, then you probably decide to take a chance. What if it blows over? ..