Google learned how to filter fake installations on Android

The Google Play Store app store, familiar to users of the Android mobile operating system, is now able to recognize and filter out installations of fraudulent apps. Representatives from Google itself, Casey Nagayama, search quality analyst and Andrew An, product manager, have announced the expansion of functionality. The improvement was presented on the last day of October.

Google fights dishonest programmers

In August of this year, it became obvious that the situation with unfair competition among developers on the Google Play platform urgently requires control measures. A new feature designed to protect the integrity of the Google Store. Android-smartphone users should not worry if they can find a high-quality application and install it on their device without thinking about whether it is correct or “pirated”. This solution came to Google developers from the actions of third-party authors of some applications for Android-smartphones. Once the creators of the most mobile OS from time to time had to observe unpleasant situations with artificial manipulations of audience loyalty with the help of fake reviews and “fake” installations, as well as artificially increased ratings.

Position on the Google Play Store Platform

Google Play is literally swamped with similar applications, which sometimes even have similar logos. Choosing by rating and reviews has become more difficult. How do I know if a positive review was written by a sincere user or added on the instructions of application developers to attract more installations? Statistics show that more often the real reviews on the Internet leave dissatisfied users. A disappointed buyer has a higher motivation to communicate their emotions to others than the person who counted on a good purchase and received it. Positive reviews are rarely long - they are either short or none at all.
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How it works

Recognition and filtering systems are struggling with fraud attempts as follows. If the installation process behaves differently from the usual way and tries to change the rating of the application on Google Play, the systems will “notice” this and filter it out. In addition to this measure, the authors of applications that will continue the dirty game will most likely see that their work has been deleted from the Store. The company's policy does not apply to cases where the authors-developers are asking for help in promoting their work with the voices of their friends or a third party - a marketing agency. The main thing is that the methods should be legitimate.

Very loyal. As, however, and in Apple. Custom reviews and fake applications appeared relatively long ago. Back in 2014, Apple struggled with stranded reviews rather ingenuously - they were removed from the Apple Store by moderators. Manually. And the application received a real rating. And it remained in the Store. If you think about it, then offering on behalf of the company an abandoned application with a low rating and negative reviews will worsen the image of the author. So removal is even a softer measure. Since September 2016, the fraudulent apps are being removed from the Apple Store.

What do "tricky" developers

The impression of the application at the time of selection is based on the number of downloads, reviews, and the average value of the mark (rating). Scammers can use Trojans that fall onto a tablet or smartphone and capture system functions, as well as account data in Google Play. Then they are in the background, invisible to the owner of the device, they are engaged in giving marks to applications and send reviews previously written by someone for money. Such Trojans most often penetrate smartphones not through Google Play. A dishonest rating can be either for free programs or for paid ones. Trojans can use access to bank cards tied to a Google store. It also happens that competitors use illegal methods to reduce the rating of similar applications.



Cheating the image of the application not only does not work, but also makes the situation worse. Developers who do not comply with the rules of the Google Play Policy, themselves blocking the possibility of being open or get recommendations. As a result, end users suffer, installing not the best application, wasting time on its use, awareness of low quality, removal and subsequent search for the best version. Not to mention the fact that in the case of a paid application, money is also spent.

The difficulty of choosing a quality app in the store is confirmed by Derek Walter , the author of the guide on how to create your own Android app “Learning MIT App Inventor” . He writes that this is a difficult task even for Google.

The same problems

Google Play has the same problems as Appstore. The difference is that Android users are first sent to a page with personalized recommendations based on settings, and Apple's Top Chart is on a separate tab.

The Google team is trying its best to ensure that their platform is the best in the field of applications. Such that she could be trusted without checking. But in any case it is worth knowing a few rules to protect yourself additionally.

Practical tips for self-testing the quality of the application

• Pay attention to the language in which the review is written. Fake is often shipped with a lot of grammatical and stylistic mistakes.
• Also fakes contain clichés and common phrases that anyone can write, even if they are not familiar with the application. You know, like in horoscopes.
• Authors of dishonest reviews forget to add a fly in the ointment and write only words of praise. Obviously, this is very rarely possible. The objective user will always have a reason for dissatisfaction. Well, or restrained joy.
• Nickname of the user who left a review. It should be minimally sane. Different "vyvpm", "shf666" and other analogues should cause suspicion. This is understandable.
• Date of writing review. If you see a lot of texts sent in one day, then most likely it is the result of a massive download for a quick raise to the TOP.
• Too short one-syllable reviews like “wow!”, “Normal”.