Prohibited content on Google Play - quest for survival
The article provides the official rules from Google Play, which is considered prohibited content and should not be published. ( Version of the rules of June 2019 )
The article will be useful to the following groups of persons:
Fake Slap! - it was also removed from Google Play. Here the violation is obvious, but in many other cases it is not.
First, the subjective assessment of the rules with reference to the article-examples of the problems described, the rules themselves at the end.
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There are quite a few rules and they are updated frequently. Almost always upward. Rereading them takes a lot of time and nerves.
The rules are often described indistinctly - this is Google’s official policy of which they are proud. The motivation is: “It is impossible to describe all cases of abuse. And the offenders themselves understand when they go for a violation. ” There is a rational sense in this, but the whole salt, as always, is in the details.
The application can be banned automatically by Google’s AI and moderator. In this case, the developer does not receive a clear indication of the cause of the ban. The reason is the same: “the offenders themselves understand when they are going to violate”. However, the problem is that it’s very difficult for developers to find out what the verifier didn’t like and it’s natural to guess which of the vague rules worked for them?
Here, by the way, the bright side of the service appears. Really dumb applications are very difficult to find, especially if you do not do it purposefully.
If the developer will be issued several strikes in a “short” period of time (about 3 in six months), then the developer account will be deleted. This means that all developer applications will be deleted, and at the same time all other Google services: YouTube account, google mail, google disk, google documents and others.
A ban in Google for life "on the passport." This is especially frightening, considering how strongly this giant Alphabet is growing (Google's head company).
Ban may not be so hard, there are cases of temporary blocking of all applications. No clear dependence was revealed - most likely it depends on account size, the largest ones can be saved.
Here is a typical algorithm for those lucky [ 1 ]:
Those who are not lucky (the majority ) are stalled at point 2, since it is very difficult to raise the hype. And each time it only becomes more difficult, because similar informational channels quickly become boring.
The situation is still spoiled by the bloated privileges of major rightholders. They have the opportunity to ban any application for any connection with their brands. There are cases of overt abuse. The situation with such arbitrariness is identical to the situation in YouTube.
Finally, I want to add that Google provides very good quality services. Many (but not all) of them are free or very cheap: google mail, google documents, google disk, YouTube is generally the leader in video hosting. What recently can not be said about the setup with Google maps:
As a result: Google is often a very useful company for consumers and very risky for development partners, especially small ones. As you can see, the articles listed cases of obvious violations of developers, but the punishment in the form of a life ban looks insanely harsh. Google has long abandoned its “Don't be evil” (including officially).
Strange as it may seem, in view of what was written, I still like Google and use its services. Probably, I like the mouse that cried, injected, but continued to eat the cactus.
Google Play is used by people from all over the world. Before you publish the application, make sure that it meets the requirements of our service and the laws of the country in which you distribute it.
It is strictly forbidden to publish applications in which minors are depicted in a sexual context, as well as applications intended for children, but containing materials for adults.
If we find such applications, we will immediately remove them from Google Play, report them to law enforcement agencies and remove the accounts of all users who participated in the distribution of this content.
We are committed to ensuring that all users are safe and comfortable on Google Play. The following are the types of content that is considered inappropriate and may cause harm to people.
It is forbidden to publish applications that contain or promote sexual material, such as pornography. In general, we do not approve of content and services designed for sexual satisfaction.
Here are examples of the most common violations:
It is forbidden to publish applications that promote violence or incite hatred of any persons and social groups on the basis of racial, ethnic or national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity and other signs that may cause systematic discrimination or marginalization.
It is forbidden to publish applications depicting unpunished violence or other dangerous acts, as well as contributing to such actions.
Here are examples of the most common violations:
We do not allow terrorist organizations to publish applications on Google Play for any purpose, including recruitment.
Also, you can not post content related to terrorism, such as promoting terrorist activities, calling for violence and glorifying terrorist acts. If such content is contained in your educational, documentary, scientific or artistic materials, accompany it with the necessary explanations so that users understand its purpose.
It is forbidden to publish applications that speculate on tragic events (natural disasters, cases of cruelty, conflict, death, etc.) or expressing extreme disregard for them.
Here are examples of the most common violations:
It is forbidden to publish applications containing threats, bullying and harassment, as well as contributing to such actions.
Here are examples of the most common violations:
It is forbidden to publish applications with which you can purchase explosives, firearms, ammunition, as well as some parts for firearms.
Prohibited parts and accessories that allow you to simulate an automatic fire or are designed to convert weapons into automatic, including movable lodges, automatic release devices, sets for conversion of weapons, as well as shops and ribbons containing more than 30 rounds.
It is forbidden to publish applications containing instructions for the production of explosives, firearms and other weapons, ammunition, as well as prohibited parts for firearms. This also applies to instructions on how to imitate automatic fire or to convert a firearm to automatic.
Of course, there are positive aspects of such a line of conduct. There is much less debris in general use than it could have if there were no control at all. However, the draconian policy with a perpetual life ban, already traditional double standards and the complexity of working with support services in critical situations brings sadness.
The article will be useful to the following groups of persons:
- Application developers, and especially games that skip reading these rules, and then wonder why they were banned.
- Users who can appreciate why developers are afraid of Google moderation. This will help to look at the problems from the other side of the “barricades” at the “lazy developers”.
- Who cares in which set of pixels you can see Sheriff Woody from Toy Story.
Fake Slap! - it was also removed from Google Play. Here the violation is obvious, but in many other cases it is not.
First, the subjective assessment of the rules with reference to the article-examples of the problems described, the rules themselves at the end.
')
There are quite a few rules and they are updated frequently. Almost always upward. Rereading them takes a lot of time and nerves.
The rules are often described indistinctly - this is Google’s official policy of which they are proud. The motivation is: “It is impossible to describe all cases of abuse. And the offenders themselves understand when they go for a violation. ” There is a rational sense in this, but the whole salt, as always, is in the details.
The application can be banned automatically by Google’s AI and moderator. In this case, the developer does not receive a clear indication of the cause of the ban. The reason is the same: “the offenders themselves understand when they are going to violate”. However, the problem is that it’s very difficult for developers to find out what the verifier didn’t like and it’s natural to guess which of the vague rules worked for them?
Why Android developers hate Google [ 1 ] - developers can't get a sensible reason for blocking an account.If the application has been banned by the bot, then you are given a general description of the violation, for example, “Rights of copyright holders are violated”. What rights holders and where exactly - it is unknown and you will not wait for explanations. It can be: the name of the application in the store, the description of the application, tags to the description, any of the screenshots to the application, the trailer to the application, the contents of the application. But in this case there is at least a direction where to dig.
Why block Google Play developers [ 2 ] - a big interesting list of cases with locks and the final result
7 main reasons why applications are blocked in Google Play and the AppStore [ 3 ] - there is a useful mention of the danger of keywords.If the moderator has banned, then the common sense roulette is turned on. Since the moderator can be subjectively provoked by anything, which the developer will never think. And the explanation of the reason may be generally arbitrary. But most often sent template responses, does not help in solving the problem.
Automatic locking of applications on Google Play [ 4 ].The presence of "nasty naked bodies" - this is just a guaranteed reason to embrace the problems of Google checks. Enough and "vile almost naked bodies," for example, using a bikini. Similar photos of AI Google has long been learned to identify automatically.
Here, by the way, the bright side of the service appears. Really dumb applications are very difficult to find, especially if you do not do it purposefully.
The dark side of Google Play - the lock was on the chest on the cover of a music CD in one of the screenshots (most likely, because there was no exact explanation) [ 5 ]But then the most interesting.
If the developer will be issued several strikes in a “short” period of time (about 3 in six months), then the developer account will be deleted. This means that all developer applications will be deleted, and at the same time all other Google services: YouTube account, google mail, google disk, google documents and others.
A ban in Google for life "on the passport." This is especially frightening, considering how strongly this giant Alphabet is growing (Google's head company).
Ban may not be so hard, there are cases of temporary blocking of all applications. No clear dependence was revealed - most likely it depends on account size, the largest ones can be saved.
Google does not forgive mistakes: confrontation with Google Play [ 6 ] - a story with a game over.There is an appeal, but you will be answered with standard answers without understanding the essence of the problem. There are compelling reasons to believe that these will almost always be AI responses. And then the only way to return then becomes hype in social networks or communication with influential journalists. In the absolute majority of cases, small and medium-sized developers fail to return.
Here is a typical algorithm for those lucky [ 1 ]:
- The developer suddenly discovers that his honest application has been dealt a blow, threatening earnings.
- The developer tries to correct the situation through the channel intended for this and receives a formal refusal.
- However, when the noise rises and what is happening notice real people in Google, they decide that in general it was not necessary to refuse.
Those who are not lucky (the majority ) are stalled at point 2, since it is very difficult to raise the hype. And each time it only becomes more difficult, because similar informational channels quickly become boring.
The situation is still spoiled by the bloated privileges of major rightholders. They have the opportunity to ban any application for any connection with their brands. There are cases of overt abuse. The situation with such arbitrariness is identical to the situation in YouTube.
Google and Apple against indie developers, copyright holders have managed to see a sufficient match on their sheriff Woody in the stereotypical cowboy [ 7 ].
Professor William Fisher posted a video lecture on “The Subject Matter of Copyright: Music.” On YouTube [ 8 ]. The lecture quoted excerpts from music videos (i.e., fair use), but Sony deleted this video for violations. Thanks to the scandal, this video was returned, but with a huge number of other authors, such a trick with their ears does not come out. There were cases of punishment for own performances of classical works - this is when bans are sent automatically, and these large companies are not responsible for mistakes.
How my app was blocked on Google Play - not the wording when using Google’s trademark words [ 9 ]
Finally, I want to add that Google provides very good quality services. Many (but not all) of them are free or very cheap: google mail, google documents, google disk, YouTube is generally the leader in video hosting. What recently can not be said about the setup with Google maps:
Google decided to make Google Maps a new billion-dollar business, raising prices 14 times and reducing the free use limit by almost 30 times, all with a minimum notice period [ 10 ].By the way, I still meet the sites of city hospitals where broken Google maps are installed. But for ordinary users, Google maps remain an excellent service (walking around the streets of Paris and remote villages around the world).
As a result: Google is often a very useful company for consumers and very risky for development partners, especially small ones. As you can see, the articles listed cases of obvious violations of developers, but the punishment in the form of a life ban looks insanely harsh. Google has long abandoned its “Don't be evil” (including officially).
Strange as it may seem, in view of what was written, I still like Google and use its services. Probably, I like the mouse that cried, injected, but continued to eat the cactus.
Google Play rules (section "Prohibited content") [ 11 ]
Google Play is used by people from all over the world. Before you publish the application, make sure that it meets the requirements of our service and the laws of the country in which you distribute it.
Violation of the rights of the child
It is strictly forbidden to publish applications in which minors are depicted in a sexual context, as well as applications intended for children, but containing materials for adults.
If we find such applications, we will immediately remove them from Google Play, report them to law enforcement agencies and remove the accounts of all users who participated in the distribution of this content.
Inappropriate content
We are committed to ensuring that all users are safe and comfortable on Google Play. The following are the types of content that is considered inappropriate and may cause harm to people.
Sexual Content
It is forbidden to publish applications that contain or promote sexual material, such as pornography. In general, we do not approve of content and services designed for sexual satisfaction.
Here are examples of the most common violations:
- Image of sex scenes or defiant poses .
- Promotional images of sex toys.
- Content describing, depicting or encouraging bestiality.
- Applications promoting an escort or other forms of sexual services for a fee.
Discriminatory language
It is forbidden to publish applications that promote violence or incite hatred of any persons and social groups on the basis of racial, ethnic or national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity and other signs that may cause systematic discrimination or marginalization.
Violence
It is forbidden to publish applications depicting unpunished violence or other dangerous acts, as well as contributing to such actions.
Here are examples of the most common violations:
- Realistic images or detailed descriptions of violent acts against a person or animal.
- Applications that promote suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, playing with asphyxiation, and other actions that could lead to serious injury or death.
Materials of a terrorist nature
We do not allow terrorist organizations to publish applications on Google Play for any purpose, including recruitment.
Also, you can not post content related to terrorism, such as promoting terrorist activities, calling for violence and glorifying terrorist acts. If such content is contained in your educational, documentary, scientific or artistic materials, accompany it with the necessary explanations so that users understand its purpose.
Tragic events
It is forbidden to publish applications that speculate on tragic events (natural disasters, cases of cruelty, conflict, death, etc.) or expressing extreme disregard for them.
Here are examples of the most common violations:
- Inconvenience towards the death of a real person or group of people as a result of natural causes, suicide, overdose, etc.
- Denial of the famous tragic event.
- Benefit from the tragic event without providing explicit assistance to the victims.
Bullying and Threats
It is forbidden to publish applications containing threats, bullying and harassment, as well as contributing to such actions.
Here are examples of the most common violations:
- Bullying victims of international or religious conflicts.
- Materials aimed at exploiting other people, such as extortion or blackmail.
- Placing materials to publicly humiliate someone.
- Attacks on victims of the tragic event, or on their relatives and friends.
Dangerous goods
It is forbidden to publish applications with which you can purchase explosives, firearms, ammunition, as well as some parts for firearms.
Prohibited parts and accessories that allow you to simulate an automatic fire or are designed to convert weapons into automatic, including movable lodges, automatic release devices, sets for conversion of weapons, as well as shops and ribbons containing more than 30 rounds.
It is forbidden to publish applications containing instructions for the production of explosives, firearms and other weapons, ammunition, as well as prohibited parts for firearms. This also applies to instructions on how to imitate automatic fire or to convert a firearm to automatic.
Conclusion
Of course, there are positive aspects of such a line of conduct. There is much less debris in general use than it could have if there were no control at all. However, the draconian policy with a perpetual life ban, already traditional double standards and the complexity of working with support services in critical situations brings sadness.
List of all articles
- Why Android developers hate Google
- Why block Google Play developers?
- 7 main reasons why they block applications in Google Play and AppStore
- Automatically lock apps on Google Play
- The dark side of Google Play
- Google does not forgive mistakes: confrontation with Google Play
- Google and Apple against indie developers
- The Subject Matter of Copyright: Music
- How to block my app on Google Play
- Google decided to make a new billion-dollar business out of Google Maps
- Google Play Rules - Prohibited Content
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/455946/
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