NEW DELHI: After years of ignoring apps that promise users "sexy" pictures or "desi stories", Google is finally cracking down on objectionable content in the Play store. The company has revised its guidelines for app developers and has added "erotic content" to the type of material that it will ban within the apps distributed through the Play store.
Earlier, only the "sexually explicit" content was banned.
The move is aimed at stopping the rising number of apps in the Play store that promise users sexy pictures or adult stories. Most of these apps are free, serve shady advertisements and are quite popular, especially among the first-time smartphone users.
Interestingly, Google is not only targeting the apps that serve "erotic" or "sexually explicit" content but also the apps that use inappropriate "icons, titles, or descriptions". This is likely to target some of the phone editing apps or games with titles like "Tear Clothes" (see the image).
Google has also updated its policy regarding advertisements within the apps. According to TechCrunch, the changes put the onus on app developers to make sure that no ad networks or affiliates they're using for app promotion is engaged in shady or deceptive practices.
The changes to the developer policies make it clear that an Android app must not use the SMS feature without explicit permission of a user and must not impersonate any other app in any way.
It also seems that Google is now actively curating the Play store, or at least making more efforts to check the apps that it deems objectionable. Until a few months ago, it was easy to find the list of "popular free apps" or "popular new apps" full of apps that promised users photos of "sexy Indian girls" or something similar. However, such apps no longer find a place in the popular categories anymore.
Earlier, only the "sexually explicit" content was banned.
The move is aimed at stopping the rising number of apps in the Play store that promise users sexy pictures or adult stories. Most of these apps are free, serve shady advertisements and are quite popular, especially among the first-time smartphone users.
Interestingly, Google is not only targeting the apps that serve "erotic" or "sexually explicit" content but also the apps that use inappropriate "icons, titles, or descriptions". This is likely to target some of the phone editing apps or games with titles like "Tear Clothes" (see the image).
Google has also updated its policy regarding advertisements within the apps. According to TechCrunch, the changes put the onus on app developers to make sure that no ad networks or affiliates they're using for app promotion is engaged in shady or deceptive practices.
The changes to the developer policies make it clear that an Android app must not use the SMS feature without explicit permission of a user and must not impersonate any other app in any way.
It also seems that Google is now actively curating the Play store, or at least making more efforts to check the apps that it deems objectionable. Until a few months ago, it was easy to find the list of "popular free apps" or "popular new apps" full of apps that promised users photos of "sexy Indian girls" or something similar. However, such apps no longer find a place in the popular categories anymore.
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