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Google terminated our start-up Google Play Publisher Account

android.jlelse.eu

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Re: Google terminated our start-up Google Play Publisher Account

#41

Post by supernes »

This has been going on for years, I've experienced it firsthand and have read dozens of reports from other people in the same situation.

If this was an error, it would have been fixed long ago. At this point in time I'm convinced it's a deliberate tactic - terminate an account once they start to get popular and see if they can pull enough strings or raise enough of a stink to have a human look at it.

Blaming an "algorithm" is becoming a very convenient way to abdicate from any responsibility for shitty business practices and biases against certain groups of people.

Re: Google terminated our start-up Google Play Publisher Account

#42

Post by wallflower »

zenexer wrote: post #39

For those of you wondering, it appears that the company mentioned in the article, GreenLionSoft [1], develops apps that show public transportation schedules in Spain, at least as of 2017 [2]. Their Google Play page still exists in some places but has been cleared of all apps [3]. I can't find Pablo A. Martinez's personal developer account; the closest match is com.pablomartinez, which belongs (belonged?) to a law for…

> Pablo, if you're reading this, please consider adding more info about the apps you published, ideally with links to back up your claims. It'll make your case stronger.

I strongly second this. If it is not clear, this means to please be clear on what your experimental and play apps were from the original personal developer account.

> My “personal publisher account”, was terminated last August 1th. I probably will never know why. It was mostly abandoned, I had just a few old apps just for testing features or make experiments.

Re: Google terminated our start-up Google Play Publisher Account

#43

Post by yulaow »

tokyodude wrote: post #22
athirnuaimi wrote: post #7

As someone who has built and published apps on both major platforms, this issue of not being able to speak to someone is a problem on the Apple platform as well (as on Googles). As mentioned in the article, it’s heart wrenching to receive an email saying there is a problem with your app and know that the app or the release you worked so hard on might not get published. Having a release rejected can also be as bad as…

I'd believe I'd rather just have a secure platform that's open to any apps, no gatekeepers. Kind of like the web. Almost anyone can make an website and no gatekeeper gets in the way. We mostly trust the browsers are secure (or at least I trust Chrome to be secure, maybe Firefox too soon). I feel like iOS in particular could already do this. They could just let users install apps from anywhere and then do their best t…

I believe it is _STRONGLY_ against apple/google interests to allow apps to be installed from anywhere especially considering they have an economic interest on their own marketplaces... actually I think they are soon gonna even discourage the use of webapps in subtle (eg on purpose performance hits on browser experiences) or not subtle ways.

Re: Google terminated our start-up Google Play Publisher Account

#44

Post by usrusr »

skilled wrote: post #3

Still not entirely sure what kind of apps this guy is making, are they legitimate? Otherwise, it looks like a reoccurring HN thing, where people plea for help while they're actually involved in some shady stuff. Not trying to accuse the author, of course. At the same time, it drives me nuts to see these kinds of flaws in the system. People get invested in a platform, and then one day that platform kicks you in the nu…

The showcase pieces in their portfolio are urban mobility apps. Doesn't get much less shady than that.

But the ad and in-app revenue streams mentioned in the article suggest that they have also been active in other fields. In-app purchases that still go on after account termination might be a hint in the right direction though: would IAPs via Play still be going on? External ("untaxed") IAPs are the biggest sin from the app-store's point of view. External purchases are allowed to be handled externally (e.g. paying for physical goods in the Amazon app), but definitions are not always clear and then it's all arbitrary judge-and-executioner.

Re: Google terminated our start-up Google Play Publisher Account

#46

Post by livueta »

cdmckay wrote: post #20
sbr464 wrote: post #16

Besides the point/argument laid out in the article, could you mention any possible reasons you think this may have happened? Would help to hear.

Exactly. From the wording of the email, it sounds like his previous ventures might have been doing something shady and those accounts are linked to the startup account.

> My “personal publisher account”, was terminated last August 1th. I probably will never know why. It was mostly abandoned, I had just a few old apps just for testing features or make experiments.

That's distressingly vague, especially when he provides screenshots of the recent termination emails. If there wasn't more to this, you'd expect the history of that other account, which is pretty clearly relevant here, to be laid out in a lot more detail.

I agree that Google is prone to arbitrary and Kafkaesque behavior, but this instance smells fishy.

Re: Google terminated our start-up Google Play Publisher Account

#47

Post by Semaphor »

southerndrift wrote: post #34
tokyodude wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd believe I'd rather just have a secure platform that's open to any apps, no gatekeepers. Kind of like the web. Almost anyone can make an website and no gatekeeper gets in the way. We mostly trust the browsers are secure (or at least I trust Chrome to be secure, maybe Firefox too soon). I feel like iOS in particular could already do this. They could just let users install apps from anywhere and then do their best t…

On Android, you already have this since you can install apps directly. There is no dedicated open store, but nobody is preventing developers from publishing their Android apps on their homepage.

> There is no dedicated open store

For FOSS at least, there is F-Droid.

Re: Google terminated our start-up Google Play Publisher Account

#48

Post by simonh »

putzdown wrote: post #18

This is what monopolization looks and feels like. Google Play is less of a monopoly within its ecosystem than Apple’s App Store is, but in both cases you have a monopoly that brooks no competition and is consequently unaccountable and, well, evil. The only way to fix this is to force Google and Apple to allow alternative markets/stores on their platforms.

iOS user so Ive no idea, but I thought they did? Isn’t there a setting in Android to enable sideloading, and lots of phone manufacturers include their own app stores, notably Samsung. Or is this comment a sarcastic ‘why don’t they just do X’, when everyone knows they already do X? In which case what dies the ‘brooks no competition’ comment mean? Honest question.

Re: Google terminated our start-up Google Play Publisher Account

#49

Post by yholio »

athirnuaimi wrote: post #7

As someone who has built and published apps on both major platforms, this issue of not being able to speak to someone is a problem on the Apple platform as well (as on Googles). As mentioned in the article, it’s heart wrenching to receive an email saying there is a problem with your app and know that the app or the release you worked so hard on might not get published. Having a release rejected can also be as bad as…

The final decision to terminate is usually taken by a human, not an algorithm. However, that human is not allowed to speak to you because anything they say is a potential liability in court or in PR terms.

Companies exist to produce profits for their owners. Without public regulation, you should not expect fair and faithful service. If you no longer represent a revenue opportunity - since they clearly decided just that - then you no longer exist.

The solution is often to try to align the incentives of the company with your own, with public shaming campaigns like this one.

Re: Google terminated our start-up Google Play Publisher Account

#50

Post by Santosh83 »

skilled wrote: post #3

Still not entirely sure what kind of apps this guy is making, are they legitimate? Otherwise, it looks like a reoccurring HN thing, where people plea for help while they're actually involved in some shady stuff. Not trying to accuse the author, of course. At the same time, it drives me nuts to see these kinds of flaws in the system. People get invested in a platform, and then one day that platform kicks you in the nu…

Shouldn't be up to the app store owners to provide evidence against an app and then remove it? Where is the transparency here? These are huge corps. They can well afford to at the very least state why they're blocking a certain app, not just to the dev themselves, but to the public as well. There's a power imbalance here and the onus is on Google/Apple/etc to do the right thing, the way I see it.
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