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Google removed my ads-free app for “deceptive ads”

purpleleafsoftware.com

41–50 of 336 posts

Re: Google removed my ads-free app for “deceptive ads”

#41
post #34
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> back to a time that never existed Personal PCs were just this back in the 90's and 00's. Microsoft tried to create a walled garden, but it failed due to the world wide web . Google and Apple saw how Microsoft failed and decided that the app store would be a first class citizen on day one and that the mobile web [1] would be an afterthought. They learned from Microsoft's mistake and used their positions to make app…

Actually, you've got that history a little backward. The original iPhone had no App Store and had only web apps; that was the promoted way to develop for the platform. It was only after the phone's release and the mad clamor from developers to be allowed to develop native applications that an SDK was released and the App Store created.

My mistake. Thank you for correcting me.

Re: Google removed my ads-free app for “deceptive ads”

#42
post #8

Can we sue Google when they do things like this? No single entity should wield this much power. And we should rewrite the laws to make this so. Google and Apple wanted to be in the role of gatekeeper, so they should be beholden to the apps on their platform. We had a web where developers were in control of their own deployment. Everything was decentralized and required responsibility and diligence. Now the power is o…

No you can't sue them. Nobody has a right to publish apps on Google Play. They can be as arbitrary or incompetent as they like in what they do. As long as they aren't violating some protected class criteria, there's not much a court is going to do.

Google hasn't taken away anything. There is still a web and you're free to deploy what you want there on your terms.

(Edits to correct Google's autocorrect errors.)

Re: Google removed my ads-free app for “deceptive ads”

#43

Why anyone would develop apps for Apple/Google duopoly is beyond me. Right, I get that you may need the money - but if your livelihood depends on money earned from making this world a worser place perhaps it is time to gut check and determine what really is your purpose and best use of time; maybe (easy) money is not all it's cut out to be in that context.

I think I'll go work for a defense contractor instead.

Re: Google removed my ads-free app for “deceptive ads”

#44
post #25
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Before Google and Apple, I didn't have this problem. I didn't have to pay their tax or march to their beat. You still don't! You don't have the play by their rules, and you can still target everyone who has a non-Google or non-Apple phone, which as a target market is appreciably no one, much as it was before Google and Apple entered the phone market. You can target them if they have phones produced by your hated ma…

FWIW you can target Google phones outside Google Play too. You just need to tell the user to enable some settings and download an APK.

What could possibly go wrong....

https://fox5sandiego.com/2019/01/17/fortnite-security-flaw-e...

Re: Google removed my ads-free app for “deceptive ads”

#45
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We need similar laws to protect startups, small businesses, and sole proprietors Yeah, because laws protecting inefficient business are great for society and consumers. No business "deserves" protection. Consumers do, but not business.

App stores are monopolies, and their governance leaves much to be desired (as is the subject of this article). I'm fine paying the AWS tax. It's a generic utility more or less and I can just as easily use Azure or Google (assuming you're not baked into certain offerings, but that's out of scope and honestly is a choice .) If you want on Android there's no choice. You play by Google's rules and pay their tax. People g…

So do you feel the same way about console makers? Every game that ships for any console has to be approved by the console maker - including physical media. It’s been that way since the 80s.

Re: Google removed my ads-free app for “deceptive ads”

#46
post #26
post #8

Can we sue Google when they do things like this? No single entity should wield this much power. And we should rewrite the laws to make this so. Google and Apple wanted to be in the role of gatekeeper, so they should be beholden to the apps on their platform. We had a web where developers were in control of their own deployment. Everything was decentralized and required responsibility and diligence. Now the power is o…

Not a lawyer, but anti-trust could apply.

No it can't, Google isn't the only "App Store" in town, and you are not forced to use them, so it in no way could apply.

Re: Google removed my ads-free app for “deceptive ads”

#47
post #8

Can we sue Google when they do things like this? No single entity should wield this much power. And we should rewrite the laws to make this so. Google and Apple wanted to be in the role of gatekeeper, so they should be beholden to the apps on their platform. We had a web where developers were in control of their own deployment. Everything was decentralized and required responsibility and diligence. Now the power is o…

I was wondering if there is any legal recourse for a situation where:

1. I create a business that operates inside a marketplace that you own. 2. We have an agreement that says you will allow me to operate as long as I don't violate your terms of service. 3. I am kicked out of the marketplace but did not violate the TOS.

If there was a line in the agreement that the either party could terminate the agreement at anytime for any reason, I guess the TOS doesn't really matter. But is that what exists right now in these app stores?

Re: Google removed my ads-free app for “deceptive ads”

#48
post #42
post #8

Can we sue Google when they do things like this? No single entity should wield this much power. And we should rewrite the laws to make this so. Google and Apple wanted to be in the role of gatekeeper, so they should be beholden to the apps on their platform. We had a web where developers were in control of their own deployment. Everything was decentralized and required responsibility and diligence. Now the power is o…

No you can't sue them. Nobody has a right to publish apps on Google Play. They can be as arbitrary or incompetent as they like in what they do. As long as they aren't violating some protected class criteria, there's not much a court is going to do. Google hasn't taken away anything. There is still a web and you're free to deploy what you want there on your terms. (Edits to correct Google's autocorrect errors.)

Didn't they take away the level playing field when they created the playing field?

Re: Google removed my ads-free app for “deceptive ads”

#49
post #8

Can we sue Google when they do things like this? No single entity should wield this much power. And we should rewrite the laws to make this so. Google and Apple wanted to be in the role of gatekeeper, so they should be beholden to the apps on their platform. We had a web where developers were in control of their own deployment. Everything was decentralized and required responsibility and diligence. Now the power is o…

> No single entity should wield this much power. And we should rewrite the laws to make this so. I think in fact a lot of people do want them to do this. Folks complain the Play store is full of malware and spam, and that there are data leaks and deceptive ads. Then Google or Apple goes and removes them, and then folks are mad if that process has errors. It seems like a business where you make everyone mad no matter…

The problem and solution are one and the same. Google is trying to automate tasks that are nowhere near ready for automation.

This doesn't even really make any sense either. You might argue its because they're huge, but the numbers don't add up. Google netted about $31 billion in 2018. It's hard to tell exactly how many apps are published on Google Play per year, but it seems to be in the ballpark of 200,000 [1]. Let's hire some low wage employees to spend just 1 hour per app which is generally enough time to determine if an app is at all legitimate. That's obviously 200,000 man hours. Creating these jobs in the USA could be done for about $10/hour, or $2 million, or a minuscule fraction of 1% of their their annual net income. Problem solved, happy customers, happy developers, jobs created.

But Google gonna Google. Though even here if they really wanted to Google, they could even hire these guys in e.g. India or wherever and pay a fraction of even that fraction of what they'd have to pay if they created these jobs in the US. But I'm certain they've Googled that the $ cost of pissed off customers and developers is less than the $ cost of providing a decent solution.

The one confounding issue here might be that the 200k is lowballing the number of apps. After all that's only the apps that are published, not the ones that are refused publication. But all of the above holds true even if you push it up to 2,000,000 apps trying to publish per year. Perhaps the more salient point is that Google also charges $25 before you can even try to publish an app. Why not direct that money to a human being and actually have a half decent review process? That same human being might even be able to answer complex questions like, "Hey, I don't even have any ads in my app. Why was my app removed for deceptive ads?" in a timely fashion.

[1] - https://www.statista.com/statistics/266210/number-of-availab...

Re: Google removed my ads-free app for “deceptive ads”

#50
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No you can't sue them. Nobody has a right to publish apps on Google Play. They can be as arbitrary or incompetent as they like in what they do. As long as they aren't violating some protected class criteria, there's not much a court is going to do. Google hasn't taken away anything. There is still a web and you're free to deploy what you want there on your terms. (Edits to correct Google's autocorrect errors.)

Didn't they take away the level playing field when they created the playing field?

They built a nice new field with a wall around it and guards at the gates. The old open field with all the weeds and litter is still there.
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