Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team
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Re: Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team
#2Google is equally horrible about adwords (and probably most other customer service related issues).
They terminated our adwords account saying that there was something wrong with the site it was advertising and giving a list of 12 extremely general things which might be the problem, none of which seemed to apply.
They also provided no way to respond or get in touch with anyone at all. Their advice was "fix whatever you think may have been the problem and try again".
This wasted a huge amount of time as we tried everything possible to fix the issue to no avail: they never said anything had been fixed and never sent more information.
Finally I got a contact at Google. They looked at our account, said it seemed to be a glitch, and reenabled it.
That's no way to do customer service and is one reason why I think Google should be broken up, if only so that each part is smaller and feels the need to be more accountable.
Re: Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team
#3Google needs to be clear on what causes apps to be removed, and based on account history should be way more lenient on what would cause account termination...
I.e. 4 years good standing 3 strikes, 5 years good standing 4 strikes, etc
Re: Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team
#4Google needs to be clear on what causes apps to be removed, and based on account history should be way more lenient on what would cause account termination... I.e. 4 years good standing 3 strikes, 5 years good standing 4 strikes, etc
I think part of their reasoning is that if they publish the rulebook, then people will find ways to misuse the services in a roundabout way. It’s easier to find bugs in source material you can see, than that you cannot.
I don’t agree with this, but I think it’s most likely the reasoning.
Re: Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team
#5Google is equally horrible about adwords (and probably most other customer service related issues). They terminated our adwords account saying that there was something wrong with the site it was advertising and giving a list of 12 extremely general things which might be the problem, none of which seemed to apply. They also provided no way to respond or get in touch with anyone at all. Their advice was "fix whatever y…
Breaking up Google has absolutely nothing to do with this problem, and is exclusively spiteful and childish. You can be better.
Re: Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team
#6Google is equally horrible about adwords (and probably most other customer service related issues). They terminated our adwords account saying that there was something wrong with the site it was advertising and giving a list of 12 extremely general things which might be the problem, none of which seemed to apply. They also provided no way to respond or get in touch with anyone at all. Their advice was "fix whatever y…
Breaking up Google has absolutely nothing to do with this problem, and is exclusively spiteful and childish. You can be better.
Google’s dominant position in the market is enabling it to abuse its position by treating customers unfairly and not as one might be treated if there was more competition.
I don’t think it’s spiteful or childish to suggest breaking up a monopoly in these circumstances although I would say less drastic options should be tried first.
Re: Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team
#7Google needs to be clear on what causes apps to be removed, and based on account history should be way more lenient on what would cause account termination... I.e. 4 years good standing 3 strikes, 5 years good standing 4 strikes, etc
Google doesn't need to do anything. There will always be more new developers entering than people kicked out, as there are only two practical places to sell phone apps, Google and Apple.
Disposition: "Will not fix."
Re: Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team
#8Without knowing more about the "sophisticated anti-piracy system" employed by the app author, it's hard to determine if Google's claim of malicious behaviour is valid.
This could be something as simple as bytecode obfuscation, or something as complex as scraping every bit of personal information available through possibly-questionable means and sending to an insecure server. Copy protection schemes are notoriously user-hostile.
Re: Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Breaking up Google has absolutely nothing to do with this problem, and is exclusively spiteful and childish. You can be better.
Google’s dominant position in the market is enabling it to abuse its position by treating customers unfairly and not as one might be treated if there was more competition. I don’t think it’s spiteful or childish to suggest breaking up a monopoly in these circumstances although I would say less drastic options should be tried first.
>I don’t think it’s spiteful or childish to suggest breaking up a monopoly in these circumstances although I would say less drastic options should be tried first.
You've shown your hand here, in a way, by suggesting that Google is a monopoly in this instance. Android devices can install apps via other sources, like F-Droid or Amazon, or even just by side loading. There's no denying that out of the box, most Android devices are setup to favour Google's Play Store, just as Amazon's Kindle devices are setup to favour Amazon's own store. Does this make them a monopoly? If so, what do we make of iOS?
Re: Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team
#10Google needs to be clear on what causes apps to be removed, and based on account history should be way more lenient on what would cause account termination... I.e. 4 years good standing 3 strikes, 5 years good standing 4 strikes, etc
I think part of their reasoning is that if they publish the rulebook, then people will find ways to misuse the services in a roundabout way. It’s easier to find bugs in source material you can see, than that you cannot. I don’t agree with this, but I think it’s most likely the reasoning.
Also, they like to give special privileges to favored entities. Some of these special privileges would likely be counter to any published rules.