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Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

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Re: Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

#51

Post by AmericanChopper »

dollar wrote: post #3

The easiest way to identify a monopoly is to look at how badly a company can treat its customers and still get away with it. My company has a half dozen stories like this about Google in the last year alone. Know what Google is doing to its AdSense partners on a massive scale? They wait until your site has just under the earnings when they have to write you a check, then they terminate your AdSense account for “polic…

> The easiest way to identify a monopoly is to look at how badly a company can treat its customers and still get away with it.

I’m not saying your wrong in this case, but that’s not a very reliable measure. Companies that have the best product can treat their customers like shit. Companies that have the lowest prices can treat their customers like shit. Any company that has a strong competitive offering that’s not based on service can treat their customers like shit.

Re: Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

#52

Post by ArnoVW »

ddalex wrote: post #38
pnw_hazor wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Downvotes incoming! Other explanations from Google programmers: "the work is interesting"

Not having worked at Google yet, but having plenty of experience with other big companies: things are not black and white. There is no "evil" per se, it's just a shit load of conflicting interests, different priorities and different pressures at play: nobody wakes up in the morning and decides "I'm gonna fuck up this webmasters day today for the sake of it". It just happens that some innocent people end up in an unfo…

Nobody said it was easy to solve these issues without collateral damage.

The point being raised is that when you become a statistic, you have no recourse. Sort of like "we don't care, we don't have to, we're the phone company"

If this were some small fledgling start-up, that is to be expected. It costs money to get things right for everyone.

But this is a huge, profitable, mature company. And one that is playing a key role in our society. They must hold themselves to a higher standard than they are now. Or else, in the end, society will make them.

Re: Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

#53

Post by StanAngeloff »

We were banned from the Play Store for violation of their Impersonation policy in mid July after publishing an update. We just got reinstated last week. During the course of the lengthy appeal I had an unshakable feeling I was up against The System™. I still believe I was communicating with a bot and not an actual human being — I refuse to accept a rational human being will behave the way Bob from Google did.

It's such a stark contrast to developing a web app which you can _freely_ publish. When did thing go so horribly wrong?

Re: Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

#54

Post by _AzMoo »

dvfjsdhgfv wrote: post #30
pnw_hazor wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Downvotes incoming! Other explanations from Google programmers: "the work is interesting"

Just because the company is doing shitty things doesn't mean that every engineer does. Plus, imagine how it could work in reality. You finally got your place at Google. You know what the company is doing. And at some point you are asked to work on one of these grey things. What do you say, that it's immoral? If so, where exactly do you draw the line? Who is to decide what's still acceptable and what not? You've known…

> Who is to decide what's still acceptable and what not?

You are. Don't they teach people ethics anymore?

Re: Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

#55

Post by mtgx »

dollar wrote: post #3

The easiest way to identify a monopoly is to look at how badly a company can treat its customers and still get away with it. My company has a half dozen stories like this about Google in the last year alone. Know what Google is doing to its AdSense partners on a massive scale? They wait until your site has just under the earnings when they have to write you a check, then they terminate your AdSense account for “polic…

Has your company filed a complaint in the current DOJ investigation of Google?

All that it takes for the rise of evil is for good men to do nothing and all that.

Re: Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

#56

Post by Havoc »

StanAngeloff wrote: post #53

We were banned from the Play Store for violation of their Impersonation policy in mid July after publishing an update. We just got reinstated last week. During the course of the lengthy appeal I had an unshakable feeling I was up against The System™. I still believe I was communicating with a bot and not an actual human being — I refuse to accept a rational human being will behave the way Bob from Google did. It's su…

>When did thing go so horribly wrong?

When every company and their dog decided their content needs an app. Instead of using the nicely standardized thing called http and web browsers.

That moved us from http straight to corporate technical fiefdoms with no control.

Re: Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

#59

Post by pnw_hazor »

icebraining wrote: post #28
techntoke wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would want any company that is abusing their power to face consequences. However, it wouldn't surprise me one bit to find out that some of these companies complaining about getting banned are legitimately doing something wrong and their only cards to play are hoping for a political reaction, rather than suing Google in court and being exposed for why they were actually banned.

What would that lawsuit allege? Under contract law, companies have a right to terminate their dealings with others, for any or no reason. Maybe it would be good if there was a law restricting that for these platforms, but as far as I know, there isn't. So I don't see how a lawsuit could be successful.

The claim could be something related to interfering with their business.

"GOOG agreed to provide my company a service that we have reasonably relied on"..."GOOG struck my app for no cause causing my business damage..." and so on.

Though, in-real-life, people who use google services have probably agreed to terms to bar any such claim.

Re: Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

#60

Post by pnw_hazor »

Havoc wrote: post #58

My money is on the gaming battery life thing triggering some automated test Sorry to hear mate. Seems quite unreasonable

That does not explain why Goog doesn't treat people like humans.

If the app developer has been in good standing for years, and has a popular app, why not send them more information as to why they are in violation? And give them some time to fix it.

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