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Tell HN: You can't add “no ads” in your Play Store app's title

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Re: Tell HN: You can't add “no ads” in your Play Store app's title

#41

Post by NoGravitas »

PennRobotics wrote: post #2

Google's curation of the Play Store, while protecting their own economic interests, feels a bit like a dark pattern. The fact that adding " n" to most keywords prompts " no ads" in the suggestions shows how popular this is. If I search for "tuner", I get two sponsored results first, then five ad-containing results with average 4.4 rating, then an ad-free app with 4.9 stars. My preference would be searching by rating…

> But, what really works best (but never quickest) for many apps is to find an APK somewhere else, like Github.

My phone isn't totally de-Googled, but I always make a point of seeing if what I need can be found on F-Droid, and only searching the Play Store if nothing there will serve.

Re: Tell HN: You can't add “no ads” in your Play Store app's title

#42

Post by sneak »

SquareWheel wrote: post #7

I'm actually glad to see editorializing disallowed in app titles. If everybody did it, the store would be a mess. I mean, it's already a mess, but even more so.

Yes, this is definitely the reason, and it's unrelated to the fact that the store is operated by an ad company.

Lie to yourself, but please don't lie to others.

Re: Tell HN: You can't add “no ads” in your Play Store app's title

#43

Post by npteljes »

edent wrote: post #31

Good? What's the alternative? Have a crappy, paid-for, add filled, bloated app promote itself as "Cauliflower Cooker Lite - the #1 free cauliflower app. 100% ad-free". Metadata like file size, whether there are in-app ads or purchases, etc, should be part of the store's listing - not the title.

The alternative I'd like is making common user expectations into formalized properties of the software, making them visible and searchable. Like how it lists "Offers in-app purchases" currently, it could also list "Ad-free", "Free", etc.

Re: Tell HN: You can't add “no ads” in your Play Store app's title

#44

Post by hdjjhhvvhga »

edent wrote: post #31

Good? What's the alternative? Have a crappy, paid-for, add filled, bloated app promote itself as "Cauliflower Cooker Lite - the #1 free cauliflower app. 100% ad-free". Metadata like file size, whether there are in-app ads or purchases, etc, should be part of the store's listing - not the title.

> should be part of the store's listing - not the title.

How long has Google store been operating (under various names)? Over a decade I think. Do they know people would love to choose between apps with and without ads? Of course. Why they decided not to implement it in the listing? Because they live from ads. There is exactly zero chance they will do it as you propose.

Re: Tell HN: You can't add “no ads” in your Play Store app's title

#46

Post by NoGravitas »

diogenesjunior wrote: post #18
CynicusRex wrote: post #13

With “Aurora Store” you can filter out apps with ads, paid apps, or GSF dependent apps. Updating apps requires manually pressing “install”, but other than that it's pretty neat.

the problem i faced is that aurora store is disliked by google and my account was terminated. would recommend though.

I'm pretty sure you can use aurora store without connecting it to your Google account, though you can only install gratis apps this way.

Re: Tell HN: You can't add “no ads” in your Play Store app's title

#47

Post by npteljes »

anonymoushn wrote: post #21
diogenesjunior wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the problem i faced is that aurora store is disliked by google and my account was terminated. would recommend though.

Your google account was terminated because you installed a different app store on your phone?

Aurora offers to use some built-in account, which sometimes doesn't work, or to use your own. I guess OP used their own and got banned. Similar can happen to NewPipe etc users, Google doesn't like third party clients - allegedly.

Hacker news discussion of the NewPipe account ban incident: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21247759

Re: Tell HN: You can't add “no ads” in your Play Store app's title

#49

Post by jerf »

londons_explore wrote: post #40
elzbardico wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, we can expect the heat death of the universe before google does something that helps promoting apps that have no ads.

Most of their own apps have no ads... And google doesn't require a share of revenue for mobile ads either. Some users clearly prefer apps without ads, and will have a better user experience without ads. Google makes lots of product design decisions to attempt to improve user experience (even if they fail often). Therefore there isn't a clear incentive to prevent the user finding an app without ads.

If a Google app has no ads, it is because the information they are gathering feeds into the other ad algorithms enough to make it worthwhile. They are in an unusual position of being able to do that because of their size. (Not unique, but unusual.)

Re: Tell HN: You can't add “no ads” in your Play Store app's title

#50

Post by spaniard89277 »

NoGravitas wrote: post #41
PennRobotics wrote: post #2

Google's curation of the Play Store, while protecting their own economic interests, feels a bit like a dark pattern. The fact that adding " n" to most keywords prompts " no ads" in the suggestions shows how popular this is. If I search for "tuner", I get two sponsored results first, then five ad-containing results with average 4.4 rating, then an ad-free app with 4.9 stars. My preference would be searching by rating…

> But, what really works best (but never quickest) for many apps is to find an APK somewhere else, like Github. My phone isn't totally de-Googled, but I always make a point of seeing if what I need can be found on F-Droid, and only searching the Play Store if nothing there will serve.

Same here. Also, using aptoide for Android TV.
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