Google intends to make Play Store app ratings and reviews as legitimate as possible by delaying their publication.
The latest modification would delay reviews and ratings from real users by 24 hours. Google’s new policy targets questionable Android app ratings and reviews.
“To detect questionable Ratings or Reviews activity, we’re instituting a 24-hour wait,” Google noted in an advisory spotted by Mishaal Rahman (opens in new tab). “During this time, you can still see and comment to Reviews, but they won’t be public.”
Google’s new Play Store policy should eliminate phoney product reviews. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority investigated Google and Amazon last year to see if they “did enough” to prevent bogus reviews.
Google defines a phoney or spam review as an erroneous or repeated review. It classifies duplicate reviews as fraudulent or spam. Misrepresenting identity or ties also forbidden. Other guidelines are in place to help the community. It’s worked hard to eliminate spam and bogus reviews.
Google is introducing a delay of ~24 hours between when users submit ratings or reviews on Google Play to when they're published for others to see. This is to help reduce suspicious ratings or reviews activity, Google says. pic.twitter.com/ugO7Qeusaa
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) September 9, 2022
By providing a 24-hour delay for evaluations, developers and Google can sort through criticism. While a regular scenario won’t require this buffer, there have been incidents where a big rush of evaluations comes in, whether from sincere praise or vindictive venom. The review mechanism can’t be trusted if the reviews aren’t from actual app users. This new mechanism should protect developers, consumers, and Google Play Store reviews.
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