Quick explanation of what to expect from Google Play Store's three strikes system, from someone who knows.
Transcript:
Hello everyone, my name is Edrem
So with the new Play store rules forcing small time developers to publicly list
their home address, I thought it was a good time to bring up something
else Google does horrible wrong. The three strikes system for apps.
For developers out there, I'm going to go through what happens when your app is flagged,
from someone who has had it all happen to them, it's not a good experience, and even
a single strike can mess up your app forever.
So let me explain my situation, originally I had two apps on the play store, a free app,
and a paid key app that removed ads. It's a pretty simple setup as it means you
don't have to setup in app purchases, and lock yourself into a single app store.
Then one day, I received a notification from Google that my apps had been removed for
breaking the rules of the play store. A completely auto generated email, that listed
one of the broad sections of the rules that were being broken.
This is my first strike, but here is where things get messy.
You have two options to deal with this, you can either appeal, or upload a new non-infringing version.
Now if you appeal, it can take anywhere from several weeks to several months, and even then the appeal
will probably be turned down. During all this time your app isn't in the store, and you can't update it.
So most developers don't appeal, and instead go with the new version option.
Now when I say upload a new version, it's not quite that. you are actually uploading a completely new app
that is treated different to your old one. You have to start from zero again, no downloads, no reviews,
no purchases. Users who purchased your old app will find out one day that the thing they purchased
is back in the store, acting like they've never bought it, if you used in app purchases, everything gets
wiped. And about 1 to 2 months after the initial removal, if you have Admob, they will stop displaying ads too.
And this is all from a single strike, one offense. If you do put your app back in the store, you are now not
only competing with other apps, but your own older version. Users are not automatically updated to your new
version, because Google treats them as different apps. You have to try and regain all your previous users.
Now in my personal case this was terrible. With Admob no longer displaying advertisements, users had almost
zero reason to actually update. They might as well have the paid key, because no ads! It may not seem like
a big problem, but almost a year on from my first strike, and there are still several thousand users
of that original app, and I as a developer make nothing from it.
Imagine if a youtuber, who had a single strike against his account, had to then create a new account
with 0 subscribers, no videos, and couldn't tell his old followers about it, and that's basically what Play store is
doing.
So back to my app, turns out I actually had two strikes from a single offense, because both the free
version and the paid key being removed counted as two strikes. So further down the line I received a third
strike, and my account is gone now. This will probably never happen to most devs who receive a strike, but I
just want to talk about it quickly because Google gets really shitty now.
You are allowed to appeal the decision, however no matter how much info you give, how good your case is,
or what time of day you submit it, you receive an automated email 30 minutes later saying your appeal is rejected,
"We are unable to provide further details and will not respond to additional inquiries."
You, as a developer are banned for life, and any attempt to create new accounts will also be closed.
Not once in all this did I ever get a chance to talk to a human.
It's a terrible system, unfortunately most people blame the developer for this.
People go on about how three strikes system is fair and it's the developers fault
but I just want to explain that even a single strike can ruin you.
Anyway, my name is Edrem, and thanks for listening.
