Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this. I am having a hard time finding a solution to my problem. I know this isnt the "correct" place for this post but XDA is the best and I know the answers are here.
I make applications for people and businesses. They pay me for my services. They are very simple apps that, for the most part, bring someones social medias to a single place with some other basic features. The issue I am having is that when I submit these app to google, they claim impersonation...
"This is a notification that your application, The Unofficial Futureman App, with package ID com.singlestoneapps.futureman, has been suspended from the Google Play Store. REASON FOR SUSPENSION:Violation of the impersonation or deceptive behavior provisions of the Content Policy. Please refer to the impersonation policy help article for more information.
If you are authorized to publish on behalf of the original content or brand owner, please contact us via the Google Play Help Center and attach verifiable and accepted proof of permission.
This particular app has been disabled as a policy strike. If your developer account is still in good standing, you may revise and upload a policy compliant version of this application as a new package name.
This notification also serves as notice for other apps in your catalog. You can avoid further app suspensions by immediately ensuring that no other apps in your catalog are in violation of (but not limited to) the above policy. Please also ensure your apps’ compliance with the Developer Distribution Agreement and Content Policy.
All violations are tracked. Additional suspensions of any nature may result in the termination of your developer account, and investigation and possible termination of related Google accounts. If your account is terminated, payments will cease and Google may recover the proceeds of any past sales and/or the cost of any associated fees (such as chargebacks and transaction fees) from you.
If you feel we have made this determination in error, you can visit this Google Play Help Center article."
This isn't the only one I had the issue with. I submitted "rebutles" for them and never heard back from google. At this point, my account has been TERMINATED. They are claiming that I am pretending to be these people in order to get downloads. Whats form(s) do I need to bypass this? Is there a generic form? How do I submit it to google in order to avoid this issue? Any other advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks again XDA
Related
Our app has been banned on Google Play and we don't understand the reason.
We are a small company that developed a rather simple application that shows the users a list of tasks and tracks completion of these tasks. Similar to JunoWallet but a different one.
The app had been released in May and everything was fine until a few days ago the app has been suspended in Google Play Market. The reason was described in the e-mail:
"This is a notification that your application, XXXXX , with package ID YYYYYY, has been removed from the Google Play Store.
REASON FOR REMOVAL: Violation of section 4.4 of the Developer Distribution Agreement.
After a regular review we have determined that your app interferes with or accesses another service or product in an unauthorised manner. This violates the provision of your agreement with Google referred to above."
We had no idea of could be possibly wrong, so we asked the Google if it might be a mistake, or result of miscommunication. In response I received this e-mail:
"We have reviewed your appeal and will not be reinstating your app. This decision is final and we will not be responding to any additional emails regarding this removal.
If your account is still in good standing and the nature of your app allows for republishing you may consider releasing a new, policy compliant version of your app to Google Play under a new package name. We are unable to comment further on the specific policy basis for this removal or provide guidance on bringing future versions of your app into policy compliance. Instead, please reference the REASON FOR REMOVAL in the initial notification email from Google Play."
Great but not really helpful. I'm not even sure where to ask or if I'm ever allowed to ask anything how to fix the app.
The list of tasks is provided by a famous global vendor that's integrated into thousands of apps, so it might not be the problem. The only idea we have regarding possible "unauthorised access" is that the app scans the list of installed packages to detect fraud with BlueStacks emulators. But this action doesn't require special authorization, and there are lots of application in the Play market that scan installed apps, even specialised ones, like "App List Backup".
We even could delete this functionality, if we were sure that it's a problem.
I'm pretty sure that we are not the only one who fell in such situation. Does anyone have any experience on how to work this out? Is it possible to approach Google and get practically useful feedback?
My was recently suspended too, for a different reason. Can you please tell me how long they took to reply to your appeal?
shararti said:
My was recently suspended too, for a different reason. Can you please tell me how long they took to reply to your appeal?
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Not sure about the exact number of hours but it was certainly less than a day
I remember there is a on-line feedback in google play, you could ask questions by online phones calls, although it may be not related to the apps, but i think it`s better to be solved by voice communication rather than pale messages,
PS. we`ve met this kind of problem with Apple, as they claim we`re violating the "unauthorized" kind of problem. And we`ve done the resummit that app(revised) back and forth, it`s a quite tough experience.:crying:
Iankicksass said:
I remember there is a on-line feedback in google play, you could ask questions by online phones calls, although it may be not related to the apps, but i think it`s better to be solved by voice communication rather than pale messages,
PS. we`ve met this kind of problem with Apple, as they claim we`re violating the "unauthorized" kind of problem. And we`ve done the resummit that app(revised) back and forth, it`s a quite tough experience.:crying:
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Yeah. But I was never able to get any number or anything from them. Officially I meant. The most informative thing I get from them was this text: "Thank you for your email. At the moment we're only able to respond to the emails submitted through our contact form in the Developer Help Center." And they simply do not have the form for direct questions. They suggest to use forum and never answer there.
My app was suspended 2 times
My experience:
1. I developed my next app. I Called it "Gmail Reader", and used a gmail-like icon with additional graphics around it. Not very wise probably - but as I saw hundred another apps having gmail logo in their icon, I thought it was OK. Aaand.. Suspended.
2. I wrote a reply to the suspension notification, and I got a machine reply. Then I replied second time, and finaly a man answered:
"While we are unable to provide specifics as to how to bring your app into compliance, please understand that usage of certain app titles and images may cause confusion among users who are searching for the legitimate app from the original creator. Please visit our Policy Help Center for more information and examples on our policy regarding Intellectual Property.
If we can assist you further, please let us know."
So That was it - the icon and the title, I thought.
3. So I repackaged, renamed, changed icon (drawn it myself). Instead of Gmail in the frist place I put "XYZ for Gmail". However, I noticed later, that I forgot in my screenshots on 2 places the previous icon - so not even in the main place, just somewhere in the screenshot.
Suspended again. This time, no answer, I filed an appeal, answered in half day - no dispute, app terminated. But i RECOMMEND to file an appeal - there is a form for that - as you might get closer to the reason why. I got this:
If your account is still in good standing and the nature of your app allows for republishing you may consider releasing a new, policy compliant version of your app to Google Play under a new package name. You can learn more about why your app was suspended by reviewing our policy on impersonation. We are unable to comment further on the specific policy
I have NO idea WHO the hell I impersonated. I would really like to know.. And even more I'd like to receive a warning before suspension.
Up in the corner of developers console there is a questionmark and in certain hours if you click it, instead of EMAIL you will see LIVE CHAT. From that chat I learned, they will not and cannot give you ANY support regarding the policies.
I also learned, that a "account in good standing" means that you can still publish apps.
4. Previous app had thousand unique installs in 3 days. So of course I repackaged....etc.. everything again, now extremely carefully, no Gmail word used in title. But I'm aware now, that I cannot know everything and they can suspend for any reason I'm not aware of - I maybe used some words mattel copyrighted DD SO it is really "fun". Let's see.
That's my story until now, will post again - hopefully will get wiser without further suspensions - it is time consuming sh** !!!
BTW, I wrote a letter to Google Dev Support, so they think of creating support for policies - as there are many developers with good intentions contributing a lot, not knowing WHY they are stopped.
Best of luck to all...
Hello, we are facing same problem for one of our app which is as of now available in India only.
We are curating videos from youtube. We have not taken written permission from youtube or content owner.
We are not monetising anyhow as of now.
However, there are various app who are indexing videos from youtube similarly like us.
Please help us with this sorting it out. As this is very important to us. Also how do we contact youtube for written approval?
My 2 apps got removal with same reason
REASON FOR REMOVAL:Violation of section 4.4 of the Developer Distribution Agreement.
After a regular review we have determined that your app interferes with or accesses another service or product in an unauthorized manner. This violates the provision of your agreement with Google referred to above.
All removals are tracked. Repeated removals will result in app suspension, at which point this app will count as a strike against the good standing of your developer account and no longer be available on Google Play.
Can some one please share what is happening ?
Please describe what your app does
First off, it's been over the 72 hour thing. But, I'm more of getting some facts.
A few days ago I got an e-mail from Google saying they were taking down one of my apps because of... well you can read it. (Note it doesn't actual say what exactly I did wrong, what part was breaking the policy, or what the 2 year old app with no problems before hand was doing an impersonation of)
Anyways, what should I do? Since I made everything in the app 100% by myself for school. I know this is in error, but I have no idea what I'm defending since they marked this 2 year old app as impersonation
If anyone is at Google and reading this. Please PM me so we can figure this thing out. I will send you the packet name.
Below is what they sent
Hi Developers at ,
After review, Bob The Mole, , has been suspended and removed from Google Play as a policy strike because it violates the impersonation policy.
Next Steps
Read through the Impersonation article for more details and examples of policy violations.
Make sure your app is compliant with the Impersonation and Intellectual Property policy and all other policies listed in the Developer Program Policies. Remember additional enforcement could occur if there are further policy issues with your apps.
Sign in to your Developer Console and submit the policy compliant app using a new package name and a new app name.
What if I have permission to use the content?
Contact our support team to provide a justification for its use. Justification may include providing proof that you are authorized to use the content in your app or some other legal justification.
Additional suspensions of any nature may result in the termination of your developer account, and investigation and possible termination of related Google accounts. If your account is terminated, payments will cease and Google may recover the proceeds of any past sales and/or the cost of any associated fees (such as chargebacks and transaction fees) from you.
If you’ve reviewed the policy and feel this suspension may have been in error, please reach out to our policy support team. One of my colleagues will get back to you within 2 business days.
Regards,
The Google Play Review Team
LINKS
The policy
https://play.google.com/about/spam.html#impersonation-intellectual-property:impersonation
contact them
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/troubleshooter/2993242
recently received many mails from google for many of my apps.
The email content is:
Code:
Hi Developers ,
We reviewed your app, XXXXXXX, with package name XXXXXX, and noticed that it violates our developer terms.
REASON FOR WARNING: Violation of the Deceptive behavior policy
You must explain to users why you are requesting the ‘android.permission.BIND_DEVICE_ADMIN’ in your app. Apps must provide accurate disclosure of their functionality and should perform as reasonably expected by the user. Any changes to device settings must be made with the user's knowledge and consent and be easily reversible by the user.
Please complete the following actions within 7 days, or your app will be removed from Google Play: Read through the Deceptive Device Settings Changes policy for more details, and make sure your app complies with all policies listed in the Developer Program Policies. If you don't need the BIND_DEVICE_ADMIN permission in your app: Remove your request for this permission from your app's manifest. Sign in to your Play Console and upload your modified, policy compliant APK. Or, if you need the BIND_DEVICE_ADMIN permission in your app: Include the following snippet in your app’s store listing description: “This app uses the Device Administrator permission.” Provide prominent user facing disclosure of this usage before asking the user to enable this permission within your app. Your disclosure must meet each of the following requirements: Disclosure must be displayed in normal course of usage of your app. Your users should not be required to navigate into a menu or settings to view disclosure. Disclosure must describe the functionality Device Admin permission is enabling for your app. Each security policy used with the Device Admin request must be declared in your disclosure, and each policy must be accompanied with justification for the request. Disclosure cannot only be placed in your privacy policy, TOS or EULA. Alternatively, you can choose to unpublish the app.
All violations are tracked. Serious or repeated violations of any nature will result in the termination of your developer account, and investigation and possible termination of related Google accounts.
Regards,
The Google Play Team
its is enough to update the store listing and the privacy policy ?
I do not think so. You were clearly told that `` Disclosure must be displayed in normal course of usage of your app. Your users should not be required to navigate into a menu or settings to view disclosure.'' and ``Disclosure cannot only be placed in your privacy policy, TOS or EULA. ''
I received the same email regarding my app.
The instructions are quite clear at the first glance. On a closer look, however, it's not so clear, at least in my case:
in my app, the device administrator function is not strictly needed. It depends on what the user wants. The default is that it is not needed. If I would now push a notice and the handling to the main activity, I would hopelessly scare and annoy users who may never even get close to giving the app device admin permissions.
The process to request device admin rights includes a textual description by the app explaining why the permission is needed, and what sub-parts of the device admin rights. In my eyes this already fulfills the requirements in the email. Or does it not?
I'm in a very awkward position right now. The time they allow me to react is very short (7 days) and they don't even provide a reply address. I have now contacted the support team, but if I don't a reasonable response within a few days I might have to butcher this out over night and sure as hell will get bad reviews because of this.
For me it makes sense to remove this functionality for a while. And try to find out from Google what they mean by ``normal course of usage''. I'm afraid that you must show this disclosure in main activity every time regardless.
grfgames said:
For me it makes sense to remove this functionality for a while. And try to find out from Google what they mean by ``normal course of usage''. I'm afraid that you must show this disclosure in main activity every time regardless.
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Yeah. Thing is that removing an integral part of an app on such short notice is likely to cause regression, let alone angry users that ask where the hell this has gone.
Google Play answered me now, twice, but only with the same lame text blocks. No real human interaction. I've now also posted to G+, let's see if anything happens there.
If I advertise this on the main page, I'm totally over-advertising an optional feature and even invite people to use it, which would be contrary to what Play want to archive. This sucks big time.
xrad said:
Yeah. Thing is that removing an integral part of an app on such short notice is likely to cause regression, let alone angry users that ask where the hell this has gone.
Google Play answered me now, twice, but only with the same lame text blocks. No real human interaction. I've now also posted to G+, let's see if anything happens there.
If I advertise this on the main page, I'm totally over-advertising an optional feature and even invite people to use it, which would be contrary to what Play want to archive. This sucks big time.
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If you want your app to be available on PlayStore then what is so terrible about doing what they expect of developers that put their apps on PlayStore.
Everybody else must follow that rule, why shouldn't you?
It doesn't even matter what the circumstances are as to why you think it's unnecessary or unfair, all that matters is that is how it is to be done. Otherwise, no app on PlayStore, right?
grfgames said:
For me it makes sense to remove this functionality for a while. And try to find out from Google what they mean by ``normal course of usage''. I'm afraid that you must show this disclosure in main activity every time regardless.
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I DO NOT PROVIDE HELP IN PM, KEEP IT IN THE THREADS WHERE EVERYONE CAN SHARE
@Droidriven: had you actually read my post, then you would understand that I'm in favor of the rule, but that I am criticizing the way they handle explain and enforce it. Essentially, their premise is that a the apps they are addressing with this current campaign always want to be devadmin. Mine only wants to be so if the users asks for it. But Google doesn't tell anything about such a scenario and only talks to me using bots and people using predefined text blocks. All on very short notice.
xrad said:
@Droidriven: had you actually read my post, then you would understand that I'm in favor of the rule, but that I am criticizing the way they handle explain and enforce it. Essentially, their premise is that a the apps they are addressing with this current campaign always want to be devadmin. Mine only wants to be so if the users asks for it. But Google doesn't tell anything about such a scenario and only talks to me using bots and people using predefined text blocks. All on very short notice.
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I know. I was just saying that you're gonna have to do it their way in the end anyway. It's unfair but it is what it is.
I DO NOT PROVIDE HELP IN PM, KEEP IT IN THE THREADS WHERE EVERYONE CAN SHARE
my main issue is i lost my keystore during a hard drive problem so i cant update the application how ever if i updated my description and my privacy policy and say that i clearly use this permission it will solve this problem ??
any help will be appreciated
I received a notification from Google Play telling me that my app has been removed because of some violation regarding the collection of Advertising IDs.
My app, however, only fetches some publicly available data from the Internet and uses firebase to deliver push notifications to devices which install the app and subscribe to specific FCM topics.
My question is: how could I be leaking Advertising IDs? Are those IDs sent in the HTTP requests made by the app? (e.g. in the headers?) Or maybe it's because of the FCM subscriptions?
The full text of the email I received follows.
Hi developers at REDACTED,
After review, REDACTED, has been removed from Google Play due to a policy violation. This app won’t be available to users until you submit a compliant update.
Issue: Violation of Usage of Android Advertising ID policy and section 4.8 of the Developer Distribution Agreement
Google Play requires developers to provide a valid privacy policy when the app requests or handles sensitive user or device information. We’ve identified that your app collects and transmits the Android advertising identifier, which is subject to a privacy policy requirement. If your app collects the Android advertising ID, you must provide a valid privacy policy in both the designated field in the Play Console, and from within the app.
Next steps: Submit your app for another review
Read through the Usage of Android Advertising ID and User Data policies, as well as the Developer Distribution Agreement, and make appropriate changes to your app. If you decide to collect sensitive user information, be sure to abide by the above policies, and include a link to a valid privacy policy on your app's store listing page and within your app.
Make sure that your app is compliant with all other Developer Program Policies. Additional enforcement could occur if there are further policy violations.
Sign in to your Play Console and submit the update to your app. Alternatively, you may opt-out of this requirement by removing any requests for sensitive permissions or user data.
Alternatively, you may opt-out of this requirement by removing any requests for sensitive permissions or user data.
If approved, your app will again be available with all installs, ratings, and reviews intact.
If you’ve reviewed the policy and feel this removal may have been in error, please reach out to our policy support team. One of my colleagues will get back to you within 2 business days.
Thanks for helping us provide a clear and transparent experience for Google Play users.
Regards,
The Google Play Team
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