Our Android devices include a number of apps, but the Google Play Store is among the most important ones. It is the throbbing core of the Android ecosystem, which functions as an open marketplace for programs and games, both of which can be used for positive or negative purposes. Consequently, one would believe that a service of such significance would be maintained in a positive standing with both users and developers, so ensuring that both users and developers remain content and engaged. This is what makes the fall of the Play Store even more apparent. Google has allowed the service to fall into an excessive number of undesirable patterns, ranging from a lack of quality control to an aggressive use of advertisements, which has resulted in a user experience that is a nightmare.
On the other hand, the situation is not completely hopeless; there are numerous ways in which Google could modify the Play Store. As a result, we have conceived of a few concepts that could assist Google in resolving the following challenges in order to maintain the official channels’ appeal to Android consumers as well as developers.
1. We need better app quality control
Put an end to advertising apps that are only average.
The quality control of apps is a problem that is obvious on the majority of marketplaces, but it is becoming increasingly absurd on the Play Store. There is no lack of poor apps and games that are taking up valuable space on Google’s marketplace. These apps and games bear an unacknowledged stamp of endorsement by their existence and quantity. These apps and games range from cheap clones to asset flips. The vast majority of these applications have gameplay that is rudimentary and loops that are designed to feed advertisements. This is a pervasive practice that gives the mobile gaming platform a poor reputation. Given that the “new apps” section on the Play Store was consistently swamped with rubbish, it is not surprising that Google decided to get rid with it. This highlights one of the worst aspects of the storefront, which is the absence of any kind of quality control.
The first thing that has to be done in order to solve this issue is to install some serious quality control on the Play Store. This control should be administered by actual humans who are familiar with apps and games. The bar should be set at titles that are truly of great renown, rather than rubbish that is riddled with gambling and subscriptions. This mindset of “let everything and anything on our service” is exactly what led to the failure of Steam Greenlight; therefore, it is possible that Google may learn a thing or two from the mistake that Valve made.
2. Tone down the ads
Google needs to bring it under control.
Everyone is aware that Google has an issue with advertisements, as many of its free services are plagued by an excessive amount of advertisements that make the experience difficult to navigate and make the experience more bloated. Unfortuitously, their Play Store is not exempt from this, and we are not referring to advertisements that are displayed within applications that are not developed by Google. When it comes to the manner in which developers choose to execute their advertisements, Google must acknowledge that it cannot regulate everything. The most significant problem is with advertisements that show up when you browse search results and when you download apps. These are the advertisements that Google derives revenue from directly. Once upon a time, these advertisements were so blatant that it was simple to ignore them. However, as time has progressed, they have gotten more covert and annoying. There are also strings of sponsored apps that appear on a consistent basis, which makes the overall experience feel cluttered.
Every free service requires some form of money stream in order to continue operating, and there is no shame in utilizing advertisements in order to keep the lights on. This is not an exceptional circumstance; in fact, it may be much more dire. But it would also be a lot better if Google put more work into honest advertisements that don’t fool people into clicking on them. This would reduce the visual overload that you have to go through in order to have the app you’re searching for. This would actually put the users and developers first, which is important because they are the ones who keep the store alive.
3. Get rid of fake reviews for good
Do not allow con artists to take advantage of the store.
Positive reviews are a high-value commodity for developers since, for many of us, the quality of an app’s reviews can be a determiner of whether or not we will purchase it. When you go through the Play Store, however, you will come across a large number of low-effort, cookie-cutter applications that have received feedback that is strangely positive. When you take a deeper look and discover that Google’s service is filled with bogus reviews that are designed to boost an app’s chances of ranking higher in the search results, it begins to make a lot more sense of what is going on. These fake evaluations are characterized by a number of characteristics, including too enthusiastic scores, ambiguous praise, overly simplistic judgments, and user profiles that are suspicious.
It is also possible for those who cheat the system to take advantage of pre-registration periods, which are times when specific applications are displayed on the storefront even though they are not yet accessible for download. This would result in the listing being flooded with favorable reviews before anyone had actually utilized the product. Regions further complicate the situation. The decision to region-lock Play Store reviews was made by Google in 2021. This means that reviews can only be viewed in the regions of the world where they were left. While this did remove some of the fake reviews that were coming from countries outside of the United States, it did not actually do much to stop fake reviews in general. This makes the change appear to have been made for the sake of appearances because nothing much improved.
Google is taking measures to improve this situation by implementing new algorithmic countermeasures that are aimed to search out and block phony reviews. However, only time will tell if these countermeasures have any legitimate influence on this issue, given that so little has been done to address it in the past.
4. Reduce search result bloat
Please just show me what it is that I have requested.
An issue that the Play Store has is that it has a problem with cluttering app search results with items that are not merited and are superfluous. This filler is a distracting eyesore that draws attention to the astonishingly high number of low-cost copypasta applications that the storefront is able to accommodate. Additionally, the Play Store does not miss an opportunity to show you advertisements and apps that are sponsored by the company. Most of the time, this content is not even remotely connected to the context of your search or the activity you are doing on the app. It is a frustrating experience to utilize the search feature because of this. Adhering to the other elements in this section would be helpful in this regard, as fewer apps of lower quality would result in less padding of search results, and prudence with advertisements would also be helpful.
5. Bury gambling apps under appropriate age ratings
Make the quality of the product your top concern rather than encouraging them to gamble.
With the way that the Play Store is now structured, gambling services are a match made in heaven. This is because the Play Store frequently disregards the quality of apps and gives preference to businesses that are primarily concerned with making money. It is not necessary for the slot machine apps in issue to provide anything that is either distinctive or fascinating in order to receive a large promotion when Google considers gambling applications to be a worthwhile investment. The key ways in which these applications earn revenue are through the use of simplistic gimmicks and an excessive amount of fear of missing out (FOMO), which is something that Google is quite enthused about. Additionally, this is the reason why these applications have significantly larger coverage in a number of countries.
Because of this, the somewhat subtle problem of floating quality is created, which is an inability to differentiate between good apps that should be promoted and bad apps that should be buried. Because of this, the lists on the Play Store, such as Top Free and Top Grossing, appear to be so similar to one another, despite the fact that they are different categories. It is possible that this will eliminate the requirement for an application to be of high quality because it will not be treated as such. This is due to the fact that gambling machines appear to be given preferential treatment because of the high amount of money they generate. It is possible to rectify this uniformity of quality standards by removing the attention from gambling apps and refocusing it on worthy software selections that are not geared to take advantage of consumers or lure them into unending subscriptions.
Let’s clean up the Play Store
A lack of restraint on the part of Google is a significant contributor to the difficulties that have been highlighted above. The lack of significant moderation in app quality, the priority of apps that make money, and the ugly misuse of advertisements are all reasons why the Play Store has to strengthen its rules and show more respect for its consumers. Android users’ dependable handsets should reap the benefits of the Play Store’s presence, which should serve as a selling feature rather than a deadweight geared to propose applications that exploit users for financial gain at every turn. As a result of official channels allowing their services to deteriorate, customers are forced to seek out alternate methods for enjoying high-quality applications. This is the reason why the Play Store needs to improve its performance as quickly as possible.