When deciding which app or game to download, Play Store reviews can be helpful, but they aren't perfect. Review bombing campaigns can affect a wide range of great apps, with users deciding to ruin reputations as a form of protest. Users will frequently go to the Play Store to leave one-star reviews when their problems are easily resolved by the developer. To address such issues, Google will now only post reviews after a 24-hour delay, giving its algorithms and developers time to respond.

App reviews are typically posted within 24 hours of being created

The new policy is as straightforward as it gets. App reviews are typically posted within 24 hours of being created, though this isn't set in stone — it could be a little more or a little less. While new reviews will be invisible to the general public, they will still be visible to developers. This allows them to respond to them and work out any issues that users may be experiencing before the review is made public.

Google also claims that the new policy will help it detect "suspicious" ratings more effectively. We assume that the company is using the time frame to see if a review bombing campaign is starting, which could prevent unjustified negative reviews from ever appearing publicly. The other side of the medal would most likely involve purchased reviews. While Google's policies prohibit developers from paying for positive reviews, numerous companies provide such services. The delay in review processing could help Google detect and stop these campaigns.

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The new delay may also take some of the stings out of the debate. Review bombing frequently occurs dynamically, with other users noticing that others share the same hatred in the heat of the moment. When reviews only appear after a delay, dynamics like this could never exist in the first place. It remains to be seen how the new policy will affect the Play Store's appearance and whether it will make it a more civil place, but it doesn't appear to be a bad idea. This is also one of many recent Google Play Store policy changes — the company is revising some of its policies.

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A roundup of Google Play Policies 2022

Let's take a look at what's new and what's coming up for 2022, as some of the recently announced policy changes sound promising.

Interstitial advertising is prohibited

This is a huge deal, literally. Interstitial ads are also known as full-screen ads, and they are those annoying pop-ups that take up the entire screen when you use mobile apps or play mobile games. The Coalition for Better Ads inspired the change, which was certainly needed on Android after years of Google ignoring how many apps and games have been abusing advertising platforms by inundating everyone with ads that take up the entire screen at inopportune times.

While not all full-screen ads will be banned when the new policy goes into effect on September 30th, ads that appear at the start of content and those that interrupt you in the middle of navigation will be prohibited.



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Impersonation is finally on its way out

Do you know how there are thousands of apps that mimic popular content's icons and names but are slightly off to avoid being sued? These mimickers exist to trick people into installing their low-quality app, and Google will finally do something about it on August 31st. Icons, app titles, developer names, and general branding will no longer be allowed to mimic entities to which the app and developer are not connected.

Ideally, this upcoming policy will have far-reaching consequences for mobile games and apps, as the Play Store is rife with blatant imitation that has gotten out of hand. Now comes the difficult task of enforcing the policy consistently, so let's hope Google's bots are up to the task.

There will be no more false medical advice

A new policy prohibiting health advice that contradicts medical consensus also goes into effect on August 31st. COVID pushed for this policy to reduce anything that does not strictly adhere to current medical standards. However, we hope that this policy change will include pseudoscientific subjects such as crystal healing and astrology apps.

Subscriptions are easily canceled

One of the main reasons we dislike subscriptions is that they are frequently forced on the user to gain access to an app or service, and then, inevitably, it's impossible to find the place to cancel, which is usually obfuscated on purpose. Google steps in with a quick fix, requiring all apps that offer subscriptions to provide a clear way to cancel from within the app, finally resolving a problem Google created by allowing subscriptions on the Play Store in the first place. After September 30th, every app and game will be required to provide a quick and painless way to unsubscribe directly from the app.

VPNs are not permitted to collect or manipulate data

Beginning November 1st, VPN apps that want to create a secure device-level tunnel to a remote server, a core function of a VPN, must adhere to new requirements that prohibit data tracking, redirects, and manipulation. Worryingly, the new policies state that VPNs cannot manipulate ads or impact app monetization, implying that Google is targeting ad blockers who use VPNs to remove ads from apps and web pages.



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Sensitive user data can no longer be received by third parties

After November 1st, what Google refers to as stalker will be prohibited on Android. If an app collects sensitive data, it cannot send that data to a third party without the user's consent. This means that apps will have to ask you for this data, and we will be free to say "No."

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More safeguards for children

This is an immediate and effective change in which any app that distributes content that facilitates the exploitation or abuse of children will be removed from the Play Store. And, yes, this is a great step toward preventing grooming and trafficking within apps purchased and installed from the Play Store.