3 million downloads Google’s App developer account has been terminated
TL;DR;
- I started developing Android in 2010 and had a developer account with 3 million downloads apps.
- I received several mail about privacy policy URL issue in my apps
- My developer account was terminated less than 24 hours after I received the mail.
- The reason for termination is not clear and is unfair.
- I appealed to the Google Play Developer Support team, but I received a short reply mail from Bot saying that they can’t reinstate my developer account.
- I’ve sent mail many times, but since then I haven’t received any reply mail at all.
- This unfair developer account termination is happening not only to me but also many Android developers around the world.
한글포스팅은 이 글을 읽어주세요
(If you want read Korean language, read this link)
South Korea’s oldest personal app developer
I’m an old developer who has been developing Android since 2010.
I’ve been launching personal apps since 2011 and have served multiple apps on Google Play (at that time, PlayStore).
I’ve managed apps that record over 2 million downloads in the main developer account only.
I’ve been running hundreds of thousands of downloads with different developer accounts.
( All accounts add up to 3 million downloads..)
For reference, you can find information about other developer accounts on the AppBrain.
https://www.appbrain.com/dev/SangGwon.Park
Guardians of the Android Developer Galaxy
I’ve been developing apps since the beginning of Android OS, and I’ve experienced various development-related experiences.
I’m writing a blog to share that experience with many developers.
- Medium (in english)
- Korean blog (in korean)
I also host a variety of developer events and community activities to revitalize the developer community.
Check my Introduce page
- Presentation (total 18)
- Event Organizer (total 11)
- OpenSource (Top Java GitHub developers in South korea Rank 1)
GooglePlay policy keeper
In particular, I’ve been sincerely responding to changes whenever the Android version or policy changes, and I’ve shared how to respond to these changes through blogs, events, and announcements.
- [6.0 Marshmallow]Hot to check permission and optimize
- [8.0 Oreo]Notification Channel
- [8.0 Oreo]Only fullscreen opaque activities can request orientation
- [9.0 Pie]CLEARTEXT communication to XXXX not permitted by network security policy
- Etc
At the GooglePlay event, a Google representative even introduced the participants to TedPermission (a library of permissions I created) and how to respond.
But one day the developer account disappeared at once.
Beginning of tragedy
In the morning of September 18, 2018, I received the following email.
- 2018/09/18 10:34
If you’ve been distributing your app at this time, you’ve probably received this email at least once.
If the privacy policy URL is not entered in the app’s registration information, you will receive a warning message regarding the violation.
When you received this warning, adding a URL to the privacy policy was a relatively minor policy violation that would allow you to restore the app again.
Since I was serving multiple apps, there were multiple policy-related warning emails for apps that did not have a privacy policy URL entered at the same time.
- 2018/09/18 10:39
- 2018/09/19 02:36
Four hours later, my developer account was terminated.
- 2018/09/19 06:29
My developer account was terminated less than 24 hours after I received the violation notification email.
The reason for termination was Prior violations of the Developer Program Policies and Developer Distribution Agreement by this or associated accounts as outlined in previous emails sent to the registered email address(es) of the Publisher account(s).
At the same time my main account was terminated, all my other developer accounts were terminated.
The reason for all developer account terminations was the same.
I can’t understand why my developer account was terminated.
- If you look at GooglePlay’s policy, you can see that an app’s “Removals” status does not affect the status of your developer account.
2. Too short time
After checking the warning email, PlayStore told me to fix the problem within seven days.
However, less than a day after receiving the first warning email, my developer account was terminated.
- 2018/09/18 10:34 : A app received warning email.
- 2018/09/18 10:39 : B app received warning email.
- 2018/09/19 02:36 : C app removed.
- 2018/09/19 06:29 : developer account was terminated.
Appeal and ignoring
I of course appealed the termination of my developer account.
I sincerely wrote about why my developer account should be reinstated (and it wasn’t enough to hold 1000 words of appeal).
And a few days later I received an email response from PlayStore.
The answer was that they can’t reinstate my developer account.
As you can see in the following article, this email is not written by humans but by Bot.
I replied with all my heart again.
And a few days later I received a reply from PlayStore again.
The answer from PlayStore was that there was nothing to tell me.
This email was also sent by bot, not by human.
Since then I’ve replied once again but after a few days no reply came from the Play Store.
I waited until such a few weeks and sent another email again, but no reply came from the Play Store.
So I was ignored by the Google Play Developer Support team.
I’ve sent you many emails sincerely
After a year and a half and now in 2020, I have not received any reply.
Am I really wrong?
This incomprehensible situation didn’t just happen to me.
Many people, like me, suddenly terminated their developer accounts without knowing why.
They are also writing blogs to share this unfair situation.
Is this the real PlayStore developer and support team?
The only way to contact the Developer Support team in Korea is via email.
You can’t make phone inquiries, and you can’t use chat inquiries.
If you look at examples similar to those of the other developers above, you can see that the email content is exactly the same as the answer I received.
This means bot sent email to me not human
I have never communicated with PlayStore employees since my developer account was terminated.
I want to ask Google.
Is this really what the PlayStore Developer Support Team is doing to help the Android ecosystem and developers?
It could be your situation.
One day, your app may be suddenly deleted and your developer account may be terminated.
This can be not only a personal app, but also a startup or a large company.
Google gives no reason, no warning, and can suddenly destroy all of you.
If these problems aren’t solved, more and more Android developers will be misled.
Please share more
I need your power.
Please give a lot of applause to this article and share it with various communities.
Please help me share this article
I hope one day the PlayStore Developer Support team will read this article.
And I want them to review and reinstate this irrational account termination.
If there is an obvious reason for my developer account being terminated, please explain it in detail and how to proceed.
I always support your Android development.
I will continue to develop Android, write blogs, continue events and presentations, regardless of developer account reinstatement.
Thank you for reading this long article.
Thanks
