[Q] 7-Day Notificati​on of Google Play Developer Term Violation - Need help

Android Android Development
1

Hi, I received this email today.

REASON FOR WARNING: Violation of the spam provisions of the Content Policy. Please refer to the spam policy help article for more information.
• Do not use irrelevant, misleading, or excessive keywords in apps descriptions, titles, or metadata.

I cannot afford to buy a lawyer to check my app for the legal issues. And it’s really hard to figure out what I am doing wrong.
Any advice could be helpful.

Basically my app shows counter badge for the unread Gmail messages.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ellevsoft.unreadgmailbadgefree

  1. Do I have to remove ‘Gmail’ from my title?
  2. Do I have to remove any use of word ‘Gmail’ from my description?
  3. Adding “This app is not affiliated with Google or Google Gmail, nor endorsed by Google.” in the description would help?
  4. I do have ‘TAG’ words for other languages (none for English):
    Few examples:
    (French) Tag: Gmail Non lu, Compteur Gmail non lu, Gmail Non lus, Badges Gmail non lus
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ellevsoft.unreadgmailbadgefree&hl=fr

(Russian) Tag: Новая Gmail иконка, Иконка Gmail
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ellevsoft.unreadgmailbadgefree&hl=ru

(Portuguese) Tag: Gmail Não Lido, Indicador Gmail Não Lidos, Contador de Gmail Não Lidos
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ellevsoft.unreadgmailbadgefree&hl=pt

(Korean) Tag: 지메일, 카운터, 이메일, 배지, 뱃지, 배찌, 빼지, 빼찌, 뺏지, 뺏찌, 뱃찌
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ellevsoft.unreadgmailbadgefree&hl=ko

(Chinese) Tag: Gmail未读邮件, Gmail未读邮件计数
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ellevsoft.unreadgmailbadgefree&hl=zh
Is this why?

#3 and #4 I will change for sure.
#1 and #2, I am scared not to change, but also worry how could any user know that my app is related to Gmail if it is not described as one.

Thanks in advance.

2

Are you Connected to Gmail? Misleading.! The End.! I used Flappy Bird Type and it was banned. Flappy Bird is not even a registered. Google FELT, it was not a word they want to use. Oh and 3 strikes and you’re suspended.

3

Definitely remove those tags. They are most likely to have triggered that notification. Hard to tell if the use of Gmail is allowed by Google or not though. You will probably never know until they ban you for good this time.

This is idiotic by the way - Google could just ignore tags and keywords like that in their search engine for Google Play but instead they prefer to ban developers for using them.

4

I removed tags, credit names, FAQ details.
However, I am still not sure if I need to change app name. (Remove word ‘Gmail’)

5

The name is the most important thing to change, as it is the most influential when searching keywords.

6

How about I change app name to ‘Unread Badge’ and have app title ‘Unread Badge [for Gmail]’?

7

We can’t really help you because no one knows how Google algorithms work. They might ban you, they might not.

8

As a last resort, you could try incorporating the “for Gmail” part in your app’s icon which could be compliant with the above quoted policy (there’s no mention for app icons here) but will still reduce how often your app appears in the search results.

9

Thank you for your advice. Very helpful.

10

Another, question.
In the policy, they mention ‘Unrelated keywords or references’ & ‘Repetitive keywords’.
Will ‘ANY’ list of keywords & tags at the bottom violate the policy? (Even though they are related & non-repeating keywords)

For example, a silent mode app:
Keywords: Do not disturb mode, manner mode

11

Better not use “keywords” word. Write for example: “Features do not disturb mode and manner mode” and avoid making such lists too long.

12

don’t stack keywords just write them out in sentences

13

Updating my status for others.

I did pass after 7 days. Nothing is certain so reference with your own risk. (There many people out there who weren’t so lucky)
What I’ve changed:

  • Removed all tags, and keywords
  • Removed: reference of the people’s name(credit) who translated my app volunteerily
  • Shrinked description (just stating simple description of the app) [Not sure this was neccessary]
  • Removed FAQ questions/answers and linked outside website for that.
  • Removed Gmail from my app name but added ‘for Gmail’ in the title [‘Gmail Unread Badge’ -> ‘Unread Badge (for Gmail)’]
  • (applied the same for the translated languages too)

Good luck.