Another month, another wrongful removal from the Play Store. Google booted Podcast Addict off the Play Store because it references the novel coronavirus outbreak — or rather, it offers you to listen to podcasts that do, just like any other podcast player out there. For some reason, Podcast Addict has been singled out by Google, with the company asking the developer to prove that his product is endorsed by some government, or remove any references to COVID-19.
Google references section 8.3 of its developer distribution agreement, which it recently updated to make it harder for malicious apps to take advantage of people searching for information on the pandemic. That’s a good thing, but taking down an app that merely offers third-party COVID-19 content seems to overshoot that goal — Google would have to remove its own apps like YouTube, Google News, and even feed readers or other news aggregation services shouldn’t be allowed on the Play Store if they’re not government-sanctioned. Thus, it’s safe to say that some automated algorithms probably stumbled upon mentions of the coronavirus in the app and issued a false positive, and as always, no actual person at Google is available to the developer to resolve the problem.
This also isn’t the first time Podcast Addict finds itself caught in the crossfire: Just last month, the developer experienced financial trouble when Google wrongfully disabled in-app AdMob ads because — shocker — you could download adult podcasts via the app. After some back and forth, the issue was resolved and ads were reinstated, securing the developer’s revenue. It’s odd that other podcast players don’t have these issues with the Play Store’s algorithms — after all, they offer adult content and coronavirus-related news, too.
Google has just suspended Podcast Addict again. This time for having Podcasts about Covid 19… Are you for real Google. Can you please check your own Google Podcast App, your search engine,Youtube, … first
— Podcast Addict (@PodcastAddict) May 16, 2020
In the meantime, you can still get the app via APK Mirror — we’ve got the latest version. It has the same signature as the Play Store version, so as soon as it’s back online, you’ll continue receiving regular updates. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Google needs to fix communication with developers. If the company can’t prevent false positives from happening entirely, it has to be possible for developers to resolve these problems quickly.
Hiroshi Lockheimer responds
Hiroshi Lockheimer, Senior Vice President of Android and the Play Store (among other departments), posted a tweet today saying Podcast Addict was falsey flagged and should not have been pulled from the store.
Apologies to Podcast Addict fans today. We are still sorting out kinks in our process as we combat Covid misinformation, but this app should not have been removed. Carry on with your podcasts, folks! 🙇♂️
— Hiroshi Lockheimer (@lockheimer) May 19, 2020
The official Podcast Addict account has confirmed that its appeal has been accepted, but the app likely won’t be available again until the pending update is approved by the Play Store.
Good news, Google accepted my appeal.!
Now if I understand correctly I need to fix the issue and submit the app againSo basically I added an extra space at the end of the app listing and pressed on ReSubmit. We’ll see what happens now pic.twitter.com/FKomXQ2jI6
— Podcast Addict (@PodcastAddict) May 19, 2020
Let’s hope Podcast Addict makes a speedy return to the Play Store.
- Thanks:
- Jeffrey D,
- Ryan,
- and Armando
