Google Play cracks down on "confusingly similar" apps

New developer policies also place limits on spam, ads, billing

With the latest changes to its developer policy, Google seems to making a serious effort to try to impose some sort of order on the wild west town that is its Google Play Android app store.
The most important change for the unsavvy consumer might be the new restrictions on copycat apps. Now, these knock-offs "must not have names or icons that appear confusingly similar to existing products." That new policy should be useful in combatting apps like Infinity Blade II, a fake version of Chair Entertainment's popular iOS game that surfaced on Google Play recently, or Temple Run, which appeared in many forms on Google Play before the official version was ready. Apps with names like "Irate Birds" or "Snip the Rope" might also come under fire for being "confusingly similar," depending on how strictly Google plans to enforce the clause.
But with over 600,000 apps and counting on the service, it's going to be hard for the company to ferret out every single copycat on its own. Google will likely rely on users and developers to report the mimicry in a manner similar to that for reporting copyright infringement.
Google Play isn't the only App Store to have problems with apps pretending to be something they're not. Back in February, a fake Pokemon Yellow app managed to rise to the No. 3 spot on iTunes before being removed.
The new developer agreement also places limits on in-app ads, requiring them to be clearly linked to their associated app and preventing them from interfering with the normal operation of the device. Apps that bill users monthly will now have to allow users to finish out the month if they cancel before it is up. And Google also strengthened its restrictions on spam notifications and disclosing private user information with further examples of what is and is not allowed.
Of course, developers and users can still sideload apps onto Android devices without having to worry about all these restrictions. Apps that break the new rules will just be barred from the prominent Google Play storefront.
Developers of existing Google Play apps will have a 30 day grace period to make necessary changes before their products start to be removed from the Google Play store. Newly submitted apps will be immediately subject to the new rules.
by Kyle Orland - Aug 1 2012, 9:40pm IST