Google Play Store to Detect Fraudulent App Installs

Google has built new detection mechanisms into the Play Store, which can detect fraudulent installations of applications. Some developers use such “spam installs” to boost their ranking on Google Play.

The arrival of the new detection mechanisms was announced on Google’s developer blog. In the blog post, Google explains how fraudulent application installations make it more difficult to find relevant applications because rankings are affected. Therefore, the internet giant has installed new systems to prevent such fraud; if abuse is detected, the app in question is filtered out of the rankings.

According to Google, the new systems will allow detecting when applications are installed for the sole purpose of manipulating the app’s rank within Google Play. Incidentally, Google does not explain how these new systems work; as a result, it is not clear on what grounds Google determines whether an app installation is fraudulent.

Finally, Google advises developers to read the guidelines first before recommending applications. This is to prevent the practices from being classified as spam.