5 things the Google Play Store desperately needs to improve

One of the most important applications on our Android devices is the Google Play Store. It’s the heart of the Android ecosystem that serves as an open marketplace for apps and games, good and bad. So you’d think such an important service would stay in good stead with its users and developers, keeping developers and users happy and engaged, which makes the decline of the Play Store all the more apparent. Google has allowed the service to slip into too many bad habits, from lack of quality control to aggressive use of ads, which has made the user experience a nightmare as a result.

But the situation is not hopeless; There are many ways Google can improve the Play Store. So, we’ve come up with a few ideas that could help Google address the following issues to keep the official channels attractive to Android users and developers.

1 We need better application quality control

Stop promoting mediocre apps

App quality control is an obvious problem on most storefronts, but it gets ridiculous in the Play Store. From cheap clones to asset flips, you’ll find no shortage of mediocre apps and games taking up precious space on Google’s storefront, bearing an unsung stamp of support through their presence and abundance. The vast majority of these apps have barebones gameplay and loops designed to serve ads, a problematic practice that gives mobile gaming platforms a bad name. It’s no wonder Google did away with the “new apps” section of the Play Store, given how it was constantly inundated with junk, highlighting one of the worst qualities of storefronts, the lack of any semblance of quality control.

The first step towards solving this problem is to implement some serious quality control in the Play Store, run by real people who understand apps and games, using genuinely high-reputation titles as the standard for where the bar should be, instead of subscription-filled garbage and gambling. This “let anything and everything on our service” attitude is exactly what ruined Steam Greenlight, so maybe Google can learn something from Valve’s mistake.

2 Reduce the tone of the ad

Google must reign

Everyone knows that Google has a problem with ads, as many of its free services suffer from excessive ads that bloat the experience and make navigation a nightmare. Annoyingly, their Play Store is not exempt from this, and we’re not talking about excessive ads within non-Google apps. However, Google cannot control everything when it comes to how developers choose to implement their ads. The main problem is the ads that appear when you view search results and download apps (ads that Google makes money from directly). These ads used to be obvious and easy to ignore, but over the years they’ve become more discreet and obnoxious. Rows of sponsored apps also keep popping up, making the whole experience cluttered.

Any service that’s free needs some kind of revenue stream, and there’s no shame in using ads to keep the lights on. The situation is not unique and it could be a lot worse. But it could be a lot better if Google put more effort into honest ads that don’t trick people into clicking, reducing visual overload to get you the app you’re looking for, putting users and developers first, you know, the people who keep the store going on life.

3 Get rid of fake reviews forever

Don’t let scammers take advantage of your store

For many of us, the quality of app reviews can be a barrier, making positive reviews a high-value commodity for developers. But scrolling through the Play Store, you’ll notice countless low-effort and cookie-cutter apps with questionably positive reviews. It starts to make a lot more sense when you take a closer look and realize that Google’s service is full of fake reviews designed to increase an app’s chances of appearing higher in search results. Simple observations, dubious user profiles, vague praise, and apparently overzealous results are hallmarks of these fake reviews.

Cheaters can also take advantage of pre-registration periods, where certain apps appear on the storefront without being available for download, flooding the listing with positive reviews before anyone has actually used the software, and regions make things even more complicated. In 2021, Google decided to regionally lock Play Store reviews, meaning that reviews can only be seen in the parts of the world where they were left, which cleaned up some fake reviews coming from outside countries, but didn’t really do much to stop fake reviews in general, because of which the change seems to have been made for appearance’s sake, for nothing was better.

Google is taking steps to improve this, with new algorithmic countermeasures designed to find and block fake reviews, but only time will tell if it has any real impact on this problem when a little while.

4 Reduce clutter in search results

Just show me what I asked for, please

The Play Store has a problem with cluttered app search results with unnecessary and unjustified inclusions. This hair is a thorn in the side and highlights the ridiculous number of cheap copypasta apps that are in the window. The Play Store also doesn’t miss an opportunity to shove ads and sponsored apps in your face. That content is often not even tangentially related to the context of your search or in-app activity. This makes using the search function annoying. Adhering to the other items here would help somewhat with this, as fewer inferior apps would mean less spamming of search results, such as a limit on ads.

5 Bury gambling apps under appropriate age labels

Make quality a priority, instead of pushing gambling on kids

Gambling services and the Play Store as it stands are a match made in heaven, given how often discovery ignores quality apps and favors services that make money first. The slot apps in question don’t have to offer anything unique or interesting to get a huge boost when Google sees gambling apps as a good investment. Simplistic gimmicks and overuse of FOMO are the primary ways these apps generate revenue, something Google is very enthusiastic about. This is also the reason why these apps have far more coverage in many countries.

This creates a rather insidious problem of floating quality, the failure to distinguish between good apps to promote and bad apps to bury. That’s why lists in the Play Store like Top Free and Top Grossing look so similar even though they are different categories. This eliminates the need for the app to be well made as it won’t be treated as such, all because gambling devices seem to get special treatment thanks to the money they make. Taking the spotlight off gambling apps and returning it to decent software choices that aren’t designed to rip off users or trick them into endless subscriptions will correct this homogenization of quality standards.

Let’s clean up the Play Store

The above issues are largely due to Google’s lack of restraint. The absence of serious moderation in app quality, prioritization of apps that make money, and the unflattering overuse of ads calls for a serious tightening of the Play Store’s standards and respect for its users. Android users’ trusted smartphones should benefit from the inclusion of the Play Store, as they’re a selling point, not dead weight, designed to recommend money-grubbing apps at every turn. Official channels that allow their services to be broken are pushing users into the hands of alternative ways to enjoy quality apps, which is why the Play Store needs to up its game, and fast.