Google has announced a new set of spam policy so that the Web Store is not muddled with copycats, misleading functionalities, or fake reviews and ratings.
Google has come with a set
of new spam policies for Chrome Web Store. Google has introduced eight updates
to its spam policy. Google Chrome Policy and Anti-abuse team Rebecca Soares and
Benjamin Ackerman in a blog post stated that Chrome Web Store has become the
largest catalogue of browser extensions since its launch in 2011.
“The increase in adoption
of the extension platform has also attracted spammers and fraudsters
introducing low-quality and misleading extensions in an attempt to deceive and
trick our users into installing them to make a quick profit,” Soares and
Ackerman wrote.
The blog further notes that
it has brought about changes in its spam policy to avoid the path of a user
discovering an extension from the Chrome Web Store is not muddled with copycats,
misleading functionalities or fake reviews and ratings.
To give the user a clear
and informative policy, the tech giant has come up with the following eight
anti-spam policies. The blog noted that developers must comply with the
policies by August 27th. Failure in doing so could lead to the extensions being
disabled and the extensions could be taken down.
Developers should avoid
publishing multiple extensions. The blog notes that this can provide duplicate
experiences and create confusion.
Developers must provide a
clear and well-written description of the blog states. Extensions should avoid
data that is misleading, improperly formatted, non-descriptive, irrelevant,
excessive, or inappropriate metadata, including but not limited to the
extension’s description, developer name, title, icon, screenshots, and
promotional images.
The description should be
clear and well written. Anonymous user testimonials are not allowed.
Developers must not attempt
to manipulate the placement of extensions on the Chrome Web Store. This
includes inflating product ratings, reviews, or install counts by illegitimate
means, such as fraudulent or incentivized downloads, reviews and ratings.
The next policy is that
extensions with a single purpose of installing or launching another app, theme,
webpage and extension are not allowed.
Finally, extensions that
abuse, or are associated with the abuse of, notifications by sending spam, ads,
promotions, phishing attempts, or unwanted messages that harm the user’s
browsing experience are not allowed.
Extensions that send
messages on behalf of the user without giving the user the ability to confirm
the content and intended recipients are also not allowed.
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