Google To Redefine App Ratings On Play Store, Emphasise On Latest Reviews
Google’s Play Store is a digital distribution service which houses millions of applications, games, books, movies and music files. It is used globally by several users of Android-enabled smartphones to download the aforementioned media. Now, in a bid to promote transparency in the ratings available for the applications on the Play Store, Google is changing how they work. At Google I/O 2019 developers conference, the search engine giant has announced it will now give importance to the latest rating given to an application to showcase its evaluation.
Google Play Store Ratings
According to a senior Google executive, the move is being done due to high public demand. She is further noted saying that the current system of rating in the Play Store uses the collective lifetime value of an application’s rating. The system is scheduled for a change later this year, wherein more emphasis would be given to the latest ratings for the application. The company claims this will reflect the developer’s hard work and efforts as any update can change how an app is perceived among users. For example, if an app that has had negative reviews gets updated and the experience is more refined, the ratings will give weight to the latest ratings, which were given after the update. A similar feature was provided by Apple around two years ago when it gave the developers of the App Store a choice; to refresh the ratings of an application after each update.
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The latest update to the Google Play Store is expected to be a great change for the developers. However, in the last few weeks, reports of fake ratings on an app by a significant number of people have surfaced online. With the updated version of the Play Store, this can mean the ratings of the app would plummet significantly. While Google has not provided a release date for the feature, it will roll out by the month of August. For Android developers, the feature should be available for preview in their Play Store Dashboard starting May 8.
