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Regardless of the legitimacy of the app, it is unwise to be dependent on Google for your entire infrastructure. They do and have shutdown entire accounts with n

Regardless of the legitimacy of the app, it is unwise to be dependent on Google for your entire infrastructure. They do and have shutdown entire accounts with no information, feedback or appeals. I'm overly dependent on them currently myself. We had a recent issue in accounting where an unaccounted for charge kept hitting billing from Google LLC. As we use and sell Google Suite, run a few million in Google ads and have limited cloud services we assumed the error was on our side. I audit all google ads looking for appropriate matches and then call Google Ad support, which was helpful and able to confirm the charges were not in any way related to Ads ( billing prefix suggested it was not but frequency aligned with how ads bill so was the most likely candidate) They could not tell us what it was for or what "google llc" is A google search for the prefix identified it as what is used for Google Play. That is the one service that has no legitimate uses on our corporate card. Contacting Google play about the charges and asking for clarification and disputing was not difficult. They have an internal review period. I think 5-7 days, the review came back as. Legitimate charges. Ok, what for? They can't tell us. What? These were multiple charges of $500 adding up to nearly 5k in a month, but they can't match the charge to a service? And with several million in yearly spending with Google, one would hope for a little more response time and explanation, but, that's chump change to them. I will still be using every service, but I definitely would invite some alternatives as It is unwise to depend on Google for anything.

dangero 7y ago
Right this is a nightmare example. You get too far into Google and it feels OK, until it's not and then you realize it.
joecool1029 7y ago
I've had clients that operate in such 'sensitive' or 'high-risk' areas. Specifically, ones like penny stock promoters and now some crpytocurrency promoters. I could grind my axe about what can happen with low-risk clients getting shafted by Google, but this submission comes along with the territory they chose to operate in. It's an expected result. The thing is people like my earlier mentioned clients know they are in a field that walks the tightrope between what is legal and what isn't. There's claims they can't make, disclaimers they must post. But that's not all that's dealt with. Even simple sweepstakes have to comply with some basic regulations and required notices. Google and stuff like merchant accounts treat that type of client just like they are lepers. Nobody wants to touch them, nobody wants to hear from them . They have a market, but not on FAANG's marketplaces, search engines, cloud platforms, etc. Because of it, they have to use more expensive high-risk merchant accounts and roll with the punches from Google issuing manual search ranking penalties because this is an industry they don't want to promote. Whether or not you're buying services off Google they still wield a massive amount of power through their monopoly on search. It is inescapable. OP hasn't realized any of this, hasn't even tried to seem compliant or sneak in with their services while still doing his thing. This is a good learning experience.
- dangero 7y ago
  You haven't even tried to understand what we do and you've made a ton of false accusations in the process. We're 100% compliant with Google policies I think you just aren't familiar with the rules in this regard there are literally hundreds of rewarded apps on Android that's not a violation of their terms. You're not wrong about cryptocurrency being a rough area, but you are wrong that we haven't done our homework. We know every policy of every app store and ad network and mail newsletter system, etc. We read the terms of everything. We know where we stand.

dangero 7y ago

Right this is a nightmare example. You get too far into Google and it feels OK, until it's not and then you realize it.

joecool1029 7y ago

I've had clients that operate in such 'sensitive' or 'high-risk' areas. Specifically, ones like penny stock promoters and now some crpytocurrency promoters. I could grind my axe about what can happen with low-risk clients getting shafted by Google, but this submission comes along with the territory they chose to operate in. It's an expected result. The thing is people like my earlier mentioned clients know they are in a field that walks the tightrope between what is legal and what isn't. There's claims they can't make, disclaimers they must post. But that's not all that's dealt with. Even simple sweepstakes have to comply with some basic regulations and required notices. Google and stuff like merchant accounts treat that type of client just like they are lepers. Nobody wants to touch them, nobody wants to hear from them . They have a market, but not on FAANG's marketplaces, search engines, cloud platforms, etc. Because of it, they have to use more expensive high-risk merchant accounts and roll with the punches from Google issuing manual search ranking penalties because this is an industry they don't want to promote. Whether or not you're buying services off Google they still wield a massive amount of power through their monopoly on search. It is inescapable. OP hasn't realized any of this, hasn't even tried to seem compliant or sneak in with their services while still doing his thing. This is a good learning experience.

dangero 7y ago
You haven't even tried to understand what we do and you've made a ton of false accusations in the process. We're 100% compliant with Google policies I think you just aren't familiar with the rules in this regard there are literally hundreds of rewarded apps on Android that's not a violation of their terms. You're not wrong about cryptocurrency being a rough area, but you are wrong that we haven't done our homework. We know every policy of every app store and ad network and mail newsletter system, etc. We read the terms of everything. We know where we stand.