5 ms·

I think you were lucky they told you anything. On Quora they just say "your answer was deleted for violating Quora policies. Click here to read our policies."

I think you were lucky they told you anything. On Quora they just say "your answer was deleted for violating Quora policies. Click here to read our policies." This sort of "tell them nothing" approach seems pervasive in the online world. Blame the lawyers. Their lawyers must caution them "Don't give any details. That just opens us up to more questions & legal actions." The fact that it's completely self-serving and proves they don't give a shit about you is kinda irrelevant. Who are you, after all? There are millions just like you.

freedomben 5y ago
I despise the tell them nothing approach and I think it's despicable, but that said I think there is a more legitimate reason than the lawyers. If the person is a spammer or otherwise not legit and you tell them what they did wrong, it's a lot easier to hack around the problem and beat the automated moderation and get your malware into the store. I don't think that justifies the harm it does to regular people, but it is a lot less sinister than just CYA. I actually blame tech media who capitalize on every "malware in the Play Store!!!" story a lot more, and the Apple apologists who use any news of malware on Android (even if it only applies to people downloading pirated apps and sideloading them with root) to trumpet how insecure Android is. Personally I think that bad press is the primary driver behind the modern policies.
- UIUC_06 5y ago
  Could be, actually. The press sucks: a bunch of untrained people too lazy to get off their laptops and talk to people. I don't think Quora falls into that "spammer" category, though. No one is seeking to make any serious money from it, AFAICT.
  - antifa 5y ago
    If your product/brand is an answer on every relevant question, that's probably worth a lot.
    - UIUC_06 5y ago
      So much money they're leaving on the table, then. (Or maybe they're secretly raking it in. Who knows?)
- aperrien 5y ago
  At that point, why not put up an option for paid tech support? It would make life costly for the spammers, and give an option for people with a critical and legitimate problem.
  - brokenmachine 5y ago
    Because then they might be liable for the advice provided. Can't be sued if you don't provide anything. *taps head*
  - anamax 5y ago
    Spammers are in it for the money, so why do you assume that they wouldn't pay?
- rendaw 5y ago
  Japan immigration does this too - they reject applications but won't say why it was rejected, because people wanting to enter the country for illegal reasons might be able to use that information: https://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/faq.html https://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/faq.html
- jevoten 5y ago
  > If the person is a spammer or otherwise not legit and you tell them what they did wrong, it's a lot easier to hack around the problem and beat the automated moderation and get your malware into the store. Is it? Because spammers and malware writers are the only ones that already know what they did wrong - spamming and malware! While everyone else is left guessing.
  - viraptor 5y ago
    They know in general, but they don't know exactly which check they tripped and why. That makes it harder to hunt down the detected part.
    - jevoten 5y ago
      But you wouldn't tell them which check exactly - you only tell them "spamming/malware".
      - dwohnitmok 5y ago
        But that's not really any more specific (imagine this same article where "is not compliant with Google Play Policies" is replaced with "was flagged as spamming/malware," not much changes) plus for any false positive it's likely to make any developer even more angry ("you thought my app was malware?!").
        jevoten 5y ago
        Why would anything have to change about this article? The developer wasn't accused of spamming or malware. You seem to be saying that if an app fails any Google policy, then that is the same as if it was spamming or malware?
        dwohnitmok 5y ago
        My point is that if the developer is given an answer of "spamming/malware" it's not much more useful than "not compliant with Google Play policies" ("spamming" alone is useful, you can check whether messages are being sent, "malware" is just far too broad). To check whether "spamming/malware" is more informative than "not compliant with Google Play policies" you can just plug it into the OP and see if any of the behavior would be different, but I can't see anything that would look different, which suggests "spamming/malware" is not really any more specific than "not compliant with Google Play policies" from the viewpoint of a developer saddled with that message. And because it's so vague, even if a developer were not to get that message (e.g. as in this case) it still doesn't narrow down much in the negative direction either.

freedomben 5y ago

I despise the tell them nothing approach and I think it's despicable, but that said I think there is a more legitimate reason than the lawyers. If the person is a spammer or otherwise not legit and you tell them what they did wrong, it's a lot easier to hack around the problem and beat the automated moderation and get your malware into the store. I don't think that justifies the harm it does to regular people, but it is a lot less sinister than just CYA. I actually blame tech media who capitalize on every "malware in the Play Store!!!" story a lot more, and the Apple apologists who use any news of malware on Android (even if it only applies to people downloading pirated apps and sideloading them with root) to trumpet how insecure Android is. Personally I think that bad press is the primary driver behind the modern policies.

UIUC_06 5y ago
Could be, actually. The press sucks: a bunch of untrained people too lazy to get off their laptops and talk to people. I don't think Quora falls into that "spammer" category, though. No one is seeking to make any serious money from it, AFAICT.
- antifa 5y ago
  If your product/brand is an answer on every relevant question, that's probably worth a lot.
  - UIUC_06 5y ago
    So much money they're leaving on the table, then. (Or maybe they're secretly raking it in. Who knows?)
aperrien 5y ago
At that point, why not put up an option for paid tech support? It would make life costly for the spammers, and give an option for people with a critical and legitimate problem.
- brokenmachine 5y ago
  Because then they might be liable for the advice provided. Can't be sued if you don't provide anything. *taps head*
- anamax 5y ago
  Spammers are in it for the money, so why do you assume that they wouldn't pay?
rendaw 5y ago
Japan immigration does this too - they reject applications but won't say why it was rejected, because people wanting to enter the country for illegal reasons might be able to use that information: https://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/faq.html https://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/faq.html
jevoten 5y ago
> If the person is a spammer or otherwise not legit and you tell them what they did wrong, it's a lot easier to hack around the problem and beat the automated moderation and get your malware into the store. Is it? Because spammers and malware writers are the only ones that already know what they did wrong - spamming and malware! While everyone else is left guessing.
- viraptor 5y ago
  They know in general, but they don't know exactly which check they tripped and why. That makes it harder to hunt down the detected part.
  - jevoten 5y ago
    But you wouldn't tell them which check exactly - you only tell them "spamming/malware".
    - dwohnitmok 5y ago
      But that's not really any more specific (imagine this same article where "is not compliant with Google Play Policies" is replaced with "was flagged as spamming/malware," not much changes) plus for any false positive it's likely to make any developer even more angry ("you thought my app was malware?!").
      - jevoten 5y ago
        Why would anything have to change about this article? The developer wasn't accused of spamming or malware. You seem to be saying that if an app fails any Google policy, then that is the same as if it was spamming or malware?
        dwohnitmok 5y ago
        My point is that if the developer is given an answer of "spamming/malware" it's not much more useful than "not compliant with Google Play policies" ("spamming" alone is useful, you can check whether messages are being sent, "malware" is just far too broad). To check whether "spamming/malware" is more informative than "not compliant with Google Play policies" you can just plug it into the OP and see if any of the behavior would be different, but I can't see anything that would look different, which suggests "spamming/malware" is not really any more specific than "not compliant with Google Play policies" from the viewpoint of a developer saddled with that message. And because it's so vague, even if a developer were not to get that message (e.g. as in this case) it still doesn't narrow down much in the negative direction either.