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The lack of due process and any real transparency is troubling. It's clearly a mistake to bet your livelihood on a platform that can act in an arbitrary and ca

The lack of due process and any real transparency is troubling. It's clearly a mistake to bet your livelihood on a platform that can act in an arbitrary and capricious manner.

golem14 5y ago
We don't know the background, and the content of the previous mails Google has sent this developer prior to the alleged account disabling. OP conveniently left that information out. Without that, it's hard to draw any conclusions. Some infractions are also difficult to convey back to the developer. For instance, I believe a business might not be allowed to communicate details, if account is under police investigation and there is suspicion that the developer might destroy evidence, that sort of thing. I'm not saying this developer has done something wrong, but we just don't know. It's definitely infuriating if you are trapped like that.
- skmurphy 5y ago
  I agree we don't know all of the facts, but one fact not in dispute is that there is no recourse if Google Play has acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner. When startups choose platforms and partners, they can pick ones who are small and friendly but more likely to go out of business, or larger ones who will persist but may harm them without recourse. There may be some middle ground where the platform or partner is large enough that near term viability seems reasonably certain and they remain reasonable to deal with, offering transparency and due process. The OP did single out Google Play, saying they were substantially more transparent and helpful: "There are other Google services such as Admob and Google Ads and for example if I have a problem with Google Ads I can contact them and they quickly offer me support. To try to improve advertising campaigns, you don’t even have to be the one to contact them, but they themselves send you an email saying that they are at your disposal. In fact, on one occasion I had a conversation with a very nice woman on Google Meet. On the other hand, if I have a problem as a developer on Google Play, things change, I only get a text form and always answers from templates, so I can never get “Human” support when I have a problem with my developer account." Which gives him points for honesty in my book. It's possible he has left damaging information about himself out of his story that would materially affect our perception of his situation. Bt to me it's more likely that he is telling the truth and for whatever reason Google Play is unwilling to explain their actions, much less justify them.

The lack of due process and any real transparency is troubling. It's clearly a mistake to bet your livelihood on a platform that can act in an arbitrary and capricious manner.

golem14 5y ago

We don't know the background, and the content of the previous mails Google has sent this developer prior to the alleged account disabling. OP conveniently left that information out. Without that, it's hard to draw any conclusions. Some infractions are also difficult to convey back to the developer. For instance, I believe a business might not be allowed to communicate details, if account is under police investigation and there is suspicion that the developer might destroy evidence, that sort of thing. I'm not saying this developer has done something wrong, but we just don't know. It's definitely infuriating if you are trapped like that.

skmurphy 5y ago
I agree we don't know all of the facts, but one fact not in dispute is that there is no recourse if Google Play has acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner. When startups choose platforms and partners, they can pick ones who are small and friendly but more likely to go out of business, or larger ones who will persist but may harm them without recourse. There may be some middle ground where the platform or partner is large enough that near term viability seems reasonably certain and they remain reasonable to deal with, offering transparency and due process. The OP did single out Google Play, saying they were substantially more transparent and helpful: "There are other Google services such as Admob and Google Ads and for example if I have a problem with Google Ads I can contact them and they quickly offer me support. To try to improve advertising campaigns, you don’t even have to be the one to contact them, but they themselves send you an email saying that they are at your disposal. In fact, on one occasion I had a conversation with a very nice woman on Google Meet. On the other hand, if I have a problem as a developer on Google Play, things change, I only get a text form and always answers from templates, so I can never get “Human” support when I have a problem with my developer account." Which gives him points for honesty in my book. It's possible he has left damaging information about himself out of his story that would materially affect our perception of his situation. Bt to me it's more likely that he is telling the truth and for whatever reason Google Play is unwilling to explain their actions, much less justify them.