
Google suspended our app, threatened to delete our Google accounts - dangero
https://medium.com/@thedrbits/google-has-threatened-to-delete-all-our-google-accounts-over-nothing-13a05a31a55a
======
joecool1029
What did you think was going to happen? Seriously.

Let me tell you what happened: You created a gambling app and tried to pass it
off as a game then bought a bunch of fake reviews. But yeah, sure... whining
on Medium about it is going to turn things around for you. Stick to peddling
on the malware app stores.

I'm upvoting this because I can't wait for an Apple employee to stop by and
blast this 'Age 12+!' shit[1] out of orbit for violating their TOS[2],
specifically 3.1.5(b)(v):

[1][https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bitcoin-
blast/id1494240093](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bitcoin-blast/id1494240093)

[2][https://developer.apple.com/app-
store/review/guidelines/#cry...](https://developer.apple.com/app-
store/review/guidelines/#cryptocurrencies)

EDIT: Please also see Google's policy on gambling apps (Which guess what? not
permitted in the US!) [https://play.google.com/about/restricted-
content/gambling/](https://play.google.com/about/restricted-content/gambling/)

~~~
chupa-chups
Apple? Isn‘t this about google?

(Sincerely puzzled, but it‘s late over here)

~~~
joecool1029
The app I linked is the same app by the same guy and it's in violation of at
least 2 sections of Apple's ToS. It's only a matter of time before Apple does
the same thing Google did.

~~~
dangero
What terms does it violate? We have read them all in detail. I'll wait.

~~~
sebastien_b
Indeed - I'd like to know which subsection states you can't do any marketing
for your app.

*"marketing" != paying for reviews, as this joecool1029 seems to assume.

------
dangero
Update on this thread: Google just removed our suspension and asked us to
resubmit the app. We have done so and are waiting to hear back.

I've learned a lot from this post on Hacker News about the general feeling
people have about Bitcoin these days. I was accused of several scams and
manipulations in this thread, all of which were false. I was a scammer until
proven innocent and it appears to some the jury is still out or they have
already decided that I am a scammer (I'm not).

Here's the Twitter thread of our users that broke through to Google if you
want to see a sampling of our loyal Android users:
[https://twitter.com/bling_fi/status/1221902959023312896?s=20](https://twitter.com/bling_fi/status/1221902959023312896?s=20)

------
dangero
Final update on this thread:

We are back on Google Play with no explanation or retraction of threats to
related accounts if we get suspended again.

[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.getloaded....](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.getloaded.bitcoinblast&hl=en_US)

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throwaway4392
Don't build a product that solely relies on another product or service that
cannot be replaced. That's just a bad business :)

~~~
dangero
True for any app company really but true it's a weak point of our offering at
the moment. Startups tend to rely on another product early on, then de-risk as
they grow which is our plan.

------
theartfuldodger
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.

~~~
joecool1029
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
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.

------
drummer
There are way too many stories about Google and Apple suddenly closing
accounts and removing apps to trust them with your business.

~~~
dangero
Right, my red flag is just why does a suspended app cause them to threaten us
in regards to shutting off our G-Suite email and cloud servers unrelated to
the app. No sane business can use their platform with those kinds of threats.

~~~
drummer
You are correct my friend.

