What to do if your Google Play Developer Account Gets Terminated?

So, you have received a google play account termination email that states “Notice of account termination?”

There is nothing much you can do if your google account gets terminated unless you want to become a different person and start all over again.

Many developers out there had their google play developer accounts terminated. No one knows why google has such stringent policies about Google play, but once an account gets blacklisted by Google Play, it is for life. Stop thinking of ever getting it back. In fact, all account associated with it will also be terminated in a short time.

What is a google play developer account?

A google play developer account is for anyone who wants to publish android apps on it. Android is one of the fastest growing mobile operating system. It has apps installed on it. These apps are installed through Google Play. Google play is a platform where other developers add their apps and these apps can be downloaded directly to the android-based mobile phones.

There are many other platforms then why developers prefer Google Play?

The reason is that android mobiles have a special feature that alert users if they install app through other platforms except google. This decreases app installs from other apps because users get into a trust dilemma. Also, because most apps that are not on google play have some kind of virus or trojan in them and that fear lets them not to install such apps. So, this has created a hegemony of Google Play on the android platform and all those who want to get their apps installed on android devices need Google play developer account.

Do you know people have also filed petition to get information about why there Google Play accounts were banned.

See the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/sergey-brin-respect-the-efforts-of-small-and-indie-android-developers

Appeal to Google after Google Play Developer Account Termination Notice:

There is one way by which google can unsuspend your account, only if it finds that the account was not at fault and the bot terminated it by mistake. There is only 0.1% chance of this happening and I have not heard that anyone got back his google play account after termination.

You can try your luck by filing an appeal with the Developers console team here:

https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/2491922?hl=en

Account Termination Notice: How a message from Google looks like?

"This is a notification that your Google Play Publisher account has been terminated.

REASON FOR TERMINATION: Prior violations of the Developer Program Policiesand Developer Distribution Agreement by this or associated accounts as outlined in previous emails sent to the registered email address(es) of the Publisher account(s).

Google Play Publisher suspensions are associated with developers, and may span multiple account registrations and related Google services.

You can visit the Developer Policy Center to better understand how we enforce Developer Program Policies. If you’ve reviewed the policy and feel this termination may have been in error, please reach out to our policy support team.

Do not attempt to register a new developer account. We will not be restoring your account at this time.

The Google Play Team"

Reasons of Google Play account termination:

There are countless reasons for google play account termination. Whether you are new developer or seasoned developer, if you want to avoid yourself from being banned from Google Play developer account then you should avoid these and many other problems.

·       Never ever try to deceive google

·       Avoid use of all kind of copyrighted content

·       There are only two strikes. Two strikes and you are out

·       If your app is rejected from google play, that is not a strike

·       If your app is suspended from google play, leave that account and start a new one. Because now that google play account already has one strike on it. If it gets one more strike than nothing can save you. Do not try to add the same app again to the account if it was suspended. Try to add a new app with a new keystore key.

·       Always follow google play store rules and policies. You can read the Google play developer policies here: https://play.google.com/about/developer-content-policy/

What not to do in apps you publish on Google Play?

Google play has become really strict and one reason for that is because it is under scrutiny by many organizations. So, in order to stay at your best you need to obey the rules. Here are few things that you should not be doing on Google play store.

·       Do not include user's reviews in your App description

·       Do not include the name of other apps in your description

·       Do not ask users to revise their ratings

·       Do not post your app's link in other app reviews.

·       Do not offer an incentive to users for ratings and reviews.

·       Do not trigger an SMS/email from inside your App

·       Do not place ads in notifications

·       Do not place bookmarks in the browser or add another app's icon.

·       Ad walls must have a clearly marked close button

·       Do not use system based icons.

I used the above list from Android Pit forum, where a user had asked this question.

What developers, who had account terminated, say about it?

I have searched all over internet after my account was terminated on google play. I even asked Google play forums for developers here and they said that I do not go for a new developer account as that will be suspended as well. So, what options do developers who have been terminated from Google play, have?

Getting back on Google Play after account termination:

 The only option you have left after getting terminated on Google play is to use a different identity overall. This means you need to be a new person. No trail should be matched to your previous account. As a matter of fact, even then there is no surety that you will survive on google play.

Is there a way to get back on Google Play after suspension?

Nonetheless, do not lose hope and here are the things you should do:

-        Use a new account linked to a different phone number. The account should be made with a different IP address and through a different computer. You can use the phone number of a friend or some relative

-        Get a new google play developer account. You can get a new account by Facebook. Just search Google play developer accounts for sale and buy one. Or you can ask someone from your friends to make you a new developer account using hiss credit card. Just make sure it is not linked to you in anyway, the credit card is different.

-        After creating the account, you need it to be used through a new laptop or a remote desktop (RDP). The reason is that your developer account needs to be used from a new laptop. No one knows what methods google has for tracing an account. So, just to be on the safe side the account needs to be accessed through a different laptop that has a new mac address.

-        The mac address is sent with the app when it is published on google play. This all happens with the Keystore.jks key that you use to make the certificate of the app. The key needs to have different information as well. So, install android studio at the new PC and use that. Do not use your old pc or open your old accounts in the new PC. This can unintentionally create a trail that will make the bots think that you are the same person. They also follow patterns.

-        Now upload the apps through a new internet connection or a virtual private network. You can use browsec, Zenmate for virtual private networks as both are free. Or you can go for a premium network that offers you a dedicated IP. It is your call.

You will have to use the new account from the new PC only, so that google bots do not create a trail. Of course the IPs can change so that is not really a problem. In fact, most ISPs have dynamic IPs so that might not be a problem, but the mac address matters. Still, to be on the safe side, use the VPNs.

I have not tried the VPNs yet, so try to use only one country. If you use US, then keep using US VPN IPs.

Will your Admob account also get banned?
Yes, if your account was associated with an admob account it will not actually get banned but your app will be black listed.
For example, if I upload an app and ads are displayed on it from my admob account.
Now, if I get my google play account terminated then the app will stop serving google admob ads.
I don't know what is the reason behind it, but it looks like google blacklists the app address.

"Google AdMob ad serving has been disabled to your application"

This email is to alert you that one of your applications is not currently in compliance with our AdMob program policies and as a result, ad serving has been disabled to your application.

Issue ID#: 85676XXX

Ad serving has been disabled to: XXXX XXXX XXXX (com.XXXX.XXXXX)

Action required: Check all other remaining applications in your account for compliance.

Current account status: Active

This above information is only to help people who want to get back on Google Play. My intentions are not to hurt anyone or a company and I ask all to play by the rules.

If you find the material objectionable, please contact me directly. Thank you.