Google Play Account Termination: What Prior Violations mean?

So, your google account was terminated due to prior violations. What can be the problem for that? And what does 'prior' violations actually means?

My google play account was terminated for the same reason so I dug it a little and this is what I found.

REASON FOR TERMINATION: Prior violations of the Developer Program Policies and 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).

If your account was linked to some account that was previously terminated by google play then your new account will automatically be terminated. There are many reasons for that but the most obvious one is that you cannot make a new account.

If your account was terminated from Google play then you are banned for life.

Of course there are other ways to get back on Google Play after an account termination, but Google advises you not to do that because it will again terminate the account and not refund the money.

Sadly, that is how it goes because most of the google play developers account management is done by bots. And if they find that you are violating the google play policies then they will ban you immediately.

Here is what Google says about Google Play developer account termination:

Google Play Developer account terminations are associated with developers and may span multiple account registrations and related Google services. Do not attempt to register a new developer account. Any new accounts will be closed and your developer registration fee will not be refunded. We recommend that you use an alternative method for distributing your apps in the future.

This means if your previous account was made through either

- the same IP address

- Same credit card

- Email address was linked through mobile number

- Or admob

- or the payment information

- or Android App keystore file

then you will again be banned from Google play.

What can you do about it? Nothing. If you are banned from Google play you are banned for life. That's it. There is no way around. Unless of course you want to try your luck and make a new developers account, in that case, go ahead!

What to do if your Google Play Account is Terminated due to violations?

I asked the same question from Google Play after they rejected my appeal for reinstatement.

First let me tell you what I was doing, I was taking content from public sites (public domain websites) and adding that to my apps. Of course, creative commons content is free to be used under the fair use policy. But bots do not know that. And my content wasn't in english so it was much more difficult for the bots. Nonetheless, they did not reinstate my developer account, even after I showed them the permission from the website (public website) from where I was getting the data.

The appeal was reject by the Google representative Bruce. So I asked him what alternative method should I use to upload apps so users can download them.

He said in the email: We recommend that you use an alternative method fordistributing your apps in the future.

Thank you for your understanding.

Regards,

Bruce

The Google Play Team

As you can see, you are out of Google play for good. Your only option is to use the low-traffic app stores available online. You can also use Amazon App Store account for app publishing. Amazon app store is comparatively easier and their are no restrict policies as of now.