How can Google 'fix' the Android market?

[anon(18050)]

We all know the rep Android gets because of its market and all the "Sexy Lady #" apps that get flooded in from time to time and how the crap apps almost always end up higher in searches than the app your actually looking for. So, how would you fix it?

I have been thinking about this for some time and had a few solutions.

1. Devs are free to submit any and all apps allowed by the ToS, however there is an optional approval process that devs can submit to. If approved the app gets higher ranking in searches.

2. Again, an optional approval process. Approved apps are are put into the market and will show for all. Un-approved apps will only show in the market if you opt-in (via a box in the market settings) to see 'unapproved apps.'

As you can see, I think Google really needs to implement some sort of approval process for apps while still allowing devs the freedom to submit any of their apps.

 

[verwon]

Apps with hot hunks, I'd highly approve.

Sent from my eVo

 

[RUSH]

That is a good idea. What you should do is to log onto Google feedback page and send them your concern/suggestion. This would be the fastest way to let them know what you're thinking.

 

[jdub__]

they need to add "Order by" column in there so we can sort by name, price or stars.

 

[robomav]

I like the approved apps idea where you can choose if you want to see unapproved ones or not. I think that would help out a lot.

 

[brillrick]

We all know the rep Android gets because of its market and all the "Sexy Lady #" apps that get flooded in from time to time and how the crap apps almost always end up higher in searches than the app your actually looking for. So, how would you fix it?

I have been thinking about this for some time and had a few solutions.

1. Devs are free to submit any and all apps allowed by the ToS, however there is an optional approval process that devs can submit to. If approved the app gets higher ranking in searches.

2. Again, an optional approval process. Approved apps are are put into the market and will show for all. Un-approved apps will only show in the market if you opt-in (via a box in the market settings) to see 'unapproved apps.'

As you can see, I think Google really needs to implement some sort of approval process for apps while still allowing devs the freedom to submit any of their apps.

Couple questions:

1. What is the criteria for being approved? If I make my sexy lady app and submit for approval, why would it be denied? Under what criteria?

2. I think saying unapproved apps is wrong naming convention. If a developer runs into the possibility of having their apps labeled "unapproved" then you are really no better than apple. You would then have to come up with some sort of detailed developer submission guidelines and then have to start really curating every app that comes in. I don't think google wants to do this yet.

My thought is that there should be some sort of Priority Marketplace, sort of like the Priority Inbox concept. A user can choose whether they want to be in the Full Market or Priority market. the criteria of the market is based on mixture reviews and downloads. If i search for an app, i choose whether i want to use the priority or the full marketplace.

 

[Xopher]

I like the idea of having different sort capabilities. Sort to find the most recent additions, or by star ratings. That might help with moving the less-capable apps down the line and putting the better stuff towards the top.

 

[anon(18050)]

Couple questions:

1. What is the criteria for being approved? If I make my sexy lady app and submit for approval, why would it be denied? Under what criteria?

2. I think saying unapproved apps is wrong naming convention. If a developer runs into the possibility of having their apps labeled "unapproved" then you are really no better than apple. You would then have to come up with some sort of detailed developer submission guidelines and then have to start really curating every app that comes in. I don't think google wants to do this yet.

My thought is that there should be some sort of Priority Marketplace, sort of like the Priority Inbox concept. A user can choose whether they want to be in the Full Market or Priority market. the criteria of the market is based on mixture reviews and downloads. If i search for an app, i choose whether i want to use the priority or the full marketplace.

1. Really? It's a though/suggestion. I'm not going to come up with rules for what can/can't be approved as it's pretty much irrelevant to this post, that's not the point of the post. AFAIK there's no real reason why they shouldn't appear on the Apple App Store. (Most don't contain nudity, but are just 'craps.') Common sense and general good-taste could more than cover a large majority of app submissions which, again, is not what this post is about.

2. Again, it's a suggestion and the naming convention (and submission guidelines) is not what the thread is about. You say that Google doesn't want to curate the app submissions 'yet.' I ask you this then. Why do it 100k+ apps down the road when the market could have a horrible rep and you'd have to go back and do them anyways when you could keep it clean[er] starting now.

You are basically suggesting the same thing as I said with #2. Reviews and download aren't very telling IMHO. Most apps people either love (5*) or hate (1*). There is very little between for most people, and even less for people who usually care enough to rate apps. Download count is tricky too, it's easy to spoof something that looks like a good app in screenshots and have the app look/act nothing like it in reality, but once you download it, your counted regardless if you uninstall or not..

 

[Yourdogsdead]

I like the suggestions. I would prefer that they don't become too strict, but I also want to see less crap in my search results as well.

 

[Guamguy]

Personally I don't like "humans" getting involved in the approval process. That just smacks of bureaucracy, and in principle, one step closer to tyranny. You give people the power to approve and censor, and they will, along the line, abuse it.

You mandate your TOS terms. Fine. No child porn, no apps that incite hate or violence aka racism, terrorism, gender bias, religious discrimination, no relabeled pirated apps, no apps that use unapproved copyrighted material, no apps that promote a competing service to the Market (apps that sell more apps within), no apps with viruses and trojans, and so on. Make your rules simple, clear and with no moral ambiguity.

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

Personally I don't like "humans" getting involved in the approval process. That just smacks of bureaucracy, and in principle, one step closer to tyranny. You give people the power to approve and censor, and they will, along the line, abuse it.

You mandate your TOS terms. Fine. No child porn, no apps that incite hate or violence aka racism, terrorism, gender bias, religious discrimination, no relabeled pirated apps, no apps that use unapproved copyrighted material, no apps that promote a competing service to the Market (apps that sell more apps within), no apps with viruses and trojans, and so on. Make your rules simple, clear and with no moral ambiguity.

I like the way you think.

 

[anon(18050)]

Personally I don't like "humans" getting involved in the approval process. That just smacks of bureaucracy, and in principle, one step closer to tyranny. You give people the power to approve and censor, and they will, along the line, abuse it.

You mandate your TOS terms. Fine. No child porn, no apps that incite hate or violence aka racism, terrorism, gender bias, religious discrimination, no relabeled pirated apps, no apps that use unapproved copyrighted material, no apps that promote a competing service to the Market (apps that sell more apps within), no apps with viruses and trojans, and so on. Make your rules simple, clear and with no moral ambiguity.

The thing is, this way would still allow every app that's currently on the market. It would just either giver search priority the apps we are actually looking for or give people the option for a more curated market.

 

[Brett]

Please post threads in the correct section of the forum.

As the person above me has stated, if you start setting limits then more limits will be follow. As much of a pain it is to find apps that I am looking for when there is so much garbage overloading it, I do not see any reason to alter the the search results. I can see filters based on your own search history in the market but not the same general rule of thumb for everybody. Hypothetically, if I wanted to find the "sexy lady#" app then I want to find it. Let's say I wanted to find Beautiful Widgets, through some filtering error it is not able to be found.

What google needs to do is allow people to select search by most downloaded and highest rated. From there allow for sub-searching today, this week, this month, this year etc... Something that people can turn on if they choose to do so.