Google Play Review Guide

Who uses Google Play

App and game developers, from individuals to large companies, who publish through a Google Play developer account, and Android users who rate and review the apps they have downloaded. Reviews from work or school accounts are not allowed, and an account in a beta program for an app cannot review it until it leaves the program.

Claim your profile

1. There is no listing to claim: an app's Google Play page exists because the developer publishes the app through Play Console. The developer account is what gives you control of the page and its reviews.
2. Sign up for Play Console with a Google Account. You must be at least 18, accept the Developer Distribution Agreement and pay the one-time registration fee, which Google lists as 25 US dollars. Google does not accept prepaid cards.
3. Choose a personal or an organization account. Google requires an organization account for some kinds of apps, such as financial products, health apps, VPN apps and government apps. An organization account needs a D-U-N-S number, and its details must match its Dun & Bradstreet profile.
4. Complete identity verification. Google may ask for a valid government ID and a credit card, both under your legal name. Personal accounts must also verify access to an Android device with the Play Console mobile app and meet app testing requirements before publishing.
5. The account owner can invite other people to the account and give each a set of permissions. Only people with the Reply to reviews permission can reply; others can view ratings and reviews but not answer them.

Official guidelines: support.google.com

Replying to reviews

In Play Console, open Reviews under Ratings and reviews. Below a review, type your answer in the Your reply field (or pick a suggested reply and edit it) and select Publish Reply. In the Play Console app, open the review, tap Reply, enter your text and tap Send. You can write one public reply per review and edit it at any time. After you reply, the user gets a push notification and an email that includes your reply and a link to contact you at the support address on your store listing.

• Replying needs the Reply to reviews permission on the developer account. Without it a user can see ratings and reviews but not answer them.
• Suggested replies are offered only for recent reviews written in English, to developers who use Play Console in English, and not for a review you have already answered. You must add contact details (a phone number, email address or website) for them to be used.
• Reviews can show the history of your replies and of any change the user made after you replied.
• The Reply to Reviews API lets a service or your own integration read and answer reviews. It accepts a reply of at most 350 characters, allows 200 read requests an hour and 2,000 reply requests a day per app, and returns only reviews with comments from the last week on production versions.
• Google's policy summary says to keep a reply on the issue the user raised, to include helpful resources such as a support address or FAQ link, and not to ask for a higher rating.
• Replies that are abusive, dismissive, promotional or contain profanity can lead to suspension of the app or the developer account.

Official guidelines: support.google.com

Review rules

In our own words. The official page is the rule that applies.

• Reviews must reflect the reviewer's real experience. Fake, duplicate or misleading reviews, reviews posted from several accounts, and reviews posted on someone else's behalf are not allowed.
• Offering or accepting money, products or services in exchange for a review is not allowed, and neither is reviewing an app you own or work for.
• Reviews must be about the app. Promotional or commercial content, affiliate or referral links, phone numbers, email addresses and links to other sites are not allowed.
• Reviews may not contain personal or confidential information, illegal content, sexually explicit content, hate speech or harassing and offensive language.
• Developers may not manipulate ratings, reviews or install counts. Google's examples include offering a discount for a rating, posing as users to submit ratings, and using automated services to inflate installs or ratings.
• Developers should not force users to rate the app or use deceptive pop-ups to get a rating.
• Google removes violating reviews through a combination of automated and human review, and a person who repeatedly or egregiously breaks the rules can lose the ability to post on Google Play.

Official guidelines: play.google

Reporting a review

Google Play's own process, step by step.

1. Read Google's Comment Posting Policy first. Only reviews that violate it are removed; disliking a review is not a reason to report it.
2. In Play Console, open Reviews under Ratings and reviews.
3. On the review, select the flag icon and then Report.
4. A specialist reviews the report within a few business days. If it is upheld, the review is removed from Play Console.
5. If it is rejected, a notification on the review says so, and you cannot report the same review again. The help page describes no appeal.
6. Reports are capped per developer account per day. If you reach the cap, wait 24 hours and submit again.

Official guidelines: support.google.com

Tips

• Ask for a rating at a natural moment, such as after the user has finished a task, and never interrupt what they are doing.
• Give users an easy way to reach support from inside the app so a problem can be fixed before it becomes a one-star review.
• Write a personal reply instead of pasting the same text, and name the fix when a new version solves the problem.
• Do not offer anything in return for a rating or review, and do not ask for a higher rating in a reply.
• Set up support contact details so Google can include them in the email the user gets with your reply.