Google has announced new means of catching out developers seeking to boost their app’s ranking via illicit means.
The firm is debuting new technology that can help it detect and filter out apps that use techniques like fake installs to boost a position in the charts.
Fake reviews and incentivised ratings are also being tackled to ensure the score you see is a fair reflection of the app’s reception among users.
“Today we are rolling out improved detection and filtering systems to combat such manipulation attempts,” the company wrote in a blog post on Monday (via TechCrunch).
“If an install is conducted with the intention to manipulate an app's placement on Google Play, our systems will detect and filter it.
“Furthermore, developers who continue to exhibit such behaviors could have their apps taken down from Google Play.”
Google is also advising developers who use agencies to market their apps to make sure those companies are abiding by the rules.
However, the new tech won't solve all problems with the Play Store. At the beginning of October, security researchers claimed at least 400 apps in the Play Store contained malware.