Google has announced changes to the app rating system in the Play Store. Starting in November, the estimates will be linked to the region. This means that users from Russia will not be able to see reviews and ratings from the USA and vice versa. The company wants the system to become more useful and convenient for developers.Google announced this in the official blog for Android developers.
According to the company, sometimes ratings in one region unfairly affect another — for example, when the global rating of an application is reduced due to a bug that affects only one country.
From November, the new system will work for smartphone users. They will only see ratings from people from the region in which their Google Play account is registered.
At the beginning of 2022, users of other devices — tablets, chromebooks, etc. — will begin to see ratings and reviews only for their form factors. This will help people better understand how apps and games will work on their chosen devices.
Google will also notify all developers in advance whose rating may change by more than 0.2 stars due to the new system. This will give companies time to optimize their applications for different form factors and regions.
The changes don’t end there. A new menu “Device Type” will appear on the rating page in the developer cabinet. This will allow you to track how users of different form factors evaluate a particular application.
Google will also add a new rating tracking system for a certain period: for a day, a week or 28 days. This should help developers get more detailed data.
Now Google is actively working on improving the Play Store. Over the past six months, the company has removed 115 thousand applications from the store in order to improve the quality level of its store. In June, Google also
began accepting applications for a commission reduction of up to 15% on the first million dollars earned in a calendar year.