Developer's Guide: 5 Methods to Skyrocket Your App's Listing Rate on Google Play

When doing Android development in China, the focus is on the code, and application listing, operation and promotion are almost completely decoupled from developers. However, if you come into contact with overseas business one day, Google Play will definitely give you a headache.

Google Play is the only application distribution platform that is trusted and familiar to the vast majority of overseas Android users. Therefore, applications going overseas have to overcome the "hurdle of being listed on the shelves". Many developers have even said that, in comparison, writing code and implementing functions seem to have become insignificant pressures for applications going overseas.

Having stepped into the blood and sweat pit of our predecessors, today we will take an in-depth look at which methods of increasing the Google Play listing rate are effective?

Tips to improve Google listing rate

There are many commonplaces to talk about, such as optimizing app quality and stability, complying with Google Play policies, app localization, optimizing app UI design, and improving code quality. Today, I will share a few tips that may be overlooked by everyone:

1. Gift card redemption test

After having a Google account, you can use Google's entire family for a period of time. This step is to tell the platform that you are both a C-end user and a B-end user.

After an account has been maintained for about 15 days, try to redeem a gift card in the Google Play store. Redeeming a gift card in Google Play requires verification of the account information and the corresponding account IP. If your account encounters a "locked card" situation at this time, it means that your account basically cannot pass Google's verification, and there is no need to purchase or waste $25 to register. You can consider abandoning the account and reopening it or continuing to maintain the account. If successful, the subsequent package success rate will naturally increase relatively. Of course, this only refers to the account itself, and problems with the code and UI are not included.

2. Credit card/virtual card payment test

When registering a developer account, whether you use a physical credit card or a virtual credit card, you may face two main problems:

• Card merchant abuse problem: If the card merchant behind the credit card is abused, it may lead to account entity association.

• Number segment association issue: If the credit card number segment used is used for registration multiple times, the account may be banned.

It is recommended to use a regular UnionPay card. In order to increase the shelf rate in the subsequent package, you can use the credit card provided by these data providers or your own card, such as the above method to test the in-app purchase of game products through Google Pay to verify whether the payment can be carried out normally, to determine whether this information is reliable.

3. White Pack test account

"White pack" refers to normal applications with simple functions, which usually meet the requirements of application stores such as Google Play. The so-called "white package account" refers to the developer account that has already put such "white pack" applications on the shelves.

It has been proven that the success rate of developer accounts with white packages is much higher than that of new accounts, and the review cycle can be shortened, taking as little as a dozen minutes. Therefore, the quality of developer accounts can also be tested by listing white packages.

If a white pack submitted using a developer account can pass Google's review and be successfully listed, then it can be basically confirmed that there is no problem with the account. However, if the white package is rejected during the review and the account is blocked due to high risk or abuse, it is very likely that there is a problem with the account.

4. Transfer package update

The so-called "transfer package update" refers to putting new applications on the shelves by updating the transfer package. In fact, the principle is similar to that of the white package account. Specifically, developers transfer the white package that has been successfully put on the old account to the new account, and then put the target application on the new account by updating the iterative application. The account that receives the transferred application is also called the transfer account.

This method can also circumvent the review process of the Google system when new applications are put on the shelves, allowing new applications to be put on the shelves in the Google Store faster and more smoothly. However, with the update of Google's policy, many developers have reported that the online time of successful listing through the transfer package is usually short. Unless you have a very strong technical level, this method is not very feasible. Friends can only use it as a reference.

5. " IP+device " is highly anti-correlation

Now let’s turn our attention back to the account itself. After all, the account is one of the most important factors that directly affect whether the application can be successfully listed. If the account is stable and low-risk, the listing rate will naturally be high.

Google has a reminder in every ban email: "Do not try to re-register a new developer account, otherwise you will be blocked." In fact, this is telling you that account association issues are a strong factor in listing and ban issues.

The well-known anti-association is nothing more than the isolation of the developer account registration information and login IP and device. In addition to ensuring the authenticity and uniqueness of the information as much as possible, combining fingerprint browser and VPS dual device anti-association, today I would like to emphasize an issue that is easily overlooked: IP.

What are the IP requirements for listing on Google Play?

Nowadays, Google's risk control trend is becoming more and more stringent, and the requirements for IP are becoming more and more stringent. You need to pay more attention to the purity, authenticity and exclusivity of the IP. Some individual users need to pay more attention to it. After all, account dealers can still rely on probability to brush accounts, but if individual users' accounts are blocked as soon as they register due to IP problems, the information fees they paid will be wasted.

VPS was still okay a few years ago, but with the increasing demand for going overseas in recent years, many VPS IP pools have been polluted and abused, especially Alibaba Cloud, Amazon, and Tencent Cloud, the three most popular ones. It is very easy to open an unclean IP, resulting in an extremely low packet passing rate.

After trying it out, many developers also gave feedback on some optional IP resources. Serious developers prefer to use residential IP proxies that are consistent with the region of the account registration information to improve the authenticity of the account. One of the proxy IP resources used is worth recommending: IPFoxy Proxy IP . Because this company's IP resources are sold to one customer, exclusivity is guaranteed, IP resources are pure, and basically no abused IPs are obtained. It supports seamless integration with all mainstream fingerprint browsers, saving a lot of invalid work.

IP benefits:

However, no matter what resource it is, it is recommended that you test it yourself before judging its quality. Register for IPFoxy proxy to receive a free trial of 200M high-quality residential proxy.

Here is a brief introduction to the main types of IP addresses that may be encountered when listing on the Internet:

• Residential IP: Residential IP is an IP address assigned to a personal user's home network by an Internet Service Provider (ISP). It is connected to a real home user and the user identity is more realistic. Many websites treat residential IP as a real user visit, and the probability of being blocked and identified is lower, but it will be slightly worse in maintaining stability.

• Data center IP: A data center IP is a data center center with many servers. Data center IP has the characteristics of fixed IP, stable online, and relatively cheap price. However, data center IP has consecutive numbers and uneven regional distribution, so it is not suitable for businesses that need to be online for a long time. Usually VPS is a data center IP. Google Play now treats data center IP specially, which is easy to be identified and blacklisted. Data center IP is easily controlled by AI risk.

Last words

As developers’ technology continues to improve and the market environment continues to change, strategies to increase the listing rate on Google Play also need to be constantly updated and adjusted. Developers must always pay attention to and adapt to Google Play’s policy changes and maintain information exchange to improve the quality and success rate of future listings!