Play Store: Google’s algorithms blocked a harmless Android app because of an offensive format abbreviation

In the Google Play Store, unlike Apple and some other app stores, there is no constant editorial support for the apps and games that are discontinued, but rather a random check by algorithms. Now a new case shows that Google’s algorithms are not infallible and can block apps for strange reasons. You have to give Google credit for having corrected the mistake very quickly.

Google lets algorithms perform many tasks, but they are not infallible and can sometimes be wrong – which can often lead to greater problems for those affected. This time it hits the Just (Video) Player in the Google Play Store. An app with a small user base but solid ratings and one simple feature – it plays videos. The video player also supports the integration of subtitles in various formats: SRT, SSA, ASS, TTML, VTT . And that’s the mistake.

The algorithms interfere with the ASS file format and for this reason have automatically blocked the app. The algorithms presumably suspected the slightly derogatory meaning of the body part – even though some Google apps and APIs support this format. It is questionable why the algorithms immediately block this harmless word, which is certainly part of the everyday vocabulary of many people. Even if the developer meant the body part, locking it out without warning is a bit of an exaggeration.

Fortunately, the Play Store support team saw it that way and activated the app again after a few hours after the developer contacted us. Similar cases happen again and again and also occur on other platforms – unfortunately for some time now, to the chagrin of the GoogleWatchBlog . We may be distributing pornographic content similar to “Ass” 😉 here on the blog