Google’s Strike Removal pilot program helps devs restore their accounts

Google has launched its new ‘Strike Removal’ pilot program to enable Android developers who violated certain Play Store policies to join a training course and take an assessment test related to their violation, and ’potentially have the strike count against their account’s standing waived.’

”We know that many developers work hard to create and distribute their apps with good intentions, and may sometimes unknowingly violate policies”, the tech titan said in a statement. ”The aim of the program is to help educate eligible developers, and to assess and increase their understanding of policy compliance.”

The program is currently being tested with select developers who have a strike against their accounts. The company said that eligible developers will receive an email regarding the instructions on how they can get started. While they will be able to take a break and resume their training whenever they want, they’ll be required to take the test before their deadline which will be specified in their email. 

Participants will be given 3 attempts to pass the test. After passing it successfully, they will get their app’s strike count waived within the following 48 hours. Google notes that developer accounts will be required to be ‘in good standing’ and not terminated. 

The company added that they’ll expand the program over time to more developers who had a suspension action. Meanwhile, the program is also available to anyone with a Play Store developer account, even if they don’t have any strike against their apps or accounts.