This covers the review/rating ecosystem itself — fake reviews, review-bombing coordination, bot-generated ratings, and asking users to leave a specific star rating in exchange for anything of value.
Frequently triggered by an in-app prompt that explicitly steers users toward leaving a 5-star review only if they're happy (and silently redirects unhappy users to a feedback form instead), which Google treats as manipulating the public rating.
"Your app's rating prompt selectively filters user sentiment before directing users to the Play Store, which violates the User Ratings, Reviews, and Installs policy."
This policy covers the review and rating ecosystem as a whole: fake reviews, coordinated review-bombing, bot-generated ratings and asking users to give a specific star rating in exchange for anything of value. A well-known trigger is a prompt that asks users if they are happy, sends happy users to the store and quietly redirects unhappy ones to a private feedback form.
A rating is only useful if it reflects the range of real experience. Filtering who can leave a review or paying for a specific score hides problems and misleads people about quality. At the other end, coordinated attacks can unfairly damage honest apps. By addressing both inflation and abuse, the policy seeks to keep ratings representative, which benefits users and developers who earn their scores.
Yes, if it is shown to users generally and not filtered by sentiment.
They are covered together with ratings and promotion rules.
Google provides ways to report abuse of the review system.
Platform rules change often. This page is a plain-language explanation written by AppReviewFix, not official guidance. Check the current Google Play Developer Policy Center for the exact wording.