Rant: You think Apple has neglected its developers? The chrome webstore is worse

3 points by DYZT 9 years ago | 3 comments

A few months ago I've submitted my first chrome extension to the chrome webstore. It wasn't an immediate success like I might have wished it to be, but it was a "scratch" your own problem kind of product and I was satisfied. I acquired some users, some were active some were not and I kept adding features that I felt were lacking. It was a side project I enjoyed immensely.

Then around a month ago I started my long and unresolved dispute with the chrome webstore team. As it would seem, another developer has registered a trademark for the same name I was using for my product. Notice that when I submitted my add-on this trademark wasn't yet registered. Without any notice my add-on was removed from the chrome webstore. Even after I removed all references to the old product name, any visuals or textual content that might somehow be affiliated with the previous name were also removed. I kept submitting my add-on for approval, but every time my "review process" was denied without a single reason. Sometimes I received a general automatic email that directed me to the chrome extension developer policy and sometimes I didn't receive any email at all. All attempts to contact anyone at the team went unanswered.

Although this is a rant, if any of you had encountered this kind of treatment before I'd love to hear what you did about it.

smt88 9 years ago |

Google half-asses all of their products except perhaps AdSense. I'm not surprised you had such a bad experience.

The galling thing about Apple is that they make so much money off of their store (and charge developers so much). With the Chrome store, you're basically getting what you pay for.

lsiebert 9 years ago | |

I'd suggest you find a well known english speaking developer who seems to do well in the webstore that you think might have connections. Email them, say you really respect them and their work and ask if they have any advice or know who might be able to help you.

Simultaneously, make a blog post on medium about your experience. You have emails, you have logs of submissions, write up the whole thing with screen shots, redacting anything that you need to. Include what you want done in your situation, and recommendations so that your situation isn't repeated. Submit to HN.

IF all else fails, republish the code under a new name/account/email.

DYZT 9 years ago | |

on other platforms where the store was free I got a very different response. Wix, Shopify even surprisingly enough Facebook. I don't think it's an excuse