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New Rating System for Android Apps

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In May, Google Play will introduce a new content rating system for apps and games that will help consumers with their purchases.

The main goal of this new rating system is to improve app engagement by better targeting the appropriate audience. This will be done by evaluating content and respecting each country's internet advertising policies. Since the current Google Play rating scale will be replaced by this new system in May, this rating is mandatory for all developers.

Google says that the “Unrated” apps may be blocked in certain territories for specific users. If your app is not rated, Google Play has the right to delete it from the Play Store, so be sure to rate it now.

The rating will be calculated based on rules defined by an international organization (IARC), based on informations given to google by the developers about the content of their app.  The International Age Rating Coalition (IARC), born from a global initiative, gives a classification for games and apps, depending on the minimum age requested to use them, according to the territory where they will be sold.  
The IARC is composed by different classification institutions, each one corresponding to a different area in the world :
- the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) - North America
- Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) - Europe
-  Australian Classification Board - Australia
- Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) - Germany
- Classificação Indicativa (ClassInd) - Brazil

An app can get different ratings depending on the territory it will be downloaded from. This new way to rate apps will, as Google says, " inform consumers about the age appropriateness of your app, block or filter your content in certain territories or to specific users where legally required, evaluate your app’s eligibility for special developer programs."

How can I do it?

You just have to fill out a form for all apps on your Google Play Developer Console account. Follow these steps described in this online help .
The rating of your app will be calculated based on the answers you provide when filling the form. If you think the rating is not appropriate, you will be able to discuss about it with the IARC.

This change is very important for people who want to distribute their app with Google Play. Google says it is mandatory to rate the apps that are already published in google Play or, that will be published there. It applies also to all the updates you'll make to your apps.

We encourage you to follow the rating process asap, so that your beautiful apps remain on  Google Play ;)