Google's changing how it gives out stars in the Play Store
Giving more weight to recent reviews could be both good and bad for developers.
Google will be giving more weight to the most recent reviews in determining app star ratings.
As part of the Google I/O developer conference, the company on Wednesday announced changes coming to its Play Store, including beefed up security, better store listings and improvements on updating apps. One change in particular, having to do with how the store will calculate user reviews to give apps their star rating, could be a mixed bag for developers.
On its developer blog, Google said it will adjust the app star rating to give more weight to the most recent reviews. This could help developers as it will favor ratings given to the most recent version of an app. However, if users flock to the Play Store and decide to give low ratings to an app, also called review bombing, it could really knock down a score.
Google also said it will provide developers suggested replies to help them respond to users faster.
The new ratings will go into effect in August for users, but developers can already log into their accounts to get a preview of how the re-calculated ratings look.
