TikTok’s Ratings Moved Up to 4.4 Stars on Google Play as Google Removed Mass Negativity

HIGHLIGHTS

• TikTok ratings have been improved in the last one week
• Google has confirmed that it has removed spam abuse
• TikTok’s backlash emerged across the Web last week

Now, Google has deleted over 7 million negative comments resulting in TikTok’s rating move up to 4.4 stars. The major chunk of negative comments came in after the short-video app faced a controversy surrounding a video posted by the popular TikToker Faizal Siddiqui.

TikTok’s app ratings on Google Play have moved up to 4.4 stars from 1.2 stars surfaced last week. The latest development emerges days after the short videos app faced a public backlash chiefly due to the controversy surrounding a video posted by a popular TikTok user Faizal Siddiqui, with hashtags including #IndiansAgainstTikTok surfacing on social media. Google has passively played an important role in improving the average rating of TikTok on Google Play as it removed millions of one-star ratings due to its comment posting guidelines that clearly allows to remove negative reviews and ratings that account for a mass attack.

Without specifying the case of TikTok, a Google spokesperson said that the company takes a corrective action to remove inappropriate ratings and comments when it considers incidents of spam abuse. “Play Store ratings enable users to provide helpful feedback about their experience with apps and content, for the benefit of others to make informed decisions,” the spokesperson said in a statement emailed to Gadgets 360.

If we compare the current app ratings of TikTok on Google Play from what it had exactly seven days back, there is a drop of roughly 80 lakh ratings. The graph on the Web version of Google Play also shows that there was a massive increase in one-star ratings last week, but a large number of those ratings are no longer live.

A large number of people have also been seen criticising TikTok for just being a “Chinese” platform. At the same time, several netizens have also pointed out that the videos app has been used to share objectionable content, including animal and sexual abuse clips. TikTok alternatives have been able to grow dramatically as a result of this negative sentiment. Homegrown app Mitron saw over 50 lakh downloads on Google Play, thanks to a combination of a catchy name and a strong anti-TikTok, anti-China sentiment, with many reviews of the app pointing out many glitches, yet giving it five stars because it’s an Indian app.