New Delhi, Apr 28 (IANS): In an effort to keep Google Play safe for users and developers, Google has said that it prevented 1.43 million policy-violating apps from being published in 2022 in part due to new and improved security features and policy enhancements.

Additionally, the company banned over 1,73,00 bad accounts and prevented over $2 billion in fraudulent and abusive transactions to combat malicious developers and fraud rings.

Moreover, in response to the new licensing requirements for personal loan apps in India, Google removed over 3,500 apps in 2022 for violating Play policy requirements.

In 2021, the company revised its Play Store developer programme policy for financial services apps, including additional requirements for personal loan apps in India, effective September 15, 2021.

In 2022, Google introduced additional requirements for developers offering personal loans in India as facilitators on behalf of NBFCs (Non-Banking Financial Company) and banks.

With strengthened Android platform protections and policies, and developer outreach and education, Google prevented about 5,00,000 submitted apps from unnecessarily accessing sensitive permissions over the past three years.

In 2022, the App Security Improvements programme helped developers fix -- 5,00,000 security weaknesses affecting 3,00,000 apps with a combined install base of approximately 250 billion installs.

The company also mentioned that it expanded the App Defense Alliance, an alliance of partners with the mission of protecting Android users from bad apps through collaboration and shared intelligence in the past year.