Google has confirmed plans to remove hundreds of Android apps from the Play Store over the next month. The decision came after the California tech company tacitly updated its inappropriate content policy.
In contrast to the recent raids on the Play Store where Google blocked a dozen applications designed to trick users into downloading malware, the latest drive targets so-called “sugar daddy” apps. The ban will cause applications to disappear from the Play Store lists. And those who have already installed the apps will see them disappear from their Android smartphone or tablet overnight.
For those who didn’t know, a sugar daddy refers to someone who pays a younger user in return for sexual intimacy. Services that enable this type of relationship are sometimes referred to as “compensated sexual relationship apps”.
A quick search on the Play Store reveals around 250 apps that claim to enable these transactional relationships. Examples include Sugar Daddy Allowance, Seeking Sugar Daddy, My Sugar Daddy, Seeking Arrangement, Spoil, and Elite Millionaire Singles, to name a few.
According to some users, these apps have allowed younger people to earn up to £ 18,000 a month, which equates to a £ 216,000 salary. And more importantly, it’s more than enough to cover the cost of a college degree – so that they can go without debt.
At Cambridge University alone, according to data from Seeking Arrangement, one of the services that make these relationships possible, more than 1,000 students were Sugar Daddys in the 2019/20 academic year.
When asked about his decision to discontinue all of these services as of September 1st, a spokesman for Google told MailOnline: “As a platform, we’re always happy to support our developer partners, but we also work hard to provide users with a safe one We have updated our Inappropriate Content Policy to ban apps that allow sexual activity in return for compensation after receiving feedback from NGOs, governments, and other stakeholders working to keep users safe. This aligns our guidelines with other Google guidelines and industry standards. “
Google isn’t the first tech company to take a tough stance on these apps. Apple already has a similar policy in place for its App Store, which is the only method for iPhone and iPad owners to download and update apps.
According to the wording of Apple’s policy, the ban includes “hookup” applications that “contain pornography or could be used to promote prostitution,” which excludes Sugar Daddy apps.
Apple and Google’s guidelines are designed to allow standard dating apps like Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble. However, these dating apps can be used by people to organize a sugar daddy style arrangement.
