Google Play is seeing fewer attempts to sneak malicious apps into the store, and Google says its expanding use of proactive security systems and AI is a big reason why. In its newest Android app ecosystem safety report, the company laid out how it’s tightening app reviews, blocking policy violations earlier, and discouraging bad actors from even trying.
One of the clearest signals comes from the number of apps stopped before they ever reached users. Google says it prevented 1.75 million policy-violating apps from being published on Google Play in 2025. That’s a notable drop compared with 2.36 million blocked in 2024 and 2.28 million in 2023. While the total is still huge, the downward trend suggests that improved defenses, stricter requirements, and faster detection are shrinking the opportunities for malware and scams to slip through.
The report highlights the range of threats Google is trying to prevent, from classic malware infections to financial fraud, privacy abuses, fake or misleading subscription tactics, and other forms of app-based deception. To tackle these risks at the source, Google also took action against developers themselves, banning more than 80,000 developer accounts in 2025 that attempted to publish harmful or policy-breaking apps. That figure is down sharply year over year from 158,000 in 2024 and 333,000 in 2023, which Google frames as another sign that stronger enforcement is acting as a deterrent.
Google credits a combination of policy changes and technical defenses for the improvement. Measures such as developer verification, mandatory pre-review checks, and testing requirements are designed to raise the baseline for anyone trying to publish to Google Play. On the technology side, Google says it now performs more than 10,000 safety checks on every app submitted to the store and continues revisiting apps after they go live, helping catch suspicious behavior that might only appear later.
AI is also playing a bigger role in speeding up detection. Google says it has integrated its latest generative AI models into the app review workflow, helping human reviewers identify more complex malicious patterns faster. The company says it plans to increase AI security investments in 2026 as emerging threats evolve and attackers adjust their tactics.
Beyond stopping harmful apps from appearing in the store, the report points to improvements in limiting unnecessary access to personal data. Google says it blocked more than 255,000 apps in 2025 from gaining excessive access to sensitive user data, down dramatically from 1.3 million in 2024. This is especially important for Android users concerned about how apps handle permissions and data collection.
Google also addressed manipulation on the storefront itself, reporting it blocked 160 million spam ratings and reviews in 2025. It additionally said its defenses helped prevent an average 0.5-star rating drop for apps hit by review bombing, a common tactic used to damage an app’s reputation through coordinated fake reviews.
At the same time, the report suggests attackers may be shifting away from Google Play and focusing more on other distribution methods. Google Play Protect, Android’s built-in defense system, detected more than 27 million new malicious apps and warned users or blocked the apps from running. That’s up from 13 million non-Play Store apps detected in 2024 and five million in 2023, indicating a growing volume of threats coming from outside the Play Store ecosystem.
Taken together, the numbers paint a picture of a Play Store that’s becoming harder to exploit, while the broader Android landscape continues to face heavy pressure from malware distributed through sideloading and other unofficial channels. Google’s message is clear: more automation, more AI, and stricter developer requirements are helping reduce risk in Google Play, even as bad actors look for new ways to reach users elsewhere.
