Google Reports a Decline in Malicious Apps on Google Play
Google is observing fewer incidences of bad actors targeting its platform with malicious apps, a change it attributes to its escalated investments in proactive security systems and AI technology. The tech giant’s Android app ecosystem safety report, released on Thursday, reveals that in 2025, Google prevented as many as 1.75 million policy-violating apps from publishing on Google Play, a marked decrease from 2.36 million in 2024 and 2.28 million in 2023. (source)
Google’s Efforts in Protecting Android Users
The annual report offers an insight into how Google is safeguarding Android users by thoroughly reviewing and keeping a close eye on apps to shield against threats like malware, financial fraud, privacy breaches, deceptive subscriptions, among others. Google reports that it banned over 80,000 developer accounts in 2025 that had attempted to publish these sorts of damaging apps. This figure also shows a year-on-year decrease from 158,000 in 2024 and 333,000 in 2023.
Image Credits:Google
AI and Proactive Measures in Thwarting Threats
Google highlighted how its investments in AI and other real-time defenses have not only combatted these threats but also acted as a deterrent. The company’s blog post explained that initiatives like developer verification, mandatory pre-review checks, and testing requirements have elevated the standards for the Google Play ecosystem, significantly reducing the avenues for malicious actors to enter.
The Role of AI in Ensuring App Safety
Google’s “AI-powered, multi-layer protections” have been instrumental in “discouraging bad actors from publishing malicious apps.” The company conducts over 10,000 safety checks on every app it publishes, and continues to recheck apps post-publication. Google has also incorporated its latest generative AI models into the app review process, accelerating the detection of sophisticated malicious patterns by human reviewers. The tech giant plans to raise its AI investments in 2026 to stay ahead of emerging threats.
Preventing Excessive Access to Sensitive User Data
Moreover, Google has successfully prevented over 255,000 apps from gaining excessive access to sensitive user data in 2025, down from 1.3 million in 2024. It also blocked 160 million spam ratings and reviews last year, and prevented an average 0.5-star rating drop for apps that were targets of review bombing.
Google Play Protect: An Advanced Defense System
Meanwhile, Google’s Android defense system, known as Google Play Protect, identified more than 27 million new malicious apps in 2025, warning users or blocking the app from running. This number has increased from the 13 million non-Play Store apps identified in 2024 and five million in 2023, suggesting that malicious actors are now more often sidestepping the Play Store to target users with their harmful apps. (source)
