Google Play used AI to help block 1.75 million bad apps in 2025

Engadget

by Steve Dent

February 20, 2026

AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary

Google Play has significantly reduced the number of harmful apps on its platform in 2025, blocking 1.75 million apps that violated its policies—a decrease from 2.36 million in 2024. This decline is attributed to the company's advanced "AI-powered, multi-layer protections," which deter malicious actors from attempting to publish harmful content. Google now conducts over 10,000 safety checks per app and re-evaluates them after publication. Additionally, its use of generative AI models has enhanced human reviewers' ability to quickly identify malicious patterns, making the platform safer for users. The platform also took action against spam ratings, blocking 160 million fake reviews that could have caused apps to lose an average of 0.5 stars due to review bombing. Furthermore, Google prevented 255,000 apps from accessing sensitive user data excessively in 2025, a significant drop from the 1.3 million cases reported the previous year. These efforts highlight the company's commitment to safeguarding user privacy and data security. Google Play Protect, Android's built-in security system, identified over 27 million new malicious apps last year, either warning users or outright preventing them from running such content. The service also blocked 266 million risky "side-loading" installation attempts, ensuring that only verified apps are installed on devices. This system now covers 2.8 billion Android devices across 185 markets, underscoring its global reach and impact. The company's initiatives, including developer verification, mandatory pre-review checks, and rigorous testing requirements, have raised the bar for app safety in the Google

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Originally published on Engadget on 2/20/2026