2010 November 25 | Mapsys.info (2) Mapsys.info

Content Rating for Android Market

[This post is by Eric Chu, Android Developer Ecosystem. —Tim Bray]

Providing users with more information about applications on Android Market has been a top request from Android users. Starting in a few weeks, we will be showing content ratings for all applications on Android Market. This new capability will provide users with additional information to help them select the best applications for them.

Android Market’s content policy remains the same as before: applications will be rated according to four content rating levels: All, Pre-teen, Teen, & Mature. Details on the rating levels can be found at Android Market Help Center.

To prepare for this launch, starting next week, developers submitting new or updated applications will be required to include a rating for all applications and games uploaded onto Android Market. In addition, developers will have the next several weeks to add a rating to their existing applications and games. Once content rating is visible to users, any applications or games that do not include a rating will be treated as “Mature”.

We are working hard to rapidly deliver improvements and upgrades to Android Market. Please look for more Android Market upgrades in the coming weeks. Thanks for your continued support and please don’t hesitate to give us feedback on what else we can do to make you more successful with Android and Android Market.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in the US, and I had planned to be up in Michigan hanging out with relatives, but we’re staying home in Atlanta with a few sick little girls. Tomorrow morning I was going to run the Turkey Trot 10K in Detroit, which would have been pretty cool. You can view the route in Google Earth (KML Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. ), thanks to MapMyRun.

Instead, I’ll be taking it easy and enjoying time with family, eating the big meal, and watching the Lions lose.

A few years ago, Frank created the world’s largest Thanksgiving greeting card. You can check it out Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. in Google Earth. Feel free to share the link with your friends or family. (By the way, if you look closely, you’ll see a placemark with a turkey icon. Check out the placemark for a little Thanksgiving trivia.)

Google Hotspot Influence Rolling Across All of Google Local

We continue to learn about changes across all of Google local products as Hotspot is further integrated into the rating and review process. Lat Long Blog points out that Places will now include a new section highlighting recommendations from friends:

I noted in Rating are the new Reviews that Google was now allowing rating in Places. Actually it is much more pervasive than that as they can now be made in all of the following Google products:

To rate a business on desktop, simply hover over rating stars anywhere you see them. Here are places you’ll see the rating stars, on your computer.