Playing "Guess what's wrong with your extension" once again

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Bjorn Stromberg

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May 21, 2020, 7:51:00 AM5/21/20
to Chromium Extensions
Extension ID: kdjmiebhgaleboaamnehjbamlghkoedf

After a one minor revision passing review, I'm once again stuck getting my updates rejected for matters completely unrelated to what was updated.

The extension is getting rejected for violating a different "Spam and Placement in the Store" policy than last time:
  • Item has a blank description field, or missing icons or screenshots, and appears to be suspicious.
I responded to the rejection four times now and I keep getting the same form mail sent back to me. One time it had the word "screenshots" in bold and the next time it had the words "missing icons" in bold.

My extension has a description, an icon, and a screenshot so I have no idea what the problem is here.

You can see all communication with the "Chrome Web Store Developer Support" for this version on github: https://github.com/bjornstar/intercept-redirect/issues/19

I'm tired of responding to form mails and getting the exact same form mails back with random words highlighted as if that is communicating something. I'd love to hear when we can expect to start getting clear, concise responses to our e-mails.



Kent Brewster

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May 21, 2020, 12:42:56 PM5/21/20
to Bjorn Stromberg, Chromium Extensions
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition Response. ("Numbered amongst the reasons why we may have rejected your extension are: a blank description field, missing icons or screenshots, a vaguely suspicious appearance, fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, and a fanatical devotion to the Pope!")

--Kent
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Paul Draper

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May 21, 2020, 2:19:30 PM5/21/20
to Chromium Extensions
I have this same experience.

I've had half a dozen rejections, despite not changing a thing on the listing since last week.

fjdpfbhghibiengfmeookmkimafclhff

All I'm trying to do is get a bug fix out.

I've contact support multiple times, all I get is an automated response.

If someone has enough time to reject my extension 6 times in the last few days, perhaps they have time to respond to an email? 

Bjorn Stromberg

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May 23, 2020, 4:51:25 AM5/23/20
to Chromium Extensions
I received yet another rejection notification, this time the word "blank" was changed to "Less" and more words were in bold:
  • We may remove your item if it has a Less description field, or missing icons or screenshots, and appears to be suspicious
I have no idea what they are trying to say here, but could someone from Google please step in here and explain in a clear and concise manner what is wrong with my extension?

Is the description insufficient? What is wrong with it?

The extension has a description that was approved 17 days ago after much back and forth and a new set of rules published by Google. What has changed?

Are there missing icons?

The extension has an icon. If the extension needs more than one icon, that should be communicated clearly.

Are there missing screenshots?

The extension has a screenshot. If the extension needs more than one screenshot, that should be communicated clearly.

Why does the rejection notification change every time I ask for clarification indicating a different problem in each response?

Developers should not be expected to read tea leaves in order to divine the whims of the "Google Chrome Web Store team" which seem to change on a daily basis.

On April 24th, we were told:

we're currently planning to create a team that will respond to escalations with more meaningful information about a rejection.

Could we get some more details about your plan? How many months do we need to wait?

 - Bjorn

Juan Lugo

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May 23, 2020, 3:08:48 PM5/23/20
to Chromium Extensions
Hi Bjorn 

The support never says anything clear, just a robot.

Check this out

1. Add a privacy policy.
2. Add email support.
3. Minimize the use of so many unknown permissions.




Good luck!

Bjorn Stromberg

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May 26, 2020, 3:30:57 AM5/26/20
to Chromium Extensions
After receiving the same indecipherable rejection notification for the 6th time, I stopped responding to the "Google Chrome Web Store team".

I added a 16x16 and 48x48 icon to my manifest and submitted again. It was approved at some point this afternoon.

I have no idea if there was a bug with the dashboard or the requirements have changed. Either way, I was treated like a "malicious actor" and Google refused to communicate with me in a clear manner to resolve their issue with my extension.

Publishing a minor update to my extension took 9 days, 6 replies to their rejections, a shot in the dark change to my manifest, and I still have no idea what exactly was wrong. This is a terrible developer experience and makes me want to stop distributing on the Google Chrome Web Store.

 - Bjorn

Tongzhou Ji

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Jun 3, 2020, 4:00:23 AM6/3/20
to Chromium Extensions
Really bad experience too.

After many attempts I decided to publish my extension to Edge LOL

在 2020年5月26日星期二 UTC+8下午3:30:57,Bjorn Stromberg写道:
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