Clarification on Policy Enforcement: Incentivized Reviews and "Click-to-Unlock" Tactics

[ZapScribe]

Hi everyone,

I’m seeking clarification on the Developer Program Policies regarding incentivized reviews and manipulated ratings.

While researching growth strategies, I’ve noticed several top-ranking extensions successfully using a "Review Gate" to inflate their store presence. A prominent example is:

• Extension Name: WAExport - Free WhatsApp Chat Export

• Extension ID: ldodkdnfdpchaipnoklfnfmbbkdoocej

• Website: https://waexport.wadesk.io/pricing

The Growth Loop Observed:

1. Feature Gating: The extension restricts core functionality (like unlimited exports) unless the user performs a "Review" action.

2. The Click-to-Unlock Loophole: The app redirects the user to the review page and unlocks the features immediately upon the click. Because the API doesn't confirm the review, this seems to be a "grey area" tactic to bypass the ban on paid/incentivized reviews.

3. Monetization Transition: Their pricing page (https://waexport.wadesk.io/pricing) converts these users into paid subscribers after the initial "review-fueled" growth phase.

My Questions:

• Is "Click-to-Unlock" considered a violation of the Spam and Abuse policy?

• Does Google's enforcement team distinguish between "Incentivizing a Review" and "Incentivizing a Visit to the Review Page"?

• As a developer following the rules, how can we compete for search rankings when competitors are using these methods to gain thousands of 5-star reviews?

I believe a clear stance on this would help maintain a fair playing field for all developers.

Finally, it is worth noting that this is not an isolated case; a significant number of newly launched and trending extensions have recently adopted these forced review gates, turning what was once a 'safe' ecosystem into a landscape where artificial rating inflation is becoming the standard growth playbook

[MV3 Noob]

Thanks for raising this, i have seen some "Ai" tools offering free credit upon installation of their own extension.
In my opinion that's border line incentivised install but i would tend to think its ok because it for the promotion of their own product.
Its not like a game offering free credit if you install a third party extension.
I feel like if it stays within the ecosystem of the product it should be ok, but i am not making the rules, just asking since i have seen a couple getting away with it.

[K.R.Hitesh]

What I noticed is most of these extension have no features of Ai but they use this  pattern to get reviews and boost their extension 

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[Hitesh230]

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/wappmaster-contacts-extra/moeihekkmkijlgmmablmbkjeojmkaagh

Same Issue Reported by other Users:

1. https://chromewebstore.google.com/reviews/ca45d5a5-6c71-4d43-9493-dbadac347683
2. https://chromewebstore.google.com/reviews/28464fdd-4044-4db3-86d2-9fedf3b3fef3

Can someone from Chrome team please confirm if this of practices are Permissable ?