PSA: Ask your questions about Chrome Web Store review

[Oliver Dunk]

Hi all,

Next week, Patrick and I will be meeting in-person with the team responsible for reviews on the Chrome Web Store. We plan to film a video for the Chrome for Developers YouTube channel sharing more about the review process which will be posted in the coming weeks.

If you have any burning questions, we’d love to hear them! Please feel free to share them below and we will pick some to ask on the day.

Thanks,
Oliver on behalf of Chrome Extensions DevRel

[Robert James Gabriel]

Great idea!

Thank you for all work your doing on the chrome store. 

Thank you

Robert James Gabriel

On Apr 2, 2024, at 10:55, 'Oliver Dunk' via Chromium Extensions <chromium-...@chromium.org> wrote:

Hi all,

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[Ian Williams]

Thanks for putting this together!

I have two questions:

1. Since the Web Store is the first place Chromebook users go for programs, could we have a specific section for extensions that use ChromeOS APIs?

2. For my extensions with a premium purchase, what should I do to make it easier for reviewers to try my functionality so they can determine its eligibility for featured status?

Thanks again

[Jackie Han]

The review team is probably the most mysterious team in Chrome. It would be more vivid to think of an extension as a person.

Question 1:

How do you tell if a person is a good person or a bad person? I know that sometimes you judge good people as bad people or bad people as good people. I guess sometimes it's hard to judge, right?

Question 2:

How much do you work in a week? For example, 2000 extension updates need to be reviewed per week? How many people are on this team?

Question 3:

Some policies are broad and vague. How do you enforce them?

Question 4:

If an extension collects user data, and does disclose it on its privacy policy, but you don't know how it is executed behind the scenes, it is entirely up to the user to decide whether to trust this extension. In other words, privacy issues cannot be completely solved by CWS.

Sorry, this is not a question. I just want to hear the review team acknowledge that even with their best efforts, it doesn't mean that the extensions they review are free of security and privacy issues.

Question 5:

How does "Enhanced Safe Browsing" work for extensions?

[Artem from bardeen.ai]

Thanks for doing this! Here are my questions:

- Review times are generally unpredictable. It can take anywhere from a few hours to 10 days. This makes it really hard for developers to react to user feedback in a timely manner and roll out updates quickly. Why is this happening? Are there certain types of changes that trigger a longer review process? 

- What can developers do to make it easier and smoother to review the updates?

- Why is it impossible to roll back and start distributing older (and already approved) versions quickly? 

- Why are copy/image changes for Chrome store listings tied to code changes? Also, why does the change of a copy result in a lock on changing the code (until the review is done) and vice versa? These are small things that make the life of a developer unnecessarily hard. 

- Have you considered having trusted/certified/vetted developers or extensions? I'd be more than happy to undergo a security audit or otherwise cooperate in any way I can to establish a more trust-based relationship with the Chrome Store.

Thank you!

Artem.

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[stev...@hotmail.com]

Great idea! I love the recent enhancements to the Chrome Web Store! It's evident that a lot of effort is being dedicated to improving it.

I do have a few inquiries:

1. When an extension is rejected, could you clarify why the feedback often comes in the form of a code like "Blue Argon," rather than a concise explanation detailing what adjustments are needed?
2. Could you shed some light on whether the review team has any influence on search rankings, and if so, how they ensure fairness in ranking extensions?
3. Regarding discover categories like "Capture your screen" and "Chrome Editors' Spotlight," does the review team contribute to their selection process? If yes, what criteria do they utilize for picking these categories?

Looking forward to seeing the video!

Cheers,

Steven.

[Sahil Gupta]

As migration from MV2 -> MV3 in most cases consists of completely overhaul of the codebase, will the reviews be longer? If yes, then any suggestions to make them faster?

[Particle]

Will review times be affected by any workarounds we implement for this bug that is yet to be addressed? https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/324096753

[Oliver Dunk]

Thanks all for the questions!

We recorded this last Friday and were able to get to quite a few of them. I'll make sure to post here when the video is live.

Oliver Dunk | DevRel, Chrome Extensions | https://developer.chrome.com/ | London, GB