Google Removed 5 Million Reviews To Raise TikTok Ranking From 1.2 To 1.5 Stars

Over the past weeks, many people have been giving TikTok bad reviews, pushing down its rating on Google Play. The Chinese social app got into this messy situation due to the number of controversies around its platform.

On Twitter, hashtags urging for a ban on TikTok and hashtags pressing India against TikTok have been trending.

On the Play Store, the ranking of the app has fallen from over 4 stars to just 2 stars, then to 1.2 stars. The joint effort by a number of enraged people has quickly made TikTok looks bad on Google Play, but it seems that the app is reviving, gradually.

Recently, TikTok’s ranking has gone up to 1.5 stars with 22 million reviews from users. However, the actual reason for this could be a move from Google, which might have removed negative user reviews to help the app get some balance.

Verified Twitter user and data storyteller Nobert Elekes tweeted:

“Apparently, Google deleted over a million TikTok reviews overnight, that's why the rating increased from 1.2 to 1.6 stars.”

The tweet surfaced alongside a screenshot showing 28 million reviews with a 1.2-star rating. There’s another screenshot showing 27 million reviews and a 1.6-star rating.

As of May 25, the app got a 1.5-star rating on the Play Store with 22 million reviews. That means over the past week, Google has deleted another 5 million reviews.

It’s unclear why the tech giant did this, but it clearly helped TikTok improve its ranking on the app store.

Last week, India brought the Chinese app to the lowest ranking ever. The incident took place when people were enraged by Faizal Siddiqui, who boasted an acid attack on his profile on the platform. His video was removed and Siddiqui was banned from the platform.

Another reason for this dropped ranking is fans of Indian YouTuber Carry Minati, who submitted 1-star reviews on the Play Store.

>>> Indians Mass Attacking TikTok To Get It Banned, Again