Google Blocked 266 Million Risky App Installs, Prevented 1.75 Million Policy-Violating Apps in 2025

Google on Thursday detailed its new enforcement measures to keep the Android ecosystem secure in 2025. In its annual security update, the Mountain View-based tech giant highlighted how it strengthened protections across Google Play, while blocking millions of harmful apps that could've spread malware, financial fraud, hidden subscriptions, and privacy invasions, before they could reach users. The company leveraged detection tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and ecosystem-wide collaborations.

Google's 2025 Security Efforts

Google blocked more than 1.75 million apps from being published on Google Play in 2025 for violating its policies, the company explained in a security blog dated February 19. The tech giant also banned over 80,000 developer accounts that were found to be associated with malicious activity, fraud, or repeated policy violations.

Apart from this, Google's report mentions that it prevented over 255,000 apps from gaining unnecessary access to sensitive user data. The tech giant strengthened its privacy policies and continued promoting privacy-forward development through tools like Play Policy Insights in Android Studio and the Data Safety section on Google Play. These measures are claimed to be designed to encourage developers to minimise privacy-sensitive permission requests and prioritise user-centric design practices.

To preserve trust in app discovery, Google enhanced its anti-spam systems, which resulted in the blocking of 160 million spam ratings and reviews, including artificially inflated or deflated feedback. The company says its protections also prevented an average 0.5-star rating drop for apps targeted by review bombing campaigns, shielding both users and developers from misleading or manipulative reviews.

The company says its generative AI-powered review systems now analyse apps earlier in the development lifecycle, helping detect malware, spyware, and financial scam apps before they are submitted to the Play Store. In addition to existing safeguards, the company introduced new layers of protection last year to prevent younger users from discovering or downloading apps related to activities such as gambling or dating.

As per Google, Android's built-in malware protection service, dubbed Google Play Protect, was further enhanced in the previous year. Originally piloted in Singapore, it was expanded to 185 markets, covering more than 2.8 billion Android devices. The tech giant says this system analyses and automatically blocks installation attempts for apps that may abuse sensitive permissions to commit financial fraud.

It also blocked 266 million risky installation attempts in 2025 and protected users from 872,000 unique high-risk applications through this system.

Lastly, new protections targeting social engineering attacks conducted during phone calls were also introduced. Google's new in-call scam protection feature prevents users from disabling Play Protect while on an active call. This is designed to stop fraudsters from convincing victims to turn off built-in security defences and install malicious apps mid-call.