Addon Unavailable on Google Chrome · Issue #102 · ClearURLs/Addon
github.com
Has the addon been removed from the webstore? The URL listed here is responding with a 404 error. It's not coming up in search either. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clearurls/lc...

Once again daddy Google being an absolute asshole against projects that can damage their tracking practices.

Meanwhile you can download the extension from their GitHub or use Tracking Token Stripper if you need to use Chromium-based browsers, or. you know… just use Firefox.

  • Jeffrey
    92·
    4 years ago

    These kinds of mistakes happen all the time, and they’re super frustrating. Google probably should have asked nicely for the dev to make changes to ClearURLs, but assuming the translation is accurate, the author of the addon also exaggerated a bit when he cited “having a description too detailed that can potentially confuse users” and said “I think that ClearURLs now has so many users that it is unwelcome for Google and they would like to see the addon disappear permanently.”

    Google’s complaints in English are below:

    Violations:

    Inaccurate description - Missing information:

    Violation: The description of the item does not mention the following feature: “Donate, Badges, Logging, Export/Import”.

    Here’s how to fix the issue: Update the description of the article to mention all the features, or remove the corresponding source code from the package

    Permission Usage:

    Violation: Requiring the following permissions is not required for the methods/properties implemented by the article: clipboardWrite

    How to fix the issue: Remove the permissions listed above. The properties used by the articles will work even if these permissions are not requested.

    Keyword spam:

    Violation: superfluous and/or irrelevant keywords are in the description of the article Policy Violating Content: “Irreverent information about ClearURLs”.

    Here’s how to fix the problem: Remove superfluous and/or irrelevant keywords.

    The author of ClearURLs says Google is wrong about the clipboardWrite permission, and that the other violations are just nit-picking. It’s definitely a little ridiculous that the addon was pulled from the store for this stuff, but I’m sure there will be several emails back and forth, a few lines edited in the addon’s description, and then ClearURLs will be relisted in the Chrome Web Store. I don’t think this really justifies jumping to the conclusion that Google is taking a politically motivated action against a small dev, it’s more likely some over-eager intern stuck with the job of auditing chrome apps jumped the gun and over reacted.

    • joojmachineOP
      2·
      4 years ago

      Yeah, it was a bit exaggerated by the dev, now that I can see what it says, but still, saying that the names of the contributors are keyword spam while “needing” to warn users of the buttons the add-on has is still stupid.