One of the biggest developers of the Play Store faced with the ban of 50 applications by Google

Nearly 50 apps from Chinese developer DO Global have disappeared from the Google Play store after a Buzzfeed News survey revealed evidence of advertising fraud and shop rules violations. Although Google has not yet released a public comment, a source told Buzzfeed News that the company is working to ban DO Global as a whole, while deleting more apps.

These regulatory measures represent one of the biggest bans ever imposed by a developer on Google. Before the removal of 46 applications, DO Global had about 600 million installations for its some 100 applications in the Play Store. It remained a subsidiary of the internet giant Baidu until last year, and the company retains partial ownership.

Buzzfeed News released a report last week that at least six DO Global apps contained code designed to increase the number of clicks on an ad, whether someone uses it or not. Several other people with clear names, such as "Pic Tools Group" and "Photo Artist Studio", have not revealed their ownership by the developer, which violates the rules of the Play Store.

"We are actively investigating malicious behavior and when we discover violations, we take steps, including to prevent developers from monetizing their application with AdMob or publishing on Play," said a Google spokesman at Buzzfeed.

After the first investigation, DO Global published a statement on its website, apologizing for "irregularities in the use of AdMob advertising by some of our products". The developer then stated that he supported Google's decision and cooperated with the company's review.

Along with the removal of these apps, Google has removed another 40 users from the store this week. In other cases of rule violation, Google targeted only the specific applications involved, as was the case for the developers Cheetah Mobile and Kika Tech. However, the blatant and widespread use of advertising fraud in its application by DO Global has likely prompted the company to take more aggressive measures of attempting to completely ban the developer.