What is the difference between public and private Ratings?

Google Play rating calculations are different for public vs private ratings, as per the image below.\n\nPublic Ratings shows the Ratings which match what you see on the public page for that app in the app store - the same rating users who are browsing the app store will see. For Google Play apps, the Public Google Play rating calculations show a weighted average value. The details of the weighted average calculation are not made publicly available by Google. They are often subject to fluctuations as Google makes changes. Public ratings are only available in Appbot after Google's moderation process.\n\nPrivate Ratings means the Ratings that match what you see inside your developer console. Here, the Google Play rating calculations are done without applying any weightings to the average. The private data sometimes also shows a higher count of Ratings, as new Ratings appear in the console before they are seen publicly. Private ratings are available in Appbot before Google's moderation process.\n\nFor authenticated apps, 'Private' will be selected by default.

What is the difference between Google Public and Private Ratings?

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Google Play app ratings have two different ratings datasets – Public vs Private ratings. Both are fetched directly from Google as a daily cumulative snapshot.

Google Public Ratings

Google public ratings are calculated using a weighted average value. The full details of the weighted average calculation are not made publicly available by Google, but they advise that it is based on the current ratings, not the lifetime ratings. This ensures that the app ratings reflect any recent changes and updates made to the app. Google public ratings total is the aggregated global ratings for all countries, while the star ratings counts are by country. Both only include ratings after they have been moderated by Google.

Google Public Ratings in the Google Play Store

The Google Public average (1) and number of ratings (2) in Appbot matches what you and your customers see in the Google Play store (desktop version).

Since 2024, the public ratings Google Play displays to users depends on a number of factors, including the device they are currently using, as well as the country or region they are in. When the Google Play store is accessed from a desktop browser it shows the aggregate ratings data. When accessing via other devices such as a phone, tablet or watch the ratings shown are specific to the device type and may also be filtered by country or region.

Google Public Ratings in the Google Play Console

In the Google Play Console the public ratings are displayed as the Default Google Play Rating.

Google Private Ratings

Google private ratings are the global lifetime raw ratings data, without any weightings. Google private ratings include ratings that have not yet been moderated by Google. Google private ratings are not shown in the Google Play store at all. To access Google private ratings in Appbot you need to connect the Google Play Console account. Once connected the Ratings page will show the Google private ratings by default.

There is often a delay of 3 – 7 days before private ratings are available by Google to be fetched by Appbot. If you are recording the monthly ratings for your app from Google private ratings, we suggest waiting until after the 7th day of the following month.

For analysis of Google ratings, especially trends, we highly recommend using Private ratings.

Google Private Ratings in the Google Play Console

In the Google Play Console the average rating is shown under Lifetime average rating.

If you need any further assistance on Google app ratings, don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions.

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About The Author

Claire McGregor

Claire has been a product manager and marketer of digital products, from mobile apps to e-commerce sites and SaaS products for the past 15 years. She's led marketing teams to build multi-million dollar revenues and is passionate about growth and conversion optimization. Claire loves to work directly with the world's top app companies delivering tools to help them improve their apps.