Wiped out by Google's bots overnight. Rebuilding my solo running app from scratch.
Reddit : https://www.reddit.com/r/SidePro...
I’m sharing this partly to vent, but mostly as a warning to other indie makers here.
For the past six months, I’ve been grinding as a solo dev on a GPS running app. No team, no funding. I managed to organically grow it to 1,500 new users per day. It wasn't massive, but it was real traction with real people using it every day.
Then, Google's automated system flagged my app for "brand impersonation." No warning, no human review, no clear explanation. Just a deadline: rebrand by April 13 or get permanently deleted.
My app was called "Runway". It’s literally a running app. The flag was almost certainly triggered by Runway ML (the AI video tool). I obviously wasn't impersonating them—we are in completely unrelated categories. But the bot didn't care. I filed an appeal. Nothing. Opened a support ticket. Nothing. Just a void.
I had no choice but to comply. I rebranded to "Sprint Run" and updated all the metadata.
The moment the update went live, my ASO rankings collapsed. Every keyword I’d built up over six months vanished. My daily new user acquisition dropped by 99% down to single digits overnight. My new users crashed. My growth pipeline completely died.
The most frustrating part? Apple's App Store—which is notoriously strict—reviewed my app multiple times and never raised a single issue. Furthermore, if you search "Runway" on Google Play right now, there are dozens of other apps with the exact same name, completely untouched. It’s just lottery enforcement.
I understand platforms need to protect trademarks, but an automated system that nukes a solo developer's livelihood with zero human oversight and no actual path to appeal is terrifying.
If you’re an indie dev using a name that even loosely resembles an established brand anywhere on the internet, please be careful. You are at risk. There is no proportionality, just a bot, a deadline, and silence.
Has anyone else dealt with this kind of sudden algorithmic drop after a forced rebrand? How did you recover your ASO or get your momentum back? Honestly feeling pretty defeated right now, but trying to figure out the next steps. Any advice would be appreciated.
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