Google has removed almost all Cheetah Mobile apps from the Play Store


Cheetah Mobile has earned a reputation as a dishonest, destructive Android development studio that occasionally buys up successful apps and turns them into data-collecting, IAP-infested cash machines. The company has also clashed with Play Store policies more than once, but it always managed to find its way back onto the platform. It looks like Google got tired of this game and seems to have decided to ban the developer's products.
Buzzfeed News reports that the apps disappeared right when Google published a blog post stating it had removed 600 apps engaging in ad fraud and displaying disruptive apps, so it's highly probable Cheetah Mobile was one of the developers hit by the action.
When you visit any of the company's developer sites (there are surprisingly many!) on the Play Store, you'll see that all of its apps have disappeared except for a few keyboard themes. Only a short description of the business is left in most accounts. Cheetah Mobile is trying to make the best out of the situation. Its website that used to link to Play Store listings of its apps now offers all of its apps as APKs, accompanied by a banner that states: "Official Notice: You can install the latest version of the app by clicking 'Download APK.' Please allow permissions if there are security reminders."
Cheetah's website has done away with Play Store links entirely.
Downloading these apps outside of the Play Store is probably even more dangerous than getting them from the platform, as you won't enjoy the same level of protection from frauds or malware. (Google's Play Protect scanner does work on sideloaded APKs, but it doesn't offer the same multi-layered security as the Play Store or APKs taken straight from it do.)
Searching the Play Store for the company's initials, "cm,” "cmcm," or similar, still gives you many results, though. You can find a CMM Launcher INC that offers eerily familiar products or some "CM Transfer" app that looks so similar to Cheetah Mobile's products you could wonder if it's involved in the development. Many of these new accounts have started to show up during the last few months and have already amassed thousands of installs — the company is probably working hard to return to the Play Store despite its ban.

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