Google app store gets more oversight

Google Inc is tightening supervision of its freewheeling Play store, forming a special team to screen new apps for malware and sexually explicit material, and strengthening its age-based rating system.

The change brings Google Play, a bazaar for digital games, social media apps and entertainment software, closer to Apple Inc's tightly controlled App Store. But Google is not adopting Apple's practice of only approving apps that meet its stringent quality standards.

The change underscores the growing importance of apps in the success of the companies' rival mobile gadgets. Google, whose Android software runs most of the world's smartphones, and the iPhone and iPad maker each manage online hubs with more than one million apps ranging from calendars to video games.

Google said in its official blog on Tuesday that its expert team will screen each app submitted by developers to spot earlier anything that runs afoul of its rules. Google had only used automated technology for screening at the time of submission.