Google Play takes fresh steps to offer secure apps

Google Play has issued a letter to developers to offer advice on building better and more secure apps.

The letter said that Google had made changes to its policies in regard to ‘dangerous products' that disclose personal information without authorisation and the behaviour of adverts in applications.

Google said that it is providing more detail on the kinds of dangerous products that are not allowed on Google Play, and has added a new section that addresses advert behaviour in apps.

It said: “First, we make it clear that adverts in your app must follow the same rules as the app itself. Also, it is important to us that adverts don't negatively affect the experience by deceiving consumers or using disruptive behaviour such as obstructing access to apps and interfering with other adverts.”

This policy states that adverts are considered part of the app for the purposes of content review and compliance with the developer terms, so all policies, including those concerning illegal activities, violence, sexually explicit content and privacy violations, apply.

In terms of the context of adverts, Google said: “It must be clear to the user which app each ad is associated with or implemented in. Adverts must not make changes to the functioning of the user's device outside the ad by doing things such as installing shortcuts, bookmarks or icons or changing default settings without the user's knowledge and consent.

“If an ad makes such changes it must be clear to the user which app has made the change and the user must be able to reverse the change easily, by either adjusting the settings on the device, advertising preferences in the app, or uninstalling the app altogether.”

Also, adverts must not simulate or impersonate system notifications or warnings and adverts associated with an app must not interfere with any adverts on a third-party application, it said.

Research by MWR Infosecurity and Channel 4 News found that some leading applications were sending personal data back from devices to advertising companies without user knowledge and that permissions were granted to the apps when they were downloaded.

Updating its Google Play developer program policy, Google said that it is required to update its policies when it launches new features and when it sees unhealthy behaviour such as deceptive app names and spam notifications.

It has also restricted the use of names or icons that are "confusingly similar to existing system apps in order to reduce user confusion". It said that any existing apps will be given 30 days to fix and republish the application and after this period, existing applications discovered to be in violation may be subject to warning or removal from Google Play.

Accounts Receivable Financing and Factoring: How it Helps Small Biz Cash Flow

Say you're strapped for cash. You don't exactly need a small business loan, nor do you have the time to go through the application process. Although you are expecting several invoices to be paid by large clients in the upcoming weeks or months, you need money now to pay your employees and vendors.  What's the solution?

Accounts receivable financing or factoring might be an option for you - depending on your industry and the nature of your business.

What is Accounts Receivable Financing?

Accounts receivable financing involves borrowing against your receivables or selling your receivables to a company that will pay you an amount equivalent to the invoice amount due you, less a discount.  The amount of  the discount varies depending on the size of the transaction, the extent of risk that the financing company (sometimes called a “factor”) has to take to collect the amount due, and other matters.  You'd get more for an invoice payable by a blue chip company that's due soon versus one that's, say, 90 days past due from a weaker payor.

Factoring has been around at least 500 years, says Dan Casey of AccountsReceivableFinancing.com.  He notes that it  involves the:

“… process of selling your rights to collect an invoice.  The factor/invoice buyer pays a high percentage of the invoice face value day one.  Upon collection, the factor funds the balance of the invoice value less their fees for service. “

Here is a breakdown of different accounts-receivable financing types:

So with these types of services, you can either borrow against the money you expect to come in soon, or sell the invoice itself at a discount.  The net effect in either case is that you get a lot of money a lot sooner.  You can see other benefits and drawbacks in the chart above.

Benefits of Accounts Receivable Financing

The primary benefit to these financing services is to help small businesses get cash quickly.

It's particularly useful for businesses that get paid large invoices by clients that may pay slow for one reason or another (such as large corporate clients, or when part of a large multi-phase government contract).  Yet, in the interim that small business still has a payroll to meet - putting the business in a cash flow bind.

Accounts receivable financing can also help free up working capital. Because so many businesses have funds tied up in inventory, getting paid for invoices quickly is paramount.  Getting financing takes that worry out of the equation for small businesses.

Factoring, where you actually sell the invoice outright and the factor takes over collection, can take away the headache of chasing down payments from clients. That alone can save a small business time and money in the form of internal staff resources dedicated to follow-up and collection.

What Accounts Receivable Financing and Factoring Costs

Just like any other type of financing or loan, you will pay for the privilege of getting access to cash quickly. Casey says at his company, invoice financing fees can vary from 1% to 3% per month. The rate you'll pay depends on the size of the transaction, your monthly dollar volume and your credit worthiness. The fees will also depend on whether you're getting factoring financing or accounts receivable financing.

Is It Right for Your Business?

Accounts receivable financing companies often specialize in a particular industry or type of transaction, e.g., staffing services industries or government contracts.  When looking for such financing, check their website or ask if they handle transactions in your industry or of your type.

Consider your reasons for needing quick financing. Is it a temporary problem?  If not, it might be indicative of something bigger that needs to be addressed.  Accounts receivable financing is not designed to buy time to hold off the inevitable.

How much are you willing to pay for the privilege of getting access to money faster?  In essence, accounts receivable financing is like dropping your prices.  On the other hand, it might be well worth it if it keeps your cash flow steady and uninterrupted - the alternatives (drawing on expensive credit cards or incurring late charges) could be more expensive.  You really have to look at the big picture and the full impact.  Speak to your accountant to understand the overall financial impact on your company.

Read Leapfrogging and Generate Surprising Business Results

Surprise!  Surprises are only fun if they are the good kind; winning the lottery, walking out on Christmas day to a beautiful Lexus with a big red bow or just coming home from a long hard day to clean and folded laundry.  But there is something more to the idea of surprises; they are a critical component of innovation and success if only we could learn to harness them.

This is the message of my latest summer read, a new book called Leapfrogging: Harness the Power of Surprise for Business Breakthroughs by Soren Kaplan (@sorenkaplan).

What's Leapfrogging?

The quickest way to get to the core of Leapfrogging is to give you the definition that sits on Soren Kaplan's Twitter profile and the first page of the introduction:

“Leapfrogging is about changing the game-creating or doing something radically new or different that produces a significant leap forward.”

Hmmm, sounds a little like innovation to me â€" maybe it's innovation for the new world of work.

Early in the book, Kaplan gives us his philosophy on Leapfrogging, surprises and their connection to breakthroughs â€" here are a couple of them:

Business breakthroughs deliver surprise: Our brains are wired to appreciate positive surprise.  Great ideas surprise us with a strong dose of remarkable newness in ways that add value to our lives and challenge our assumptions about what we thought possible.

Surprises are strategic tools that drive breakthroughs.  By proactively seeking out and using surprises as “guideposts” when they occur, we can gain new insights, generate ideas and discover new directions.

This is the core message of the book and it's supported by Kaplan's “LEAP” process which stands for:

Listen â€" Start with yourself and not the market.  All the market research in the world can actually hinder innovation.

Explore â€" Go outside to stretch the inside.  Our blind spots â€" or the areas that we don't know, that we don't know , are holding us back from breakthroughs.  Once we uncover these blind spots, our minds are opened up to see things differently.

Act â€" Take small simple steps again and again and again.  Don't assume that your breakthrough will come from one big brilliant idea.  Take small steps toward your goal.

Persist â€" Take the surprise out of failure. You can't succeed without failing.  In fact, failure is mandatory, especially if you are creating something new and different.  The world isn't structured for this new thing you are creating.  So stop being surprised that you failed.  YAY for failure!

Seize â€" Make the journey part of the surprising destination. Focus on your bigger purpose and practice humility.  That way you'll see the road signs that will take you where the breakthrough is.

Soren Kaplan is a Living Leapfrogger

Soren Kaplan is the Founder and Managing Principal of InnovationPoint.  He leads strategic initiatives and provides leadership development for organizations that include Colgate-Palmolive, Disney, Pepsi, Visa and many more familiar brands.  He is also and Adjunct Professor within Imagineering Academy and NHTC Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands.

We meet our author in the beginning of the book as he's headed into a Paris café to write this book.  At the time it was still an idea about how business owners and companies create business breakthroughs.  That's when he has a leapfrogging moment â€" right there in the café!  That's when I realize that he's not just researching and writing about a topic, but actually living it and allowing his insights to impact how he lives in the world.

Over the course of his research with major organizations and his experience in the field, he's outlined a process and a way of behaving in the world that makes transforms surprises into breakthroughs and breakthroughs into innovations.

Why Read This Book?

Aside from the fact that it is interesting and entertaining, you'll want to read this book because it will have you reflecting on all the different ways that you are disrupting the breakthrough process for yourself.  The start of each chapter has the top ideas frontloaded so that you can reflect on the key points as you read through the case studies.

You'll also find reflective “questions to consider” at the end of chapters and sections that you can answer for yourself, in a journal or along with your team.

I'd recommend this book to any small business team or corporate team.  It's a book worth reading as a group and talking about.  I think that teams will uncover a handful of practices and strategies that they can use inside their organizations that, when put into practice, will create breakthroughs and innovations that will take their business forward in any economy.