Shopify review policies

When Shopify merchants use apps and themes or hire Partners from the Shopify ecosystem, they're entrusting those Partners with critical tasks that help them run their businesses. Reviews allow merchants to evaluate if the apps, themes, or services they're considering are right for their business. Reviews also provide valuable feedback to our Partner community.

To ensure that reviews on the Shopify Partner Directory, Shopify App Store, and Shopify Theme Store remain unbiased, useful, and trustworthy, we've developed certain terms outlined in the Partner Program Agreement. If you don’t follow these terms and conditions, then Shopify might take action including the removal of one or more reviews. Additional action may be taken depending on the severity and number of repeated violations.

If you come across a fake, incentivized, or non-compliant review, then report a violation.

Shopify's review policies

Reviews on the Shopify Partner Directory, Shopify App Store, and Shopify Theme Store are meant to be unbiased, useful, and trustworthy.

To protect the integrity of reviews, Shopify will block or remove reviews that are against our policies, including the following types of reviews:

Fake or misleading.
Being used improperly for commercial gain.
Posted in exchange for financial or other gains.
Posted multiple times from the same account or more than one account.
Misleading as to the reviewer's identity or their connection to the app being reviewed.
Containing or linking to prohibited or illegal content.

Learn more about managing app reviews.

Identifying non-compliant reviews

Shopify uses multiple methods and sources to detect non-compliant reviews including algorithms, manual searches, and community submissions of our violation form.

Why does Shopify delay review postings?

There is a brief delay between when a review is submitted and when it displays on the relevant listing page. This delay helps Shopify detect and block any non-compliant reviews.

Review policy violations

If a Partner engages in any behavior violating our review policies, then Shopify reserves the right to take certain necessary actions, including the following actions:

Remove non-compliant reviews.
Remove a portion of reviews as a penalty for non-compliance.
Edit non-compliant reviews (Shopify will never edit a review if it changes the overall message, and will only remove Personal Identifiable Information [PII] or anything that goes against our Acceptable Use Policy [AUP]).
Demote an app or theme's ranking in Shopify's App or Theme Store.
Remove an app, theme, or Partner Directory listing from promotional surfaces.
Unpublish an app or theme from the Shopify App Store or Theme Store.
Remove a profile from the Shopify Partner Directory.

Whenever possible, Shopify gives Partners an opportunity to fix the issue. However, in the case of severe infractions with concrete evidence, a resolution may not be possible and Shopify's Partner Governance team might decide to terminate your Partner Account. Learn more about Shopify's Partner Program policy enforcement.

As a Partner, how will I know if a review has been removed?

You'll receive an email notification when a review is published, if the review meets Shopify's trust and quality standards. To preserve the security of our detection algorithm, Shopify may not notify you when reviews are removed, and won't share the methods used to identify non-compliant reviews. We appreciate your patience and cooperation as we work to maintain an appropriate balance between transparency and preserving the privacy of Shopify merchants, and the integrity of the Shopify App and Theme Stores, and the Shopify Partner Directory.

Why do some submitted reviews not show up?

Submitting a review doesn't guarantee it will be published, and reviews may be removed after publication for a variety of reasons. Some reviews aren't published right away, but may go live later as trust in the review increases.

Shopify App Store reviews may be archived if we determine they are outdated or less relevant. Learn more about archived reviews.

What if I think one of my reviews was removed incorrectly?

If you believe a review was removed by mistake, then contact Shopify Support. To identify the reviews in question, you can provide the URLs of the shops that left them. Include a detailed description of why each review should be allowed, along with any supporting evidence or documentation.

If Shopify determines a mistake was made, then someone from our Partner Governance team will reply with next steps. Partner Governance will only reply to emails that provide evidence proving a mistake was made. There's no set time frame for how long this process might take.

How can I report a suspicious review?

If you come across a fake, incentivized, or non-compliant review, then you can use the Report a partner violation form. In the Reason for reporting section, select Reviews that do not comply with Shopify's terms and conditions as the reason. Thank you for helping us keep our ecosystem world-class!