Geekmarks extension violates Chrome Web Store policy

[bland328]

@dimonomid, I realize this project may not be an active one for you at this point, but I rely on Geekmarks and use it pretty much daily.

Today, I found the Geekmarks extension icon missing from Chrome, and found under chrome://extensions that the extension had been turned off, with a This extension violates the Chrome Web Store policy message.

I was able to turn it back on manually, but I don't know if that ability will last. Also, unsurprisingly, there are now no results when searching geekmarks in the Chrome Web Store.

I'd love to know what about the Geekmarks extension violates what I assume is new policy, but I'm otherwise posting this just as an FYI, in case this is something that concerns you.

[Dmitry Frank]

Hi @bland328 , I'm happy to hear that you like it. I indeed don't actively maintain it, because it does what I need, and I use it daily too btw.

So I didn't touch this Chrome plugin for perhaps 4+ years by now, and today I received an email from Google:

So they say:

Violating the Chrome Web Store's 'Spam and placement in the Store' policy

I don't know what exactly that even means, or what caused it, as I said I didn't update it for years so it's not that I suddenly added something "spammy" or whatever.

If I recall correctly, back in the day I also had to fight with Google to get it listed, their AI was refusing it for some bs reason, and as it always the case with Google, it's extremely hard to talk to a human there. I hate that they rely on their flakey AI so much and it causes so much pain.

So, bad news is that I don't know how long it's gonna take to get it listed back, or if I'm able to do it at all. I'll try though.

Good news is that, regardless of what's available in Chrome Web Store, you can just load "unpacked extension", like that:

• Clone this repo to your machine
• Navigate to chrome://extensions
• Enable developer mode (a switch in the top-right corner)
• Click "Load unpacked"
• Select the client/chrome-ext directory in the repository you just cloned

That's it, you should have it installed no matter what's available in Chrome Web Store.

[bland328]

After months of lazily reactivating the extension every time Chrome turned it off, I moved to a new MacBook, and the Geekmarks extension was finally gone.

So, I finally followed the helpful advice you provided, and everything now works again, though I'll note for anyone who might find this that if copying the chrome-ext directory elsewhere before installing, you must take care to also copy its common sibling directory.

Also, @dimonomid, you might want to point the now-broken Get extension for Chrome / Opera link at https://geekmarks.dmitryfrank.com to this issue, unless you think the extension will be returning to the store.

Thanks again for Geekmarks!