Launched in October 2017, the Google Play Security Reward Program (GPSRP), has remunerated security researchers for identifying vulnerabilities in popular Android applications.

It was designed to incentivise security researchers to uncover and, crucially, responsibly disclose vulnerabilities in widely-used Android applications available on the Google Play Store.

According to Google, the vulnerability data amassed through the programme facilitated the development of automated checks that scrutinised all applications on Google Play for similar security flaws. By 2019, Google reported that these automated checks had assisted over 300,000 developers in rectifying more than one million applications on Google Play.

 Consequently, the downstream effect of the GPSRP was a reduction in the distribution of vulnerable applications to Android users.

Despite its success, Google has discontinued the Google Play Security Reward Program.

In a blog to participating developers, the company announced that the programme would conclude on 31 August.

Google attributed this decision to a decline in the number of actionable vulnerabilities reported, citing the "overall increase in the Android OS security posture and feature hardening efforts."