At a glance, Google Play appears to have similar levels of app-spam for Facebook [0], Chrome [1], and Firefox [2]. The iTunes Store, on the other hand, seems quite sanitary for these queries. Just 1-2 potentially-junk "browsers", and nothing bogus for Facebook.
Disclosure: I work for Microsoft, but not in the Windows Phone division.
Uh, in no way shape or form are those results the same as the screenshots for the Windows App store. I don't see a single result where an official name is used to fake being the real thing.
It looks like only the official apps have the official name and the other things are just add ons or silly, small value additions to Facebook, Chrome, or Firefox.
Having said that, that is a shit load of low quality crap, but all app stores have junk like that including the iOS app store.
Uh, in no way shape or form are those results the same as the screenshots for the Windows App store. I don't see a single result where an official name is used to fake being the real thing.
I agree that the Windows App Store examples are way more egregious, but some of the apps in the Google store are nearly as bad. Top right among the Facebook examples is especially deceptive.
The key difference here (and this is true on Apple's App Store also) is that the publisher name is directly under the app name. Users in general are aware that there are many scam/fake/imitator apps out there, but the publisher name provides a quick way of verifying the legitimacy of an app.
Compare that with the Windows Store screenshot where there's literally no way to tell which is the real one.
The existence of this problem is shitty, absolutely, but on Android and iOS there exist viable, discoverable workarounds. On Windows Store...
You're right, the Play results are mostly of the form "Facebook $FOO" or "$FOO for Facebook" and many have goofy icons.
Apple seems to have done a good job hiding the cruft, at least for "top-100" searches of "companies you hear about on the nightly news" (Facebook, Vine, Snapchat, etc.). When my mom searches Facebook on her iPhone, she's absolutely going to get the right app. Based on these results, I'm not at all convinced of that if she were an Android or WP user.
In what way is this relevant, pointing out that the competition may be similarly flawed?
In order for Microsoft to succeed in this market (and to satisfy its customers and legitimate app developers), Microsoft has to step its game up, in general, as high as possible, not settling for whatever will be perceived as about as decent as Android.
Disclosure: I work for Microsoft, but not in the Windows Phone division.
[0] https://play.google.com/store/search?q=facebook&c=apps
[1] https://play.google.com/store/search?q=chrome&c=apps
[2] https://play.google.com/store/search?q=firefox&c=apps