I was speaking to an Android developer a while ago who was annoyed that this feature - the ability to respond to users’ reviews - was only initially available to ‘major app publishers’. He couldn’t wait “to respond to assholes.”
So, while, I love the idea of the Google Play Store actually taking a new approach to app store functionality, I have a hard time imagining this doing more good than harm. When a review sits on the top of your app’s page and asking it’s complaining about the lack of a feature that you’re already working on, being able to respond it is great (assuming that the response is then visible.) In every other case, it seems like you’d be attempting to rationalise with people who either wouldn’t bother to change their rating as a result or who simply wouldn’t care.
Still, it’s good to see innovation - any innovation - in an area where Apple’s been relatively unadventurous for a long while.