OurielOhayon : Why would a developer main... Can You Trust iTunes App Store Reviews? Browsing Apple's App Store in search of new applications for your iPhone or iPod Touch, you find an interesting-sounding program and start reading its user reviews.
Many are overwhelmingly upbeat, their wording eerily similar. Are the reviews fake? Were they written by the developer (and family and friends) to inflate the app's overall rating? For other programs, you may find a string of 1-star reviews that trash the app and recommend a competitor. Were those penned by a devious rival? With more than 25,000 programs in the App Store, at least some competitive shenanigans are bound to happen--and a few developers have already accused others of planting negative reviews. Njection, the developer of NMobile, an app that alerts drivers to speed traps, has accused competitor Trapster of posting reviews that criticize NMobile and praise Trapster. Complaints are flying even over frivolous programs. Reviews by Nonusers Then there's Brick Breaker Revolution 3D, a $6 game from Digital Chocolate.
Fake app store reviews. How to Spot and Avoid iPad and iPhone Apps with Fake Reviews. By Juli | September 11, 2011 | 15 comments As an app reviewer, I spend an inordinate amount of time browsing apps and app reviews in Apple’s App Store.
When I’m considering an app review, or considering purchasing an app for personal use, one of the first things that I do is to read the user reviews, as I’m sure many of you do too. Unfortunately, a newly released app or an app without a lot of reviews can sometimes have fake reviews, planted by developers or their friends, to trick unsuspecting customers and artificially inflate ratings. We’ve developed a quick guide that will help you avoid apps that are being falsely promoted. Recently, at PadGadget, we came across a few apps with not just one or two fake reviews, but 30 or 40.
Fake reviews are a problem that has plagued the App Store since its inception, and while Apple has made an effort to curtail falsifying ratings, no system is flawless, and it’s still an issue that users need to be well aware of when buying an untested app. GTekna Corporation - iPhone/iPad Application Development & Promotion/Marketing. Apple investigates possible US AppStore ratings scam. Yesterday I was contacted by regular reader and someone who I consider to be an internet friend SCW, who had unearthed what he believes may be an AppStore review and ratings scam.
The reason SCW contacted me, was he knew I have a couple of senior contacts with in Apple, and so wanted my help getting the information he had collated to them. Having read his email (see below) I was also convinced there was something fishy going on, so between us we got this information to those who count, and last night (GMT) I got confirmation back from Phil Schiller that they would be investigating this possible scam.
The following email was sent by SCW to Phil Schiller: "Attention Phil Schiller, MAJOR FAKE AppStore Reviews & Ratings ALERT: Please investigate for I have just looked at 44 of the reviewers who posted reviews for this Molinker Inc app "NightCam Pro" & EVERY Review except 2 of the 44+ are ALL FAKE 5 ★★★★★ reviews. This truly is an absolute disgrace & I will not let this go unnoticed! Apple Removes 1000 Molinker iPhone Apps for Alleged Astroturfing of Fake Reviews. AppStore scam: Fake reviews bump Facebook on iPad app Pica Browser HD to the top of the App Store best sellers.
Most striking are 4 things: 1.
The highest ranked ratings are made by users that also submitted high ratings for older apps of the same developer and no ratings for any other Apps in the App Store. 2. The wording of the comments is similar, none of them is longer than two sentences. 3. The high ratings were given on the day of release of the latest update. 4. There are two extremes: very positive and very negative ratings. It's obvious that the top ratings are usually made by the same users. The app itself is rather poor and only stands out, because it features a very popular theme: A native Facebook app for the iPad is in high demand and Mark Zuckerberg is not yet willing to deliver what users are obviously asking for.