Η απάτη των Top Paid εφαρμογών και η απάντηση της Apple

Πρόσφατο thread στο forum του toucharcade έβγαλε στη φόρα μερικά επιπλέον στοιχεία για την δράση εταιρειών που υπόσχονται άνοδο στα Rankings του App store έναντι παχυλών αμοιβών.

Έκπληκτος developer περιγράφει την επικοινωνία του με σχετική εταιρεία η οποία τον ενημέρωσε ότι μπορεί να ανεβάσει την εφαρμογή του στο Top 25, ονοματίζοντας μάλιστα 8 (!!!) από τις 25 Top Free εφαρμογές ως πελάτες της:

So yesterday I was looking at different ways to promote my new app (I’ve tried AdMob, but it turned out to be too expensive before) and I came across this ad network which guaranteed to get my app into the Top 25 in the app store at a relatively cheap price ($5000). This sounded very different from other ad networks, so I asked how he was promoting it and if has has done the same promotion for other developers. He then pointed me to the US App Store and literally WALKED DOWN the Top Free iPhone Apps rankings with me on the phone and named the following developers as current clients of theirs:
#4 – Tiny Pets
#5 – Social Girl
#6 – Fluff Friends
#10 – Pet Town
#12 – Crime City
#13 – VIP Poker
#16 – Sweet Shop
#19 – Top Girl

Ο τρόπος με τον οποίο επιτυγχάνεται αυτή η αλλοίωση στο Ranking είναι μέσω bot farms τα οποία κατεβάζουν την εφαρμογή έως ότου αυτή καταφέρει να συγκεντρώσει τον απαιτούμενο αριθμό downloads ώστε να εμφανιστεί στο Top 25:

I was totally SHOCKED when I heard that there were 8 apps on the Top 25 Free App store that were all promoted by them. At this point, I was pretty curious on how he’s able to do that (I was told by an AdMob sales person before that it takes a lot of money and traffic to promote an app to the Top 10). That’s when he let loose the BIGGEST FRAUD ever, he said he had outsourced someone to build him a bot farm and the bots will automatically download his clients’ apps and drive up their rankings!!! He even told me that even though I might see my app climb up the app store, they aren’t “REAL” at first until it gets to the top and that’s when REAL HUMAN players will start seeing my app and play it.

This was getting quite crazy, on one hand, I really wanted downloads for my new app, but at the same time, this sounds like a HUGE FRAUD. I told the guy that I’ll need to think more about it, but he then warned me that Apple already KNEW of this issue and has already taken action and banned a developer called Dream Cortex recently for botting. He said that’s why he’s charging me only $5000, it would have been more expensive before, but he’s trying to get as many clients as possible before Apple stop the botting.

Η Apple ανακοίνωσε πως θα προχωρήσει σε διαγραφές των developer accounts αλλά και αποσύρσεις των εφαρμογών που θα εντοπιστούν να συμμετέχουν σε τέτοιες τακτικές προώθησης:

Once you build a great app, you want everyone to know about it. However, when you promote your app, you should avoid using services that advertise or guarantee top placement in App Store charts. Even if you are not personally engaged in manipulating App Store chart rankings or user reviews, employing services that do so on your behalf may result in the loss of your Apple Developer Program membership. Get helpful tips and resources on marketing your apps the right way from the App Store Resource Center.

Ας ελπίσουμε πως το τοπίο θα ξεκαθαρίσει σύντομα…

Source: http://www.iphonehellas.gr/33318/app-store-rankings-manipulation/