Cheating the App Store

August 23rd, 2009

Gagan Biyani on Reverb Communications, and the “services” they provide to developers:

When it comes to winning in the App Store, one PR firm has discovered a dynamite strategy: throw ethics out the window. Reverb Communications, a PR firm that represents dozens of game publishers and developers, has managed to find astounding success on Apple’s App Store for its clients. Among its various tactics? It hires a team of interns to trawl iTunes and other community forums posing as real users, and has them write positive reviews for their client’s applications.

The evidence is pretty damning: TechCrunch has a copy of Reverb’s services sent by an anonymous developer, which says they provide “internal user reviews,” and the first five or so reviews of applications from Reverb clients are 5-star reviews. Worse, there’s a trend among these reviewers — they review applications from Reverb clients, and have provided them all with 5-star reviews.

Reverb’s response is absolutely pathetic. They acknowledge that they have “internal” reviewers, but claim they review each application honestly. Right.

This is serious. Because there are currently only two real indicators of how good an application is — word of mouth and its overall rating — this fraud is a big deal. This is also one more reason why Apple should allow video and trial periods for applications immediately.

I want to 1. know every developer which uses Reverb Communications, and 2. I want a statement from each one of them saying whether they knew about this “service” and, if not, that they will no longer be using Reverb. I trust that most developers are not interested in fraudulent reviews, and every single one should have a chance to make things right.

As for Reverb, they deserve nothing short of failing. The Mac community is built, more than anything else, on trust. Trust that developers are making applications that they are proud of and want to stand on their own merits, and trust in the word of end-users who say an application is worth your time or not. The iPhone’s greatest advantage, I think, is being a part of this community, and if it is eroded or thrown into doubt, the entire platform will be hurt.

This is dishonest business, and is absolutely shameful.

(Via Gedeon Maheux.)