Stop using the reviews that you see in the App Store to decide which applications download or buy. They are meaningless, because many of them are false. And these bought fake reviews are often used to make people buy or download fraudulent applications. The problem is so serious that Apple should completely remove feedback from the App Store, if it cannot come up with the best solution.
Fake Reviews in App Store
When you think about buying a new refrigerator or an accessory for an iPhone, it is quite natural to read user feedback to make a decision. In the case of the App Store logic is the same. Apple simplifies this task for you, highlighting the average rating for each application and the number of feedback received. If you are really interested, you can read some of them to find out what other users talk about the application.
The problem is that this information is practically meaningless.
For example, it seems to be harmless at first glance, the application is a QR codes scanner. Almost 61 thousand reviews (!), Score 4.7. Previously, I would download it myself, without thinking.
But if you read the reviews carefully ...
This is tin.
A few seconds of searching in Yandex or Google on request to buy reviews in the App Store and you will receive an impressive list of companies that sell positive feedback. This is also called the feedback cheating on the App Store. And they do not hide it.
Why you can not believe Reviews in the App Store
The problem is that if you trust positive reviews, you may be deceived. Unfair developers post their applications in the iOS App Store, and then deception make people buy them with a variety of fraudulent positive feedback. We have already raised this problem earlier, and Apple began to fight with an inflated subscription price for some applications. But this is not enough.In an interview with Cult of Mac, the Keyboard App Developer for Apple Watch Flicktype explained the threat of fake reviews on the real example. He spoke about a fraudulent application that performed the same task as FlickType, but it was "practically unsuitable for use." In the User application, I was asked to click the "Unlock all functions now" button as soon as it starts it. And if the user pressed the button, he immediately "hit" on a subscription of $ 416 per year. Then he understood that the application was done badly, removed it, but the subscription remained. Until it manually canceled it in the settings.
People were deceived partly due to the fact that the App Store app was a lot of positive feedback. Do not think that these were poorly written comments that are easy to distinguish from real reviews. The fraudsters paid for high-quality fakes, in the reviews a positively noted certain functions that did not actually worked in this application.
How much are your reviews in the App Store
Fake reviews are hastily. I tried to post an ad about cheating reviews in the App Store on one of the largest Excally exchanges, where I put forward a bill of 702 dollars for 56 reviews. About 1,000 rubles for feedback, but high-quality. 5 stars, of course. The developers beat off this money many times through fraudulent schemes with subscriptions, which were mentioned above.
Buying false reviews creates a huge problem for small developers. Their applications are difficult to compete when competitors have dozens of positive feedback ... every second of which was purchased.
This certainly seduces even good developers to buy positive feedback by himself, although it is unethical. It is also risky: APP Store rules warn the developers that an attempt to "deceive the application verification process" can lead to the removal of the program from the App Store and the developer account. Unfortunately, with fraudsters it happens infrequently. But Fortnite Apple deleted very quickly for the violation of the App Store rules.
The existence of fake reviews is also completely unfair to users of the iPhone and iPad, which spend time on placing real reviews in the App Store. They are trying to help others, but their voices are lost among fake comments.
How to deal with fake reviews in the App Store
Unfortunately, while the only option is to ignore the majority of reviews for applications. Just assume that every second feedback in the App Store is fake. Do not use feedback to distinguish a good application from poor, because the bad can also have a lot of positive comments.
If you think that the application is fraudulent and does not fulfill its functions, report it to Apple and request a cash reimbursement. Here we wrote how to do it.
But this is a problem not only users and developers. For Apple, this is also a problem. Easy accessibility of fake materials means that the reviews do not do anything except forcing people to buy bad applications. Yes, there are exceptions to the rules when they also leave positive feedback to high-quality applications. But scammers every day are becoming more and more. Apple should somehow engage in this problem, but it is not entirely clear where to start. Remove the opportunity to leave feedback? Option. But far from the best. Share in the comments or in our chat in Telegram, what do you think about it.