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Gaming the App Store
space_in_your_face writes "Want to boost the popularity of your latest iPhone app? Ask Reverb Communications! 'When it comes to winning in the App Store, this 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. ... Reverb claims that their clients have sold over $2 billion of product under their watch.'"
When in doubt, lie, cheat, and steal. Strong ethics and morales will get you nowhere in this world kids.
Companies have been doing this at other places, like Amazon.com, for years. Buyers beware.
~ I am logged on, therefore I am.
seriously, what the hell?
Personally, I find the 0 - 3 star ratings more telling about an app than the 4 or 5 star (fanboy) ratings. In general, when I want to find out about a product, I like to read the negative to moderate reviews because they seem to be more honest about potential problems. What do you guys think/do?
Carl P. Corliss
How is this new? This has been going on long before computers. The snake oil salesman used to do it all the time, they would have somone in the crowd claim fantastic results to sell something that was worthless. What you mean I can't believe every review posted about a product or application? Critical thinking.... what is that? Idiocracy is happening already, humankind is doomed!
So what is the value of a dollar? A beer? Nope. A newspaper? Not the New York Times. A pack of gum? Not the fancy "winter-blast" chiclet kind. A comic book? Not in years. Paperback book? Sure, if you can get seven more dollars. Let's see... that leaves us with a can of Coke (but not a bottle), or maybe a candy bar (but not the king sized kind).
But let's raise the stakes a little bit... what's the value of a dollar when you're stuck in an airport? Anyone? Anyone..? So if you can kill a four hour layover in an airport by spending $1 to download a "trivial airport game," I'd say that sounds like a marker for market success, not failure.
Breakfast served all day!
Reverb claims that their clients have sold over $2 billion of product under their watch.
I flatly don't believe them.
Why would anybody hire them? Why would you believe and have dealings with a company whose product is explicitly stated as lying and deception?
so if lying is a 'stealth marketing technique' what is stealing? a 'stealth purchasing technique'? I mean, cmon, let's call a spade a spade here...
-- the cake is a lie
We do not have hundreds of accounts to âoetrawlâ through iTunes â" itâ(TM)s simply untrue. We have 10 staff members who choose to post on the games when and if they have played the game. We have to buy and play the game in order to have an opinion.
(We do not, however, deny crowdsourcing people with their own iTunes accounts and giving them the software free in exchange for a positive review. We just won't mention any such obvious possibilities.)
This same writer contacted several of our app store developers wanting negative comments from them regarding Reverb. They all gave positive feedback, but the writer left this aspect out of the story.
...because they're customers of the company, and of course they're happy, if it works, which doesn't cast any light on the scrupulousness or lack thereof of the whole operation.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
3. 1 person=1 iTunes account=1 credit card. We do not have hundreds of accounts to âoetrawlâ through iTunes â" itâ(TM)s simply untrue. We have 10 staff members who choose to post on the games when and if they have played the game. We have to buy and play the game in order to have an opinion.
Yes, but this does not apply to free games. Anyone who knows jack about the AppStore knows that it is the free ("lite") versions of the games that really drive traffic and game popularity. That is what people can download and try without committing to a purchase. If they like the game then they will purchase the full version. Anyone note the cause/effect there? If they like the game they will purchase - thus they will likely give the full, not-free version of the game a good review anyway - they've already tried it, and they wouldn't have bought it if they didn't like it!
So the real value is to astroturf the free, lite versions, because that is where the most download traffic is at. That can be done without purchasing. So Reverb's argument is moot. They very well could have many hundreds of accounts that their 10 staff members use to astroturf the lite versions.
Better known as 318230.
For every thousand people who read this and say "that's just wrong", there's one or two who says "Hmmm, interesting." And for every few dozen of those, there's an app developer that's saying "Maybe I should find out how much this costs."
On the other hand, if I find a game for the blackberry that I like, and that provides me hours of mindless escape -- surely that has value to me. And if I can reward the developer of this game with something as insignificant as a dollar in order to continue playing the game, how is that in any way a bad thing?
I'd further argue that this does not cause the companies to be overvalued. Unlike the recent trend of relying on advertising (literally becoming the middleman in a sale of the attention of other people), here you have a company that is producing something of value that cost actual time and effort. Assuming that they can do so in the future, the same question -- how is this a bad thing?