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.'"

Comments

Hey guys, I found this cool new product!

[selven]

I heard Microsoft is releasing this new operating system, Windows 7. From what I tried on the beta release candidate, it seems like Microsoft really cleaned out the bloat - it's fast, it doesn't crash like Vista and it's way more secure. I'm normally a Linux fan but I'm going to get one for my desktop cause some of the features are just too good to miss.

Re:Not news

[Lars T.]

Actually "in September [2008 ...] Apple instituted a new rule in which customers could only leave reviews on applications they had actually purchased and downloaded.". In February they then deleted older comments by non-buyers. Which BTW were mostly negative, instead of shilling.

Re:Who actually cares about the "good" ratings?

[Lars T.]

Personally, I find the 0 - 3 star ratings more telling about an app than the 4 or 5 star (fanboy) ratings.

It must really piss you off that you were shilled up to +5 Insightful instead of just +3 Interesting.