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App store shenanigans

cdixon.org

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Re: App store shenanigans

#11

Post by famousactress »

credo wrote: post #7

>>But when you look on the desktop web you see the overall ratings are vastly lower and that they seem to game the system by releasing "new versions" to reset their ratings and then probably paying people to write positive reviews I've made this point in the past (though not about this app/company or about payments) imo Apple made a mistake in resetting app ratings after every new update/release. Developers who relea…

Yeah, it seems like a simple reset isn't valuable.. makes more sense to weight the ratings over history.. so that ratings on the new version matter (much) more than ratings on the old versions.. but old ratings still count at a lower weight.. that way in your case you'd still be fine releasing a v2, but for apps that are consistently awful their rating wouldn't be so easy to pull up.

Re: App store shenanigans

#12

Post by ynn4k »

Everyday Apple approves around 900 NEW iOS and 50 new Mac Apps in the App Store[1]. In such a huge market, it is quite likely that some would try to game it.

The human curation approach falls flat on such a scale. Machine learning and natural language processing can help us in mining the App Store to detect anomalous behavior and improve the search and discovery of apps.

The statistical models of temporal distributions of ratings and rankings are still emerging and such hightlighting provide a useful resource to train the models. So if you see something, say something.

[1] http://twitter.com/iapps_in

Re: App store shenanigans

#13

Post by bigiain »

ynn4k wrote: post #12

Everyday Apple approves around 900 NEW iOS and 50 new Mac Apps in the App Store[1]. In such a huge market, it is quite likely that some would try to game it. The human curation approach falls flat on such a scale. Machine learning and natural language processing can help us in mining the App Store to detect anomalous behavior and improve the search and discovery of apps. The statistical models of temporal distributio…

I wonder if we'll see Google doing a significantly better job in the Android store?

This is an obvious extension to search engine optimization, and I'll bet the guys doing well at it are using many similar techniques to website optimizes.

Goggles web spam team can probably give some great advice to the "app spam team".

Re: App store shenanigans

#14

Post by r00fus »

mryall wrote: post #2

A more difficult question is how you solve problems in a gigantic marketplace like the App Store. Better verification of sellers? Verification of review comments? Limiting cross-linking of apps? Tougher review process by Apple? All of these would engender more criticism against Apple for policing their "walled garden" but is there a better way to solve it?

Would it be illegal for Apple to ban the practice of cross-selling? (ie, take down apps and devs where it's clear that this is happening)

I think this would solve most of the problems. It's clear this is a burgeoning market, and it's smacks of blackhat-SEO tactics (artificial rank improvement by deceit).

Re: App store shenanigans

#15

Post by ynn4k »

bigiain wrote: post #13
ynn4k wrote: post #12

Everyday Apple approves around 900 NEW iOS and 50 new Mac Apps in the App Store[1]. In such a huge market, it is quite likely that some would try to game it. The human curation approach falls flat on such a scale. Machine learning and natural language processing can help us in mining the App Store to detect anomalous behavior and improve the search and discovery of apps. The statistical models of temporal distributio…

I wonder if we'll see Google doing a significantly better job in the Android store? This is an obvious extension to search engine optimization, and I'll bet the guys doing well at it are using many similar techniques to website optimizes. Goggles web spam team can probably give some great advice to the "app spam team".

It is indeed an extension of the "Website optimization for the search engine" or SEO as they call it. To a search engine developer, SEO means to improve the search engine for better output.

The fight against spam is a constantly evolving one and though some of the techniques from "web" search engine could be applied to the App store, there are unique differences between the two - e.g. the rating, download rankings are not directly analogous to page rank. So Google does seem to have some advantage, but the App store problem will need a fresh research approach.

Re: App store shenanigans

#16

Post by rrhoover »

Chris calls out Tapjoy as a means to buy your way to the top 25; however, that's not entirely fair, imo. Increasing App Store ranking is a side effect of any promotion/advertising service. While the incentivized nature of Tapjoy brings into question the quality of these acquisitions, it's ultimately a fair and honest method to promote your app.

On the other hand, services like http://appmagenta.com and http://gtekna.com are downright shady. With enough money, you can buy enough fake downloads to reach the #1 spot in the App Store

Re: App store shenanigans

#17

Post by gyardley »

I've worked with a lot of applications that have bought installs, because that was how my last company, Flurry, made money.

In my experience, an application that buys installs but lacks broad appeal falls off of the top lists as fast as it bought its way there. If it's up there long enough for Chris Dixon to notice, it's because there's a significant number of people who actually want the thing.

Chris's line of criticism both assumes that everyone's like us - they aren't, and there's a substantial demand for what you and I might consider 'crap'. The criticism also assumes that without this sort of gaming, the App Store would somehow be a meritocracy, which is ridiculous. Take away the install-purchasers, and the overwhelming majority of applications that appear on a 'top' list are there because a) they're already ridiculously well-known elsewhere, like Facebook, or b) they were previously given exposure on the front page of the App Store due to an editorial decision by an unknown Apple employee.

I suspect Apple will close off this particular line of business eventually - there's got to be a reason why they're tracking just how often and how long we use our applications, and I suspect it'll be for a usage-based revamping of the 'top free' and 'top paid' lists. But when that happens, the top lists still won't be fair, they'll just be a better reflection of Apple's editorial tastes.

Re: App store shenanigans

#18

Post by d_r »

(Disclaimer: I'm an indie iOS/Android developer, so I may be more biased on this issue.)

There are a number of apps of this type. "Real FBI GPS Phone Tracker Pro" (under various names) is another repeat offender. The description goes on to say that the application uses GPS satellites to pinpoint the location of any phone number, "It works, guaranteed!" and then as a last sentence mentions that it's a gimmick. This app repeatedly comes up to top 100 paid under different names and publishers. As soon as one version disappears, another comes up with another author and app name, but very similar description.

Example (top 41 right now in the US App Store): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/phone-tracker-spy-pro-locate/...

What's fascinating is that the reviews (if you browse through them) fall into two buckets: 5 star reviews proclaiming that it works, and highly negative reviews. This smells fishy. The 5 star reviews must be fabricated, if I know any better.

   ★★★★★ Buy it! 
     
   by loganczyz
   Buy this app!! I would of paid millions for it

   ★★★★★ awesome technology 
     
   by Reynagreen
   It should be prohibited .... big brother ..
Word on the street is that these happen from operations that commandeer thousands of iTunes accounts to purchase and leave reviews, floating these apps to the top.

As a developer, I do find it kind of a bummer to spend many hours on my apps and then see these make it. Of course, I do know I should spend more time building apps and promoting them through creative means rather than being angry at the status quo.

However, I don't buy the argument that "people want these kinds of apps". I see the typical customer as a click-happy teenager who wants it to work, buys it, sees it doesn't work, and then forgets about the 99 cents wasted. In the meantime, the scammer gets wealthier.

I suppose this is no different from selling muscle supplements, acai berries, or get-rich-quick books, but still. Ugh.

Re: App store shenanigans

#19

Post by biot »

credo wrote: post #7

>>But when you look on the desktop web you see the overall ratings are vastly lower and that they seem to game the system by releasing "new versions" to reset their ratings and then probably paying people to write positive reviews I've made this point in the past (though not about this app/company or about payments) imo Apple made a mistake in resetting app ratings after every new update/release. Developers who relea…

Here's a thought: show the rating as a 90 day rolling average with the option to view the all-time stats. Throw in additional logic to handle the cases where there are too few ratings in the last 90 days... then use the last n ratings (for some reasonable value of n), no matter how far back they go, for example.

That would seem to me to give the best of both worlds. If you release a crappy app and then later release a glorious update, you'll have to earn back your new ratings over time as old ones fall off the chart which encourages developers to release quality apps starting from day one.

Re: App store shenanigans

#20

Post by zyb09 »

gcr wrote: post #5
mryall wrote: post #2

A more difficult question is how you solve problems in a gigantic marketplace like the App Store. Better verification of sellers? Verification of review comments? Limiting cross-linking of apps? Tougher review process by Apple? All of these would engender more criticism against Apple for policing their "walled garden" but is there a better way to solve it?

I'm wondering what would happen if people could pick between different app stores for their phone, much like how a Linux system allows you to get packages from multiple repositories. Benefits to third parties: They could host their own "app store" and monetize however they like Benefits to developers: They could put their products in any store that will take them, or perhaps try for Apple's "high quality" store for p…

yea, apple should just allow installation of third party apps outside the appstore (oho such an alien concept nowadays) and police the hell out of the official appstore.
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