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Bribing for Reviews in AppStore

Is it ok to Bribe for reviews?

  • Yes

    Votes: 3 10.0%

  • No

    Votes: 27 90.0%
  • Total voters
    30
R

ratattak

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 17, 2008
79
0
Orlando, FL
linked from Wired...

santalive.jpg


What do you think? Go on over to the iTunes store and check out their reviews. There is a whole lot of reviews with 5 periods.


This is messed up and really the exact reason I avoid letting reviews sway my choices. Sad, really.
 

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milani said:
Wow..... Apple is going to be pissed..... :D
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unless they can prove it was the developer, I dont really feel there is anything Apple could do, right?

dukebound85 said:
wow hope the developer gets banned by apple as this is unethical
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like i said right after you, unless apple has proof it was the developer, can they really do anything?

btw, i agree with you totally though. (if the developer had anything to do with it.)

heaven said:
The bad thing is that they can't really do anything about it. :(
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heh, you just beat me!
 
I voted yes, and I'll probably be the only one. But to be honest, whatever sells, sells. Whatever works, works.
 
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I thought it was interesting how many 5 stars that got in such a short period of time. I mean no one even had any suggestions to improve it. Sounds pretty fishy to me.
 
nickspohn said:
I voted yes, and I'll probably be the only one. But to be honest, whatever sells, sells. Whatever works, works.
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you cant believe that can you? its misadvertising/unethical and against some laws

Advertising is regulated by the authority of the Federal Trade Commission, a United States administrative agency, to prohibit "unfair and deceptive acts or practices in commerce."[4] While it makes laymen's sense to assume that being deceptive is being unfair, deceptiveness in practice has been treated separately by the FTC, leaving unfairness to refer only to other types.[5] All commercial acts may be deceptive, not just advertising, but noncommercial activity such as advertising for political candidates is not subject to prosecution under the FTC Act. The 50 states have similar statutes, which generally are very similar to that of the FTC and in many cases copied so closely that they are known as "Little FTC Acts." While the terms "false" and "deceptive" are essentially the same for most, being deceptive is not the same as producing deception. What is illegal is the potential to deceive, which is interpreted to occur when consumers see the advertising to be stating to them, explicitly or implicitly, a claim that they may not realize is false and material.
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i got that from wikipedia for whatever that's worth
 
Part of me wants to buy it and leave a 1 star but I don't want to give the developer the $1.40
 
detz said:
Part of me wants to buy it and leave a 1 star but I don't want to give the developer the $1.40
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buy it, leave 5 starts, get it free then go back and edit your vote or re start it?

nickspohn said:
It's not in Apple's Term of Service. I'm not saying it's right, but it's not illegal.
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apple does not write the law

false adverstising is illegal and this is pretty close.
 
dukebound85 said:
apple does not write the law

false adverstising is illegal and this is pretty close.
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1) Yes they do.

2) Wait, how is it false advertising? It's the user content that is false, not his app description. It's one thing if he is claiming his app does something that it doesn't, and people buy it, but it's another thing when the users say something about the product that is false.

I could go write a review right now about an App and it can say something completely fake. Is it false? Yes. Is it illegal? No, because I have no association with the application.
 
nickspohn said:
1) Yes they do.

2) Wait, how is it false advertising? It's the user content that is false, not his app description. It's one thing if he is claiming his app does something that it doesn't, and people buy it, but it's another thing when the users say something about the product that is false.
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apple does NOT write the law.....

think of user reviews as testimonials advertising the app. bribing for reviews is false advertising fundamentally

I could go write a review right now about an App and it can say something completely fake. Is it false? Yes. Is it illegal? No, because I have no association with the application.
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you are not being bribed by the developer to do that now are you? see the difference?
 
dukebound85 said:
apple does NOT write the law.....

think of user reviews as testimonials advertising the ap. bribing for reviews is false advertising fundamentally


you are not being bribed by the developer to do that now are you? see the difference?
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Apple can write whatever they want.

Bribing for reviews still isn't "false advertising fundamentally".
 
dukebound85 said:
apple does NOT write the law.....

think of user reviews as testimonials advertising the app. bribing for reviews is false advertising fundamentally


you are not being bribed by the developer to do that now are you? see the difference?
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How is it any different than a company paying someone to talk good about a product for a commercial? And how is giving a good review illegal? It is most certainly not false advertising. It would be one thing if they were saying the app cooked their breakfast and folded their clothes, but all they are saying is that it's a good app. Perhaps the really do feel that way, although it was probably just for the money.

I'm not saying that it isn't wrong, but it's not illegal to write a good review for something.
 
nickspohn said:
Apple can write whatever they want.

Bribing for reviews still isn't "false advertising fundamentally".
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if there are sales transactions going on, the FCC doesnt give a damn what apple rights if laws are being broken and to me, this seems likee it could possibly be a case of law breaking

ok what to you is false advertising?

charging for an app but then only giving your app away for free if you leave a 5 star rating isnt false advertising?

what do you think the developer wants the 5 star rating for? he wants it for advertsing purposes duh and trying to "trick" people into buying his app

seriously:rolleyes:
 
dukebound85 said:
if there are sales transactions going on, the FCC doesnt give a damn what apple rights if laws are being broken and to me, this seems likee it could possibly be a case of law breaking

ok what to you is false advertising?

charging for an app but then only giving your app away for free if you leave a 5 star rating isnt false advertising?

what do you think the developer wants the 5 star rating for? he wants it for advertsing purposes duh and trying to "trick" people into buying his app

seriously:rolleyes:
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Have you ever watched TV? I don't think you have. I believe people get paid ALL THE TIME to advertise products, whether it be legit or not. Haven't you ever seen weight loss pills? Or those countless emails about making you're peen bigger? ;)

Nothing about this illegal. It's wrong, but Apple more than likely won't do anything about it.

Seriously. :rolleyes:
 
Someone should probably report this to Apple, I'm sure they'd want to hear about it and deal with it.
 
dancavallaro said:
Someone should probably report this to Apple, I'm sure they'd want to hear about it and deal with it.
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I completly agree. Whether it's illegal or not, I think morally, we can see and agree this is/was wrong. (the mturk page is no longer there.).

If anything, I think all reviews should be reset. Because whether the developer did it, there is no coincidence that people cashed in on this.
 
Does anyone have an email or a link where we can report this? I have been looking for a while now, but I didn't find anything.
The reviews should be reset.
 
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