Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Google to Fix Incorrect 1-Star App Ratings in Search Results Next Week

Studioman said:
Quite simple. Customer does a search for a games they really like, the games really have a much higher rating on iOS, but Google displays them as 1 instead of 5. If this person is shopping for a new device, and plans to play lots of games, Android would appear to have an advantage.
Click to expand...

everybody that games on mobile already knows iOS is stronger 😛
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jstuts5797
This is the same kind of “coincidence” like at the new Apple TV launch where, for that week only, the only website where Airplay did not work was youtube. Even on previous Apple TVs.
This and microsoft’s “use _optout as wifi name to avoid us telling everybody your wifi password” make me sick and actually cause a wave of advice to avoid these companies in communities where I have influence.
 
samcraig said:
Does someone want to explain why/how this would "hurt" competitors in Google's favor? I don't see it as a viable argument.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't see it either. Not every app is rated with one star. Just some. If anything, if I learned that Google's listing is incorrect, I'd stop going to google for ratings.
 
  • Like
Reactions: samcraig
I just love the Dutch calling a customer "klant". In Swedish the same word means someone who's a clumsy fool. 😀
 
Dude, I'd be PISSED. A lot of potential lost revenue for these app developers.
...Class action lawsuit?
 
Ah, good. I thought, the one star in google was due to one specific review I had about a month ago. Asked apple to remove it as it was fraudulent. They did it immediately. Good guys. Saw googles one star, thought, well, that will take one and a half month till it vanishes. And switched back to duckduckgo.
 
This also affected our new app. It has multiple 5 star ratings, but the google search results report one star.

The bigger problem is that we tried to figure out how to report this to google and ran into nothing but brick walls. It seems they have the attitude that they do not create any web content, but just search/present it - but this is not the case with iOS app star ratings, because when our app had NO ratings, google reported one star.

We eventually used their page to report a court order, and just wrote a stern message threatening legal action. We were thinking someone with a legal role would take notice - wonder if they did.

Any other app developers interested in a class action suit against google?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jstuts5797
All to distract us from the Google Glass debacle and for their role in the disappearance of that Malaysian Airlines thing.
 
Swift said:
All to distract us from the Google Glass debacle and for their role in the disappearance of that Malaysian Airlines thing.
Click to expand...

And also:
http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2014/04/sergey-brin-amanda-rosenberg-affair

So much for their "don't be evil" horse pucky. Sergey Brin should have been removed from his working position at google after this debacle. He can remain as a share holder, but he should not be allowed to sit on the board or work there. Google lost all corporate integrity after letting him stay after this incident.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jstuts5797
samcraig said:
I sincerely doubt the scenario you've created would have much affect at all. I'm pretty sure that if someone was really THAT interested in a game or games, they would click through to see the listing and read comments. Especially if it was going to make or break their decision on which phone to buy.
Click to expand...
Agreed. I don't know that people are looking at game titles before they purchase the phone - particularly not as a primary component of their decision. This is not Xbox v. PlayStation. So many other factors have to have precedence.
 
  • Like
Reactions: samcraig
Good to see Google acknowledging the bug.
There seems to be a fair amount to Google hate in this thread. What would be people opinion if Google DID NOT show star in search for iOS apps, only for Android apps?
The fact the Google search and the Android app store are both run by Google makes this kind of bug far less likely for Android apps. Does Apple publish some this data in some known format the Google to index (in xml maybe) or is Google just scraping the page and trying to make sense of the Apple rating?

I have to say that the web version of the Google Play, the Android store, is far superior to the iTunes Preview on the web that Apple has. You can installs apps on your Android device from the web.
 
developer13245 said:
And also:
http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2014/04/sergey-brin-amanda-rosenberg-affair

So much for their "don't be evil" horse pucky. Sergey Brin should have been removed from his working position at google after this debacle. He can remain as a share holder, but he should not be allowed to sit on the board or work there. Google lost all corporate integrity after letting him stay after this incident.
Click to expand...
Hot take.

There are some incredible names in that story though.
 
Perfect example:

2i94klc.jpg


And here's the app on the App Store (should show as 3.5 stars):

1447dyx.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jstuts5797
fermat-au said:
Good to see Google acknowledging the bug.
There seems to be a fair amount to Google hate in this thread. What would be people opinion if Google DID NOT show star in search for iOS apps, only for Android apps?
The fact the Google search and the Android app store are both run by Google makes this kind of bug far less likely for Android apps. Does Apple publish some this data in some known format the Google to index (in xml maybe) or is Google just scraping the page and trying to make sense of the Apple rating?

I have to say that the web version of the Google Play, the Android store, is far superior to the iTunes Preview on the web that Apple has. You can installs apps on your Android device from the web.
Click to expand...

Wow, you're sure trying hard aren't you. They will be sued for this. This is not excusable.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jstuts5797
Ah of course both my apps are affected! call it an accident but images speak louder than words ...
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2015-12-04 at 10.32.31 PM.png
    Screen Shot 2015-12-04 at 10.32.31 PM.png
    72.5 KB · Views: 175
  • Screen Shot 2015-12-04 at 10.32.46 PM.png
    Screen Shot 2015-12-04 at 10.32.46 PM.png
    103.5 KB · Views: 164
  • Like
Reactions: Jstuts5797
samcraig said:
I sincerely doubt the scenario you've created would have much affect at all. I'm pretty sure that if someone was really THAT interested in a game or games, they would click through to see the listing and read comments. Especially if it was going to make or break their decision on which phone to buy.
Click to expand...
Can you imagine someone searching for Angry Birds on Google, seeing a one-star result for the iOS version and deciding to buy a Samsung based on that?
 
  • Like
Reactions: samcraig
BrerBear said:
I'm glad that Google has been "working hard" to find the solution.

It took me less than 5 minutes to view the page source and see how Google's page scraping algorithm was interpreting an empty value in the App Store page as a minimum value. A trivial range checking error that even the barest minimum of testing should have caught, if Google actually cared.

/golf clap for Google.
Click to expand...

Yes, the "working hard" part is patently a lie and absurd too. They're not "working hard" and there is no need for a conspiracy, they're smug jackasses just like Microsoft were in the hey days.

Myself, I found Google seemingly now NEVER returns what I searched for in almost the whole god damn first search page. They most often try to guess what I really wanted. All the words I put in the search often don't even show up until the bottom of the page. It's really irritating and I'm trying alternatives like Bing these days.

I select those words because I know they'll lead me to the answer (I've got 20 years of search behind me to know that's the case), I don't need their attempts at mind reading (likely from all that browsing history they got)!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jstuts5797 and tonyr6
wlossw said:
Google spends a lot of time trying to manipulate data in search results to try to combat SEO techniques. They probably have an algorithm to discard reviews that they consider suspect, and as such only show the 1 star review... I deal with this kind of crap everyday...
Click to expand...

In fact no, it shows the wrong result for actual non 1 star reviews.
 
wlossw said:
Google spends a lot of time trying to manipulate data in search results to try to combat SEO techniques. They probably have an algorithm to discard reviews that they consider suspect, and as such only show the 1 star review... I deal with this kind of crap everyday...
Click to expand...

Our app was brand new and had NO reviews, yet the google search results showed 1 star.
Now our app has all 5 star reviews, and the google search result still shows 1 star.

Google = turd.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back