As they say, buyer beware. I can pick a number of post here that are likely 'shill' reviews.
PR firms have interns posting five star reviews in App Store for clients
PR firms have interns posting five star reviews in App Store for clients
Wow, now I'm sad.
I always said the review system has to be fixed but how can you fix this ?
They need to give us a short trial period, try before you buy, can do it lots of other places.
They need to give us a short trial period, try before you buy, can do it lots of other places.
I never look at five star reviews, how do I know the developer does not have a large family or a lot of friends. A look at some of these five star reviews and they read to good to be true. I look at most critical and then most recent and then decide from there.
(If some of these developers are using PR firms, they need to find ones that speaketh and writa the inglish well )
Why? If it looks too canned, it's probably a PR firm. If I owned a PR firm and wanted to be hired to do this, I'd make a spelling/grammatical error once in awhile and I'd never be too praising of the app. Instead, I'd find something that no one really cares about (like the app button, for example) and criticize it. That way, when people read it, they assume it's not from a friend or family member who, surely, would never find a single fault with the app.
Hate to be cynical, but I simply don't trust most reviews. Hence, I rarely purchase expensive apps, unless I personally know someone who raves about it or I've had a chance to see it firsthand.
I never said they'd give a one star review. Obviously, that defeats their purpose. An occasional 4-star review with a minor criticism that most people would read and feel the reviewer was being too harsh about maybe, but I meant that they would give 5-star reviews, but try to appear as though they were just "Joe or Sally Lunchpack" by maybe misspelling a word or saying something like "get a new logo" as the biggest form of criticism. Meld these in with other canned 5-star reviews and it suddenly appears that an app is extremely popular and that not all app reviews are coming from family and friends because, heck one of them didn't like the background color or the logo or something else most people could care less about.
I, in no way, meant to suggest that a PR firm would give bad reviews, I simply meant imperfect reviews would appear more realistic. Sadly, I'm sure that's already happening which is why I (and countless others) hold off before making a purchase more often than not. I'd rather read what people here have to say, as well as talk to friends, read professional reviews, etc before taking the plunge on something I'm not already determined to buy.
A try-before-you-buy model would eliminate this cynicism and caution by allowing us, as consumers, to try to product and make an honest evaluation before choosing to plunk down our hard-earned money or pass.
I, in no way, meant to suggest that a PR firm would give bad reviews, I simply meant imperfect reviews would appear more realistic. Sadly, I'm sure that's already happening which is why I (and countless others) hold off before making a purchase more often than not. I'd rather read what people here have to say, as well as talk to friends, read professional reviews, etc before taking the plunge on something I'm not already determined to buy.
Absolutely. I'm certain it works both ways.If they are willing to post fabricated 5-star reviews for their own product, I wouldn't put it past them to post fabricated 1-star reviews for obvious competitors.