
How to scam and get 67k all 5 Star reviews on the app store - knes
https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/7mzib4/how_to_scam_200000_per_month_and_get_67882_all_5/
======
makecheck
It’s insulting to real developers of decent apps and games when _obvious
trash_ can make it onto the store so easily, remain there, and make money hand
over fist, when other apps have to put up with scrutiny and back-and-forth
rejections over trivial non-issues even in 2017.

Right now, their “improved” App Store doesn’t even have what I would call a
search engine. I can search for apps _BY NAME_ and they _still_ show up like
#30 on the list below a whole pile of stuff that (I assume) only matches due
to some weird random match of letters that happen to be in my search term.
There is NO way to narrow the search category, NO filters (not even something
so _basic_ as “search only apps released in the last month”), etc. And every
single iOS store issue is 1000x worse on the Mac store. They need to take that
30% cut and invest properly.

And search problems wouldn’t be so bad if their top-X lists made any sense.
Top grossing, really? Great way to see the same 10 apps for like 3 weeks in a
row. “Limited Time Prices”? At this very moment on the Mac store, _ALL TWELVE_
“Limited Time Prices” apps are LEGO games! What good is that?

~~~
z3t4
While it would be awesome if the app store would be actually good at app
discovery, that is unlikely to happen. Instead you have to brand and advertise
your app outside of the store. See the app store as something like "apt-get
install". The user needs to know what he/she wants _before_ going to the
store.

~~~
marcosdumay
> See the app store as something like "apt-get install"

You know, the first place I search for desktop software is on the apt
repositories. Even when I'm looking software for Windows (then I repeat the
names on Google to see if they run there).

Searching in aptitude is much better than on the web.

~~~
z3t4
To be fair, FOSS repos are easier to organise as devs wont use dirty tricks
like fake reviews to promote their apps. Kinda like the meta keyword in the
early web.

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bob_theslob646
An interesting comment from an employee from the company that gives the
revenue estimate in the title. Apparently the number is somewhat accurate
according to
him.([https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/7mzib4/how_to_scam_2...](https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/7mzib4/how_to_scam_200000_per_month_and_get_67882_all_5/dry5eir/))

> We round the numbers for our free users -- the estimate in this case is
> closer to $150,000 than 200,000 in Nov. Indeed, if Sensor Tower was
> estimating revenue based on ratings, the seemingly fake reviews and bot
> users would influence it.

> However, the estimates are based on things like Category Rankings in the top
> charts, and other signal data. You can't get on top of the revenue charts
> with fake bot reviews -- real users have to spend real money. We work a lot
> on our models and data science to improve estimates accuracy, and a lot of
> developers and publishers share their data with us, so we feel pretty
> confident about the revenue estimates. So while we might be off by a few %,
> we feel very confident about the data! In comparison, top dating apps like
> Tinder make >20 million a month on iOS alone.

> As you can see, the app has stayed on top of the grossing charts with a lot
> of consistency, and hasn't been removed from the app store. I know Apple
> works hard to remove apps that break their terms of service, but they might
> have not caught it (or are investigating) over the holidays. I know that
> Apple takes reports like this from the community seriously, and though it
> might look like they act slowly, they are likely investigate apps like this
> in detail.

------
uptown
See also here:

[https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Headphones-Earpieces-
Earpho...](https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Headphones-Earpieces-Earphones-
Microphone/dp/B078C61G5M/)

136 reviews, all of the same general format, all 5 star reviews, nothing
critical in any of them.

~~~
pcurve
[https://www.fakespot.com/product/bluetooth-earbuds-tenfly-
wi...](https://www.fakespot.com/product/bluetooth-earbuds-tenfly-wireless-
headphones-headsets-stereo-in-ear-earpieces-earphones-with-noise-canceling-
microphone-for-iphone-x-8-8plus-7-7plus-6s-samsung-galaxy-s7-s8-ios-android-
smart-phones)

~~~
aphextron
Bookmarked, thanks

------
jokoon
Aren't there laws to protect consumers against that kind of scam?

At that point, what would Apple respond? It seems it's not in Apple's interest
to refund customers, and I wonder if they would sue the app maker and
investigate fraudulent ratings.

Funnily, that would also bring attention to fraudulent comments on net
neutrality, and how nothing has been proven yet.

~~~
CharlesW
> _I wonder if they would sue the app maker and investigate fraudulent
> ratings._

Apple does investigate this and does take action, yes.[1]

> _" Almost 1,000 fraudulent reviews were detected across two accounts and 25
> apps for this developer so we removed their apps and accounts from the App
> Store," an Apple spokesperson told iMore. "Warning was given in advance of
> the termination and attempts were made to resolve the issue with the
> developer but they were unsuccessful. We will terminate developer accounts
> for ratings and review fraud, including actions designed to hurt other
> developers. This is a responsibility that we take very seriously, on behalf
> of all of our customers and developers."_

[1] [https://www.imore.com/whats-happening-dash-and-app-
store](https://www.imore.com/whats-happening-dash-and-app-store)

------
534b44a
Having a dumb search functionality results in tons of blogs and forums
discussing software that relates to their niches.

The Netflix homepage for guests doesn't provide much information either.
Anytime I search for the newest titles on google, I get the most updated top
10's. Good for SEO and keeps the people talking about stuff related to the
platform.

------
austinl
Here's another great article about a fake security app that was making
~$80,000/month. After selecting "Free trial", the app signed you up for a
$99/month subscription. For a while, it was ranked #33 in Top Grossing for
Business apps. Apple has since removed it, but there's plenty of apps like
this still out there. As someone who has had apps rejected for fairly trivial
reasons, stuff like this always frustrating.

[https://medium.com/@johnnylin/how-to-make-80-000-per-
month-o...](https://medium.com/@johnnylin/how-to-make-80-000-per-month-on-the-
apple-app-store-bdb943862e88)

------
drefanzor
I'd still like to know 'how' they got all those reviews. Is there a warehouse
full of people somewhere in China generating this, so-called 5-star review
farmers?

~~~
Too
[https://mk0equediaiphjdq03ev.kinstacdn.com/wp-
content/upload...](https://mk0equediaiphjdq03ev.kinstacdn.com/wp-
content/uploads/2017/05/clickfarm.jpg)

------
wellboy
I know a guy who submitted apps with a comment, you get $300 if you can help
me with some things. 9 out of 10 times it didn't work. But with 1 guy it
worked and he promoted fake apps like this.

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orliesaurus
Sounds like a sophisticated money laundering scheme - dump money in click
farms and fake app purchasing, in exchange for climbing the charts and getting
innocent/naive people to purchase at a faster rate. As you climb the charts
your app gets more visibility and thus more eye from the innocent/naive
purchasing population

~~~
progre
Not likely. If I was laundering money I would rather have a low profile and
spread the money over several apps while making sure that none of them end up
on the top 30 list. Seems like a pretty straight forward scam: Get suckers to
buy the app and an in-app subscription service with fake reviews.

