iPhone Reviews Photography Shack
iPhone Reviews With Suspicious Origins
By G L Harris
The question of the validity of iPhone reviews is one
that came to the fore in the last few months of 2009
because of the controversy that was swirling around
the applications that people and companies wrote so
others could download and use them on the devices.
What happens with these applications is that they are
uploaded to the App store on Apple’s site by their creators,
and people who download them are allowed to write reviews.
Authenticity Of iPhone Reviews
But as more and more apps were placed in the store,
the question of whether or not positive reviews were
being written by the developers and negative reviews
by their competitors soon popped up.
In March of 2009, Jeff Bertolucci wrote an article
for www.pcworld.com
about the authenticity of these iPhone reviews, asking
how one might have confidence that there was no "cheating"
going on.
Five Stars To iPhone Applications From One Developer
Only
The research didn’t reveal any acknowledged skewing,
but Bertolucci did identify some red flags that should
make people suspicious. For example, if someone consistently
gives five stars to iPhone applications from one developer
only, and never reviews any other type of app or gives
other ratings, then it may indicate that the person
was writing more to give a boost to that app than to
give a genuine review.
The first big confirmation of any iPhone reviews being
rigged, though, came in December of 2009, when a Chinese
company named Molinker was demonstrated to have had
its employees post glowing reviews of its 1000+
apps.
Bogus Good Reviews
The more good reviews an application gets, the more
likely it is to be featured among the top iPhone apps
and therefore be purchased and downloaded by more people.
But as it turned out, over ninety percent of the reviews
for Molinker apps were finally shown to be bogus. In
response, Apple removed all of them from the store.
There are two reasons, though, why it might still be
a good idea to read the iPhone reviews on Apple’s site.
As Bertolucci says, developers themselves can respond
to reviews and clarify misconceptions or demonstrate
where a reviewer has made a false claim.
Reducing The Possibility Of Rigged Reviews
But new regulations instituted in December, 2009 by
the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also promise to make
the reviews of iPhone downloads a lot more accurate.
From now on, reviewers must disclose any payments, products
or other compensation received for writing their
reviews.
This will undoubtedly help at least to reduce the possibility
of rigged reviews, even if it can’t eliminate them entirely.
About the Author:
G L Harris has written a number of articles on digital cell phones, home security and digital photography including
Tiny Cameras,
Aerial Satellite Photos,
Baby Cameras,
Cell Phone Surveillance,
CCTV Security System,
Small Cameras,
Hidden Video Cameras,
Motion Detectors,
Outdoor Security Cameras.
Lookout for more articles on this website.
More Apple iPhone Facts....
The iPhone has taken the world by storm and it does
not look to be abating anytime soon. And why should
it? The iPhone applications make having the phone the
coolest thing around.
There is an application for virtually anything you
can imagine. But if you want those applications you
need to have the phone first and know where to shop
second. Because without the iPhone or an iPod, those
applications are useless to you.
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