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iPhone app sites charging for reviews
By Jim DalrympleMarch 18, 2010, 6:07 pm PT
It seems that some iPhone app review sites are demanding money from developers in order to write a review of their app. One site, ThePhoneAppReview.com, is offering developers the chance to “expedite” reviews for a $25 charge, but developers have said the site threatened to shun their product altogether. AppCraver.com said developers could expedite a review on the site for $150, although they said developers could not purchase a “good score.” No matter how you look at it, this is a bad practice.
Requiring payment for product reviews is not illegal, but the Federal Trade Commission has frowned on the practice. The commission believes a paid review can easily be the same as a paid advertisement, and consumers as a result may be misled into purchasing a product based on a falsely positive evaluation that was bought.
Pay to Play: Some iPhone App Sites Demand Money for Reviews [Wired]
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iPhone app sites charging for reviews
By Jim DalrympleMarch 18, 2010, 6:07 pm PT
It seems that some iPhone app review sites are demanding money from developers in order to write a review of their app. One site, ThePhoneAppReview.com, is offering developers the chance to “expedite” reviews for a $25 charge, but developers have said the site threatened to shun their product altogether. AppCraver.com said developers could expedite a review on the site for $150, although they said developers could not purchase a “good score.” No matter how you look at it, this is a bad practice.
Requiring payment for product reviews is not illegal, but the Federal Trade Commission has frowned on the practice. The commission believes a paid review can easily be the same as a paid advertisement, and consumers as a result may be misled into purchasing a product based on a falsely positive evaluation that was bought.
Pay to Play: Some iPhone App Sites Demand Money for Reviews [Wired]
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Discussion 10 comments so far
10 Responses to “iPhone app sites charging for reviews”
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That is just wrong. This kind of thing needs to be exposed. Good job Jim!
(And thanks for the sawbuck for this comment.)
LOL — it will cost you $5 to post comments B)
So, is that $5 per comment or is that $5 for unlimited comments?
Too bad this type of conduct occurs. It's a black eye for journalism, and makes it all the harder to convince readers that journalistic integrity still exists.
Hey, if you want to pay per comment… I mean, yes it's per comment :p
It is too bad it happens. It really makes it hard for people to know if what they are reading is true or not.
This really isn't on, there is no charge for reviews on http://www.totalapps.net
This story is one of the reasons why I wish I could add a gray list to my search engines. "Do not include any of the following sources in a search containing these key words."
as my dearly departed granny would say "how tacky"
Nice gig if you can make it work/ Me? I wouldn't have the balls.
That would be nice, I agree.
[...] been a lot of talk since last week when it came to light that some iPhone app review sites were charging developers to do reviews of their products. Shawn King and I talked about this last night on Your Mac Life [...]