Sina Technology News, early morning of February 8th: Similar to search engine optimization (SEO), the behavior of vote-buying and chart manipulation in application stores like Apple's App Store is gradually forming an industrial chain.
On the afternoon of February 6th, the sudden removal of all Qihoo 360 (NYSE:QIHU) applications from Apple’s App Store became a hot topic in media reports. The reasons for the removal were varied. Some said that Qihoo 360's applications violated Apple's developer terms, while others believed it might be due to certain products competing with Apple. However, the final explanation was: some of Qihoo 360's applications had been subject to "vote-buying" and SEO optimization, leading to abnormal user reviews, prompting Apple to conduct its usual investigation.
"Vote-buying" is one of the services provided by some third-party marketing companies during the promotion of applications. The typical approach involves accumulating a large number of positive reviews to enhance reputation, but sometimes also deliberately giving negative reviews to help suppress competitive applications. In addition, these companies will also help clients manipulate download volumes and ranking lists, which are their primary means of profit.
App Promotion Services: Starting at 10,000 downloads, priced at 0.7 yuan per unit
A certain cultural media company in Zhejiang is a specialized company providing such services specifically for Apple's App Store. According to the company's website introduction, they offer services including App Store ranking manipulation, list rankings, app ratings, and writing positive reviews.
The company claims on its website that it has successful cases in countries such as China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and Germany. However, citing confidentiality for their clients, the company did not provide specific case information.
According to a price list published on the company's website, the starting number of downloads for a single application in Apple's China App Store is 10,000 times, priced at 0.7 yuan per unit. If you want high ratings and good reviews simultaneously, an additional 0.8 yuan is required. Generally, the larger the download volume, the lower the individual cost. Download prices vary across different regions of the App Store.
In addition to charging based on download volume, some companies also offer daily, weekly, or monthly ranking services. These fees fluctuate significantly, with the highest monthly price for popular category rankings reaching up to 300,000 yuan, while less popular rankings may only cost 50,000 yuan.
In terms of payment methods, if the download volume is small, these companies usually require full payment upfront, then within 24 hours, push the application into the rankings. For larger download volumes, 70% of the payment is required upfront, with the remaining balance paid after completion.
Why Take Shortcuts: Ranking Manipulation is Cheaper than Advertising
According to Fuxing, the Director of Performance Advertising at Weiyun, such App marketing promotion companies are mainly concentrated in Shenzhen, Guangdong, with team sizes typically around dozens of people, enjoying good profitability.
The operational model for ranking manipulation generally involves employees repeatedly downloading the same application through PC clients every day, often achieving thousands to tens of thousands of downloads in just one day.
It is introduced that these companies typically have tens of thousands of Apple IDs, with employees using VPN switching methods to log into multiple accounts on a single computer.
Fuxing stated that for some smaller developers, promoting through ranking manipulation is more cost-effective than advertising. "Some medium and small developers choose this shortcut to gain market space."
Chen Haozhi (Weibo), CEO of Touching Technology, pointed out in an interview with Sina Technology that the phenomenon of ranking manipulation was more severe last year, and currently, there may only be a few applications in the top rankings of Apple's China App Store that entered through ranking manipulation.
He indicated that although the promotional model of manipulating rankings has some effect, its impact is limited. He advised developers to be patient and focus on improving product quality. At the same time, he warned developers that if Apple penalizes such behaviors, the cost could be very high.
Apple Warns Developers: Ranking Manipulation Could Lead to Banishment
In fact, Apple has already started implementing policies to address violations such as ranking manipulation. On February 7th, Apple issued a statement warning app developers not to violate regulations by manipulating the rankings of apps in the App Store, or risk being banned.
Apple stated in the announcement: "Once you've developed an excellent app, you definitely want everyone to know about it. But when promoting your app, you should not use services that promote or guarantee top rankings in the App Store. Even if you personally did not participate in manipulating the App Store rankings or user reviews, hiring such services can still lead to losing your membership in the 'Apple Developer Program.'"
Recently, Apple has begun cleaning up a series of violations in the App Store. In the anti-plagiarism campaign recently initiated, Apple began clearing out counterfeit products in the App Store and removed many counterfeit apps from Apple's App Store. (Liang Luo)
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Related Reports:
360 Claims Removal by Apple Was Due to Vote-Buying on Some Products
360 Is Communicating with Apple Regarding Product Removal and Plans to Sue Kingsoft
Apple Warns App Developers Not to Manipulate App Store Rankings
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