Rumor: China's App Store Ranking Booster Services Resurface
Tencent Digi, 8/08/12
Since July, the effects of application ranking-boosting services have become visible again in Apple's iTunes App Store, and China's ranking-boosting companies have restarted their businesses. Apple revised its rules for App Store product rankings this March, but the new rules have been unable to completely eliminate the practice of ranking inflation. It had been speculated that Apple would freeze rankings again in July before making further adjustments to its rules, but the company has yet to do so.
The problem is not limited to China: some overseas developers also inflate their app rankings, though the practice is considerably more apparent in China, with price listings for app ranking inflation services easily obtainable.
An industry source revealed that the "Paid Downloads" ranking for iPhone applications is more easily inflated than "Free Downloads" rankings. Any paid iPhone app downloaded 1,000 times in a single day will appear on the rankings; this can be automated for costs of between RMB 500 and 3,800, while costs for "Free Downloads" ranking inflation can be more than RMB 30,000.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "Apple China Foils App Boosting Service Providers" MD 4/09/12 issue.
Keywords: mobile application scam rankings wireless app store Apple downloads
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