Michal Ždanský Getting an app noticed by users is not easy at all for developers these days. You can find hundreds of thousands of applications in the App Store. To get among them in the ranking of top applications requires either a very good application or a good promo.
One of the developers confided in the server forum Touch Arcade. He was looking for ways to better promote his app. Advertising via AdMob turned out to be quite expensive, and after some time searching, he came across an ad network that guaranteed a client's app to get into the Top 25 for a relatively low price of $5. The offer differed in many ways from others, so the developer asked how they achieve this result and if anyone has already used their services.
He was referred to the American App Store, where clients who used these services were revealed to him. A total of eight applications from different clients were in the Top 25, four of which were in the top ten. Developer under the name crowdstar here he even had two pieces in 5th and 16th place. It was shocking to find that a total of eight apps made it to the top 25 thanks to their "marketing". The developer was curious as to how such a result could be achieved. Subsequently, probably the biggest fraud in the history of the App Store was revealed to him.
The seasoned entrepreneur had another programmer create a farm of bots that automatically download the selected application, gradually bringing it to the top of the rankings. The advertiser literally sees his creation rise before his eyes. Although our developer wanted to make the application known to people, such a scam was unacceptable to him, so he said that he had to rethink everything.
He immediately received a response from the businessman that Apple is aware of this problem and is taking appropriate steps to correct it. Pseudonymous developer Dream Cortex has already been removed from the developer program for so-called "botting". This also explained the relatively small amount for which the "advertisement" was to be made. Under other circumstances, this entrepreneur would have charged much more, but since the whole scam is already known, he is trying to attract as many clients as possible before Apple shuts down the botting completely.
Sadly, Apple is aware of the scam, yet still allows these eight apps to continue to exist in the App Store. However, it is quite common for Apple to take an inordinate amount of time to remove fraudulent apps or remove fraudulent developers from the developer program. Our developer, who encountered this scam and shared his experience with the community, ultimately decided not to take advantage of this offer despite the tempting price and promising results.
I don't agree with that conclusion. Apple removes problematic apps very quickly, in the ranks of the day. Otherwise OK.
I disagree with Semtex. Some applications, such as the much-loved Blacklist variation, are still available.
My opinion is that Apple chooses how quickly to remove which fraudulent app. An example would be the many scam apps (with at least a scam description) that "enable" flash on ios (they're mostly just manuals after all). Such applications last even though they are noticed for a very long time (probably because of the price on which apple also makes money). Other programs, such as dosbox, disappear in a number of days. It's all about the money :(
That developer was probably not Czech...