And yet another game has the referrals - this time a featured one called "iMobsters" has it. I'm sure it's a fine game but it's funny because their description says, "reached #1 in the iPhone market!" I wonder how?? ... Almost every comment is (5 stars - Add me! <code>)
On Apr 29, 3:08 pm, Mario Zechner <badlogicga...@gmail.com> wrote: > Got spamed too. Not holding my breath that anything will be done about > it though... > > On 28 Apr., 22:22, Mike <michaeldouglaskra...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > Also, section 3.8 of the Android Market Terms of Service covers unfair > > competition law. Encouraging 5 star comments on your app in exchange > > for benefits to your users is clearly a method of spreading false > > information for competitive advantage. > > > "3.8 You agree that Google and/or third parties own all right, title > > and interest in and to the Market and the Products available through > > the Market, including without limitation all applicable Intellectual > > Property Rights in the Products. "Intellectual Property Rights" means > > any and all rights existing under patent law, copyright law, trade > > secret law, trademark law, unfair competition law, and any and all > > other proprietary rights worldwide. You agree that you will not, and > > will not allow any third party to, (i) copy, sell, license, > > distribute, transfer, modify, adapt, translate, prepare derivative > > works from, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise > > attempt to derive source code from the Products, unless otherwise > > permitted, (ii) take any action to circumvent or defeat the security > > or content usage rules provided, deployed or enforced by any > > functionality (including without limitation digital rights management > > or forward-lock functionality) in the Products, (iii) use the Products > > to access, copy, transfer, transcode or retransmit content in > > violation of any law or third party rights, or (iv) remove, obscure, > > or alter Google's or any third party's copyright notices, trademarks, > > or other proprietary rights notices affixed to or contained within the > > Products. " > > > - Mike > > > On Apr 28, 2:13 pm, Mike <michaeldouglaskra...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > Google Android Market TOS Section 3.4 states: > > > > "3.4 You agree that you will not engage in any activity that > > > interferes with or disrupts the Market (or the servers and networks > > > which are connected to the Market). You agree that you will not use > > > any of the Products found on the Market in a way that interferes or > > > disrupts any servers, networks, or websites operated by Google or any > > > third-party." > > > > I would count artificially enhancing the ratings/ranking of your app, > > > as well as posting spam comments on other apps as feedback to be > > > engaging in activity that interferes with or disrupts the Market. > > > > - Mike > > > > On Apr 28, 12:34 pm, Ralf Schneider <li...@gestaltgeber.com> wrote: > > > > > I just checked "World War". This game uses a referral system, too. The > > > > generated codes look similar as the referral codes from PE. Wrold War > > > > has > > > > over 250000 downloads as PE. > > > > > Unfortunately I think there is no easy solution to the problem for > > > > google. > > > > Is a referral system really violating the TOS of the market? What can be > > > > done to reduce spamming comments on other apps? Is it really illegal to > > > > ask > > > > users to advertise your apps in comments for other apps? Is an automatic > > > > solution possible to clean the comments? > > > > > The problem will get much more serious if other developers will follow. > > > > It > > > > can ruin the whole comment system. On the other hand: If it work so > > > > well and > > > > nothing is done against it, it would be silly to not to use a similar > > > > system. > > > > > 2010/4/28 Robert Green <rbgrn....@gmail.com> > > > > > > Just got another spam comment on one of my games, this time for a game > > > > > called "World War" > > > > > > Also getting several pocket empires spam comments on my games. Not > > > > > cool. > > > > > > On Apr 28, 12:46 pm, Robert Green <rbgrn....@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > Oh wow. I had no idea they were actively telling people to spam > > > > > > their > > > > > > game on our games. Here are some alleged quotes from the > > > > > > developer's > > > > > > chat with some android users: > > > > > > > Pocket Play is the publisher of this game: > > > > > > > [4/18/2010 9:05:40 PM] Pocket Play: Could use some help advertising > > > > > > our game on the market. I'll reward anyone who helps with 200 gems. > > > > > > [4/18/2010 9:07:20 PM] Pocket Play: Basically, I need some people to > > > > > > go to apps and post >>one time<< per app about our game. > > > > > > [4/18/2010 9:07:24 PM] Pocket Play: So we can spread the news. > > > > > > [4/18/2010 9:07:51 PM] Pocket Play: Not every app needs to be done > > > > > > but > > > > > > just some. > > > > > > [4/18/2010 9:08:43 PM] Pocket Play: Just post something like.. > > > > > > [4/18/2010 9:09:14 PM] Pocket Play: "Want an awesome online medieval > > > > > > war game? Search up Pocket Empires in the market. 40,000 and > > > > > > counting." > > > > > > [4/18/2010 9:12:52 PM] Pocket Play: You have to rate it first > > > > > > [4/18/2010 9:12:56 PM] Pocket Play: Rate everything you comment on 5 > > > > > > stars > > > > > > [4/18/2010 9:26:02 PM] Pocket Play: all good. > > > > > > [4/18/2010 9:26:10 PM] Pocket Play: Theres your 220, keep up the > > > > > > good > > > > > > work > > > > > > > The quotes are from here - > > > > >http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Android+Market/thread?tid=173b4... > > > > > > > On Apr 28, 11:19 am, Ralf Schneider <li...@gestaltgeber.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > The referall system together with users spamming other apps seems > > > > > > > to > > > > > work > > > > > > > very well. > > > > > > > If google is ok with it - How long until other developers will > > > > > > > follow? > > > > > > > > 2010/4/28 jasont <tomlinson...@gmail.com> > > > > > > > > > The game itself is quite good, it is very disappointing they > > > > > > > > have > > > > > > > > resorted to spamming the Market and "cheating the system" > > > > > > > > > On Apr 26, 11:12 pm, cyxb <cyxb.andr...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > > I just came across this on the Market support forum. Looks > > > > > > > > > like > > > > > the > > > > > > > > > developers are rewarding users that spam the Market: > > > > > >http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Android+Market/thread?tid=173b4... > > > > > > > > > > On Apr 26, 8:47 pm, polyclefsoftware <dja...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > You also have the option to flag an app as inappropriate, > > > > > > > > > > which > > > > > might > > > > > > > > > > not be a bad idea. > > > > > > > > > > > On Apr 26, 8:06 pm, Zsolt Vasvari <zvasv...@gmail.com> > > > > > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > When you unistall the game in Android Market, you have the > > > > > option to > > > > > > > > > > > mark it as spammy and give a reason why. Instead of > > > > > complaining on > > > > > > > > > > > here, perhaphs being a bit more proactive could be > > > > > > > > > > > helpful. > > > > > > > > > > > > On Apr 27, 4:29 am, Mike <michaeldouglaskra...@gmail.com> > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > I agree with Robert. I really hope Google will take a > > > > > serious look > > > > > > > > at > > > > > > > > > > > > this as it undermines the trust of the rankings and > > > > > > > > > > > > ratings > > > > > > > > associated > > > > > > > > > > > > with any app in the market. > > > > > > > > > > > > > It bothers me that the spamming seems to have started > > > > > > > > > > > > more > > > > > than 10 > > > > > > > > > > > > days ago, and nothing has been done. PE is now the > > > > > > > > > > > > number 9 > > > > > ranked > > > > > > > > > > > > game in the market. This just shouldn't have happened, > > > > > > > > > > > > but > > > > > it did. > > > > > > > > > > > > > Can anyone at Google that can speak to this please do > > > > > > > > > > > > so? > > > > > > > > > > > > > Regards, > > > > > > > > > > > > > - Mike > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Apr 26, 1:19 pm, Robert Green <rbgrn....@gmail.com> > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ok, just like how telling people to click on your ads > > > > > > > > > > > > > is > > > > > against > > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > > > > > > > ToS, I believe that telling users to give you a 5 star > > > > > rating for > > > > > > > > any > > > > > > > > > > > > > reason should also be. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Apr 26, 12:57 pm, Ralf Schneider < > > > > > li...@gestaltgeber.com> > > > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I installed the game. After installation there was > > > > > > > > > > > > > > a text > > > > > box > > > > > > > > "suggesting" > > > > > > > > > > > > > > to give 5 stars for the game to be the first game > > > > > > > > > > > > > > to have > > > > > a 5 > > > > > > > > star rating. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I gave 1 star. I don't like to be "manipulated" to > > > > > > > > > > > > > > giva a > > > > > good > > > > > > > > rating. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Uninstalled it. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 2010/4/26 Mike <michaeldouglaskra...@gmail.com> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hey Zero, > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Any idea on how Pocket Empires has managed to go > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > from a > > > > > zero > > > > > > > > in the > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > rankings to number 25 in less than a few weeks? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Seems > > > > > a > > > > > > > > little > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > questionable to me based on the amount of spam > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > being > > > > > left on > > > > > > > > all of > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > the other top 50 apps and games promoting your > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > game. > > > > > More > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > questionable still is the near constant amount of > > > > > positive 5 > > > > > > > > star > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > feedback being left on Pocket Empires itself with > > > > > nearly the > > > > > > > > same > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > content. I'll stop short of accusing the own > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Pocket > > > > > Empires > > > > > > > > team of > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > purposely manipulating the Android market ratings > > > > > system in > > > > > > > > order to > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > promote the game, but it seems very suspicious > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > and, > > > > > might I > > > > > > > > say, a bit > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > slimy and underhanded. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > - Michael > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Apr 1, 10:03 pm, ZeroCool <zero...@gmail.com> > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Big thanks to Android Team. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I couldn't have done it without the help of you > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > guys. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > If anyone is interested, search 'pocketempires' > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > or > > ... > > read more » -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. 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