Hello everyone. I thought I'd bring this up here. I'm trying to get some exposure and feedback on this issue.
It's explained in detail on a reddit thread (I can't post the link) titled "My app is getting 1-star ratings from another dev". The TLDR version:
An unscrupulous developer can do the following to a) inflate his own ratings and b) destroy the ratings of competition. This is happening to me right now (I authored the reddit thread). This is the process:
1. Buy app.
2. Rate app.
3. Sign into another Google account.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 as many times as you have fake accounts.
5. (Optional) request a refund within 15 minutes. The ratings stay even though a refund was issued.
Has anyone else experienced this? It's incredibly frustrating. Google is unresponsive to support submissions. Some helpful Redditers are giving me good feedback and helping offset the 1-star reviews but honestly - it's hard to recover from 1-star reviews. Much more when there are 20 of them.
Thanks for any feedback. And apologies if this is in the wrong forum.
Related
First of all, allow me to make a compliment: you're a well-behaved crowd, and it's a pleasure hosting this forum. We're only asking you the above because although we feel we can deal with the extra noise generated by anonymous users, we want to know how others feel about it.
I the mean time, we hope everyone is OK with us deleting:
posts where users start swearing at one-another for no apparent reason.
duplicates. Please assume lots of people read almost everything that is posted, so don't post twice. If you're afraid people will miss your post because it's 'only' a reply, then post a new topic (if you must).
'guest' posts which obviously call for others to contact the poster (haven't deleted any of these yet...). If people want to be reacheable, then they should get an account. 'Reply on this forum to get in touch with me' is just too silly.
Warez, serialz, etz...
Almost forgot: we will also delete any posts asking for copies of commercial software or serial numbers, as well as posts from people offering them.
As said in previous discussions: we do not have any major moral objections, but mostly just practical ones: warez trading in forums like this tends to get rather big rather quickly, and often gets in the way of more content-focused discussion.
We recommend news://alt.binaries.warez.pocketpc for all your warez-trading needs.
don't let guests register
I tend to register only after a site has proven it's value.
Guests are not annoying on the premis that there is some form of crowd control which is the case here. I agree about the warez trading but don't think the real risk is in the occasional user/guest trying to save a few bucks. Those can be handled. The real 'risk' for boards like this are the commercial traders, those should be banned fiercly.
Robert
a real requirement
hmmmm, reading back my message
i could use a spellchecker on this board!!!
I reckon registration gives an air of security to posters, but can only go a small way towards keeping out unwelcome posts such as flames and warez.
Wouldn't it be great if all the energy that went in to hacking, blagging and flaming was diverted into constructive use?
Dream on.
Tulaine said:
Wouldn't it be great if all the energy that went in to hacking, blagging and flaming was diverted into constructive use?
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Hey... We're hacking...
Sorry. I reverted to the derogatory usage of the word.
Must remember my audience. :wink:
I've twice ended up posting as a guest after I registered because I forgot to enter my username. Though this time it has automatically recognised me, other times it hasn't for some reason.
I agree
markh said:
I've twice ended up posting as a guest after I registered because I forgot to enter my username. Though this time it has automatically recognised me, other times it hasn't for some reason.
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I have done similar. Mainly due to using so many different computers. Home, work, friends etc. So my suggestion is to make it clearer when you're not logged in.
Perhaps when you write a message just "gently" ask to register before posting. But not insist.
After all for those people intent on destruction, all that they have to do is register each time they come back. A deterent but simple to get around..
Hi Everyone,
I'm trying to make this post positive and I'd like to ask for your help with this request. Stressing, please keep replies positive so we can get an official response.* I returned my Prime because I was unhappy with the Wifi performance, browser lockups, unhappy with how GPS was handled, and unhappy with the lack of response from Asus support. However, I'd like to repurchase the TF201 again and feel good about my purchase, but to repurchase I need responses from Asus beyond a forum post.
Asus, can the company please provide a single location (preferably on www.asus.com) which is updated regularily and provides:
1) Status of known issues with the TF201 that at a minimum includes the following:
* a) GPS - be straightforward and restate that there is no longer GPS support for the product. I'm fine with that.
* b) WIFI - since many (not all) are not happy with wifi performance, tell us what type of performance users can expect on both 'G' and 'N' networks as distance from the router increases. Is performance going to be improved, and if yes, what type of performance can be expected.
* c) Other issues which are impacting users who respond to this thread.
2) Will Asus guarantee some level of performance metrics, which issue will you guarantee resolved, in what timeframe, and for how long is the guarantee valid? What's the guarantee - moneyback or something else?
3) Document the different HW revisions that have bee manufactured and include a change log of the changes and what issues were addressed.
4) Explain what is going on with manufacturing and why there is the appearance that some retailers are no longer offering the product while others are only receiving very small quantities. If this is wrong and large volumes are being shipped and retailers can't keep up, state so and be upfront with how many have shipped. Right now I'm hesitant on moving ahead assuming there may be other hardware issues being resolved behind closed doors.
*) ASUS: Please provide a straight-forward statement on what is happening with the items above and any that may be included in responses to this thread.
This information provides users like myself the information needed to decide whether or not to repurchase the prime. I'm happy to work through the growing pains if I feel comfortable that a solution is coming. **Please, no more searching through forums to find relevant posts.** Start pointing us to a single site which contains all relevant information at www.asus.com.
Fellow Members: Rather than suggesting that Asus provide a free upgrade to their latest tablet when released or other unrealistic demands, let's ask for the minimum to keep this product and be happy with the purchase. Please reply, keep it positive, and endorse. Hopefully this will get noticed by the Gary the marketing manager who has been making several posts. If this goes negative, my take is it will be ignored.
Thanks in advance for replying, endorsing, and keeping your posts positive.
I think if you pm him a link to this thread and put it in one of his sticky threads up top, you may get a faster response. He is away traveling ATM so responses may be delayed.
demandarin said:
I think if you pm him a link to this thread and put it in one of his sticky threads up top, you may get a faster response. He is away traveling ATM so responses may be delayed.
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Hi Dedmandarin - Thanks for responding - How do I PM him a link to the threat and put it in one of his sticky threads? Appreciate the help.
Just click on his name and press the personal message option. AS far as how to do a link, just go up to the top of your browser. Long press/click the whole URL address n press copy. Then in the message and/or thread, long press the area where you going to write at then press paste.
IF THE LINK you copy doesn't have www. Or http:// in front it, add it to the link in the beginning to make it a hyperlink. SO HE CAN JUST CLICK it and itll take him straight to your thread.*
We all know -- getting the user feedback is essential, but it's hard. At least I find it so.
For example, judging from data gathered from random Android app and game samples, on average:
about 10-20% of all users that have downloaded the app, have actually reviewed the app,
about 10% of those that reviewed the app also leave a comment (making the number of comments approximately 1-2% of all downloads),
about 1% of users communicate via in-app channels,
about 1% of users respond to social posts.
As I mentioned already, this is based on a random sample and the rather small sample size (10) may be biased by statistical error. Nevertheless, it "feels" right
Now, let's say that your user base is wide enough to get the accurate feedback about your product, but only if you could motivate more users to respond to Rate and Leave Feedback requests... but let's leave that for a separate discussion.
What I wanted to ask you all is:
Which questions would you ask your users if you knew they will answer truthfully?
Think survey!
Think user satisfaction!
Think best loved feature!
Don't think girl's/boy's phone numbers!
In the end, I'll try to compile the result in a single survey separated in categories (and based on the popularity of suggested questions) for the community to use.
Let's start asking
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Starter
To get us going, here're some example questions (courtesy of zoomearng.com):
What Features Can You Not Live Without? – Asking people what features they must have on your upcoming product is a great way to find out what is in the highest demand. In short, this online survey question shows you, overall, what features you cannot leave out.
What Is the Most You Would Pay? – Understanding your potential customer’s price range can help you better understand what you can realistically afford to include, and exclude, to hit those price points.
What Did You Like Best About Our Old Product? – If you had an older version of a product and are updating it, finding out what features your customers liked best. Use this online survey question to find out what you should not change in future versions of your product.
What Other Brands Would You Consider? – This online survey question helps you quickly locate and understand your possible competition. Knowing what you’re up against will help you better gauge where your energies should be focused for your product.
What Else Should We Know? – Let your online survey respondents have the floor. This question gives them the opportunity to sound off about things maybe your online survey questions missed. Find out all you forgot to ask about with this question.
One thing that I was not sure how to proceed is the personall, demographic questions. How deep to go and what are the limits?
I believe that the answer to this is in type of survey, but also in giving the user the possibility to opt-out or to make those questions non-mandatory.
What's the safe zone with demographic questions?
I think you can safely ask for:
Country
Age
Occupation
Service Provider(if any, or if necessary)
Another question that can be considered is "Do you primarily use this app for business or personal use?" Obviously only certain apps would use this.
Just a suggestion, but since a lot of questions could vary between apps(like between recreational or utility apps) maybe if you made a tool that allowed app developers to customize and then compile a survey which can then be added to their app with minimal effort it would be awesome. That way developers could ask more app specific questions alongside the more general ones you mentioned above. The hardest thing about that would probably be making it compile into a universal format that can be copy pasted into any apps code, but I'm sure it's not too hard. If the tool automatically created the proper classes along with each survey then it literally could be copy pasted into whatever part of the app the dev wants it in.
Just my 2 cents.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA
Good suggestions, AlanB412.
The Country and Service provider are quite well covered by Play Store statistics (though, should be considered in case app is not published on Google).
Other "personal" stuff, I compiled into one (multiple choice) question for the survey I'm creating for m-parking:
Please tell us something about yourself. Check all that apply.
• Female
• Male
• Younger than 30 years
• 30 years or older
• In school
• Employed
• Unemployed
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The details of occupation, like industry and field of work, deserve a dedicated question, if needed, of course.
Ideally, the availability of questions should be dependent on previously made choices (e.g. occupation industry should be asked only if employment status "employed" or "self-employed" were previously selected). That kind of branching should make the survey more engaging as opposed to presenting the user with irrelevant questions.
The idea about the "tool" for developers sounds interesting.
How I'm looking at is a library project that has many out-of-the-box available questions, but that allows also for customizations and works dynamically with any question specified in standard strings dedicated resources.
The tricky part is actually not the inclusion of such Survey-library in apps or its dynamic handling of question-answer configuration. It's in (collecting) the reports part. For that to work seamlessly out-of-the-box, a third party "cloud" reporting service should be available -- to collect and provide access to reports.
I know questions belong in the Q&A, but this has to do with apps & large developers. I have been doing a little research into Gameloft & EA. I have found a few trends that I find disturbing, but I am looking for more information for background before publishing any of my findings. SO, please humor me.
My pleading question to all of you tech & Android lovers out there is a simple three part question & it will really help me to see if I can truly identify a trend that is hurting consumers.
1. Do you own any any app titles by either of the above developers?
2. Have you found that any purchased titles from the above developers cannot be utilized due to firmware updates?
3. Have you had any interaction with the customer service departments of either developer? How did you find the experience?
I am working on a piece & have found some very interesting facts, but I am looking for some experiences from other users. Please post & let me know your answers to the above questions & feel free to add any other commentary you feel relevant. If you prefer anonymity, you can PM me here at XDA..
If requested, I will respect you request for anonymity, but would like to be able to use your stories as anonymous source material, or for background purposes.
I had purchased The Sims 3 on my HTC Rezound.
After the initial purchase, the app would not download the secondary files.
EA does not have an email tied to the app listing, so after navigating their page for 30-45 minutes, setting up an account, typing my problems, and then retyping them due to server errors, having to try and guess several times before I could create a password that fit the unlisted requirements, the final submit button for submitting a ticket for tech support completely server errored and made me have to start over.
I had honestly forgotten about it till now, will see about trying again today.
I purchased Madden 12 when the Play Store had their 25 cent sale a few months ago. It ran fine on my Xoom, but as soon as I upgraded to my N10 and 4.2, it would not download any of the files to play the game. It seems to be a common complaint in the reviews of the game.
The mods deleted my thread, many users questioned my integrity. Here is the method I used for everyone to see. I really don't care any more. This wasn't illegal or anything. I just didn't close the app and it stayed on the product page with the add to cart button enabled.
This is for educational purposes only. I am looking for any requests or anything. Please don't PM me for any sort of help regarding this subject ever!
Cheers!
P.S.: I made no money in those orders. I was only helping.