FTC Enforces Internet Review Guidelines on App Store User Reviews

I don’t know about everyone else, but an item in the App Store with about 2.5 stars or less is an instant “pass” for me. Assuming others have guiding principles that are even remotely similar, the recent actions of PR firm Reverb Communications are kind of a big deal . . . In an overly obvious strategy to benefit their clients, the firm paid its staff to write positive reviews of certain App Store titles. The writers were told to be positive, but not “over the top.” Does that make it any better? I don’t think so. As a heavy user of the App Store, I’m surprised at my own reaction to this news. It’s easy to see how the user reviews section of an iTunes page could quickly become useless if this kind of behavior caught on.

Luckily, the Federal Trade Commission saw it the same way. In their first ruling on Internet Review Guidelines, the FTC is having Reverb remove all applicable reviews. Their statement explains that anyone endorsing a product must “disclose the connection the reviewer shares with the seller of the product or service.” In this case, that would mean the reviewers would have to identify themselves as interns for the PR firm tasked with getting positive exposure for a given application. Needless to say, they did not.

The case against Reverb Communications is being settled, with no money involved. And I think Reverb is getting lucky. With this being the FTC’s first handling of Internet Review Guidelines, I suspect it was more important for the precedents it would set. Let’s hope things get off on the right foot. That way, socially-driven marketplaces can continue to thrive, rather than getting bogged down in fake reviews void of any trace of ethics.

About the Author

Devin Wieland

 

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