Here's a photo of how fake rankings for the App Store are done - it's a ranking factory!

Trepanated · Feb 12, 2015

This is a picture of a worker in a Chinese operation that ranks apps on Apple's App Store.

It may not look like much, but she is sitting in front of 100 iPhones and the board opposite her looks to be the same size. And who knows how many other boards of 100 iPhones are in that room.

What's really impressive though is the money these guys are apparently making - for a week in the App Store's Top 10 they are charging around $65,000.

Here's a link to the article:

http://uk.businessinsider.com/photo-shows-how-fake-app-store-rankings-are-made-2015-2?r=US

One thing the Chinese know how to do - is scale things up!

King_James · Feb 12, 2015

I'm surprised Apple can't fight this, because this is so simple to do and Apple allows it.

Do they install>uninstall>re-install just like that and 'fake' Apple's rankings? Shouldn't Apple be able to recognize that an App has been installed and uninstalled many times over on only one device?
And if someone can pay 65k x week, they could also buy 100 iPhones and do it themselves if it's so simple, they would save a huge amount of money.

TheVigilante · Feb 12, 2015

haha this is crazy...

JhonConzix · Feb 12, 2015

King_James said:
I'm surprised Apple can't fight this, because this is so simple to do and Apple allows it.

Do they install>uninstall>re-install just like that and 'fake' Apple's rankings? Shouldn't Apple be able to recognize that an App has been installed and uninstalled many times over on only one device?
And if someone can pay 65k x week, they could also buy 100 iPhones and do it themselves if it's so simple, they would save a huge amount of money.

They only install

Uninstall an app would backfire

Trepanated · Feb 12, 2015

King_James said:
And if someone can pay 65k x week, they could also buy 100 iPhones and do it themselves if it's so simple, they would save a huge amount of money.

I think that operation has a lot more than 100 iPhones.

It may look basic in the photo but there will be a lot more going on behind the scenes too.

Aatrox · Feb 12, 2015

Yeah, it looks like they have a lot more! You can see she is sitting in front of the one board and there is another one across that one. Who knows how many do they actually have, damn.

euroiswhatineed · Feb 12, 2015

And I cant see any instant way of stopping it as long as they use proxies and there is a human behind the iphones. It could be a great business .

avi619 · Feb 12, 2015

Article mentions they re-install apps on same device. I don't know how that helps in ranking.
Maybe they use different apple ids and proxies?

Aty · Feb 12, 2015

Wow ... that's some crazy shit right there.

Conor · Feb 12, 2015

Apple are douchebags if they decide to put an end to this. How much did they pay for all those iphones?

sanzdee · Feb 12, 2015

God made the world and Chinese made the rest

Hawkster · Feb 12, 2015

They sure know how to get shit done. Not surprised at all by that.

SlimProxies · Feb 12, 2015

avi619 said:
Article mentions they re-install apps on same device. I don't know how that helps in ranking.
Maybe they use different apple ids and proxies?

I bet they even spoof IMEI and other device specific info.

RuthSam · Feb 12, 2015

Seems to be a good business they are doing there..

netmoney1 · Feb 12, 2015

I'm sure there are much more elaborate operations out there. Huge business.

Think about it for a minute. The Kardashian game was http://mashable.com/2014/07/15/kim-kardashian-hollywood-game/. (not bad for being a worthless tramp)....now the same company is going to have http://www.cultofmac.com/311168/katy-perrys-iphone-game-sure-rake-millions/.

HUGE business. Paying $65K or even $100K a week to be on top is pocket change for these companies.

Nut-Nights · Feb 12, 2015

Wtf .

King_James · Feb 12, 2015

JhonConzix said:
They only install Uninstall an app would backfire

Article says it. That's what I don't understand.

Anyway, well done to them, huge amount of money they are making.

Boriss · Feb 12, 2015

Good business. Chinese people know how to scale things up. When I saw it, the bitcoin mines came in my mind (the report from Motherboard).

jamulair · Feb 12, 2015

And whoever said scaling is bad business lol, surprising to see how far people can go to make bank

Trepanated · Feb 12, 2015

netmoney1 said:
HUGE business. Paying $65K or even $100K a week to be on top is pocket change for these companies.

Exactly. Although those guys are making great money, their customers are undoubtedly making more. Nobody is going to pay $65K per week for a Top 10 spot unless they are making a lot more than $65K per week.

If you remember Flappy Birds, that was a useless game that went viral and the guy was reportedly making $50K per day at one point.

$350K per week minus $65K per week is a sensational profit.

Here's a photo of how fake rankings for the App Store are done - it's a ranking factory!

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