Around the same time that Apple was boasting of its App Store revenue growth, developer and noted App Store critic Kosta Eleftheriou brought to light another App Store scam. The earnings for a music sync app called AmpMe were documented on the social networking site. He found that AmpMe had been charging $10 per week for this basic service, which it had been promoting on the App Store.
The main reason users downloaded the AmpMe app in the first place is because it doesn't require a subscription to use some of its features, but if you want to sync your music to other devices, it does.
This offering was priced at $10/week, which E leftheriou called an "absurd" amount. Most in-app subscriptions auto-renews. If you want to cancel your subscription, you have to go to the App Store or the iPhone's settings app, but Apple makes it easy to sign up and stay subscribed. You can not cancel inside the app.
AmpMe had not been trying to trick users about its pricing. The sign-up page stated that the free trial would be followed by a subscription of $9.99 per week.
The app ran afoul of the App Store rules in how it marketed itself to potential customers.
AmpMe had a large number of five-star ratings associated with nonsensical names. These names looked like someone was on a keyboard. The reviewers were likely to have left positive feedback, such as "It's so good!" or "Don't need any other music apps!"
On the same day, reviewers left glowing five-star reviews on other apps, too. That is suspicious.
This exact group of reviewers has left glowing 5-star reviews in different apps on the same day.
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The problem is widespread.
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January 12, 2022.
The fake reviews gave the app an overall rating of 4.3 stars, making it seem like a legitimate and useful music sync tool. The real reviews where legitimate App Store customers complained about the outrageous pricing, basicFunctionality or the obvious fake reviews were drowned out by the spam.
Apple had not taken action on this app for a long time. It had promoted it several times through the App Store editorial collections.
The conclusion he draws from this is that Apple may be less willing to hunt down App Store scam artists because of their potential earnings. The only other conclusion is that Apple is not good at keeping the App Store safe for consumers.
According to Eleftheriou, AmpMe has pulled in $13 million in lifetime revenue on the App Store, after Apple cut their rates.
The figure is even higher by another firm. The app has made $16 million since it began making money through in-app purchases in October of last year, according to Apptopia. The majority of AmpMe's revenue came from consumers in the U.S.
AmpMe denied some of the claims being made.
If users stayed subscribed, a $10 per week subscription would add up to $520 per year. AmpMe said its average yearly subscription revenue is around $75. Users are taking advantage of the free trial and then canceling the subscription. AmpMe said that this reinforced its belief that its pricing is transparent and that its opt-out procedures are easy.
The company didn't have a good answer as to why its App Store listing is filled with fake reviews, instead blaming an anonymous third party.
We have hired outside consultants to help us with marketing and store design. A statement sent by an AmpMe representative said that more oversight is needed. They had signed the email.
The company responded to feedback by releasing a new version of the app with a lower price point.
The email said that they always adhere to Apple's subscription guidelines and were working to ensure their high standards were met. We value the feedback from the community. A new version of the app with a lower price has already been submitted to the App Store for review.
The weekly subscription has been reduced to $4.99 from $9.99 since it went live.
E leftheriou told us that it looks like a manual clean up of the fake reviews is underway.
The app had 54,080 reviews on Monday. The review count for AmpMe dropped to 53,028 by Tuesday night after some bad press. The review count dropped again by 7 AM on Wednesday. The app has not had a significant impact on its overall rating. The fake reviews submitted by the users of the App Store could be why the reviews are being removed. It will be less obvious that the app had bought fake reviews.
Martin-Luc Archambault is the CEO of AmpMe. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada found that his Wajam software had violated Canadian internet privacy laws by collecting user data without consent. Reports claimed at the time that it used several methods to evade detection. Archambault claimed that the Canadian user data had been destroyed and that Wajam had sold its assets to a Chinese company. The report said that the adware had been installed millions of times.
This does not sound like a person who would be against buying fake reviews.
AmpMe and Apple have not responded to follow-up questions beyond the initial statement.
AmpMe has raised $10 million in funding.
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