The secret of domestic App Store ranking manipulation is revealed: paid rankings are cheaper than free rankings

In early March 2012 , Apple App Store changed its ranking rules, but the new ranking rules could not completely eliminate the problem of chart manipulation. Since entering July, the peak of chart manipulation has reappeared. It was originally thought that Apple would lock the charts in July and update the new ranking rules, but perhaps due to some concerns and algorithmic issues, Apple did not do so. On the one hand, the production lines of domestic chart manipulation companies are becoming more and more "mature", and on the other hand, more and more developers and companies are beginning to acquiesce and agree with this "promotion" method.

In fact, the phenomenon of chart manipulation not only exists in China, but also involves some foreign developers. No matter how Apple changes the ranking rules, it cannot completely stop the manipulation of the charts. But compared with foreign developers, chart manipulation in China seems to be more clear. You can see clear quotation sheets for chart manipulation in industry groups everywhere, as well as various exchanges and discussions about chart manipulation. The term chart manipulation seems to have transitioned from a gray area to a common promotion method. Although the chart manipulation companies I have contacted did not disclose the specific content, they admitted that most of the well-known domestic software and games rely on chart manipulation to enter the list or maintain their rankings.

Paid rankings are easier to manipulate than free rankings

In addition to considering the price of the ranking companies, some software developers have even found some more "reasonable" ranking and cheating methods, so that their applications can obtain the greatest benefits at the lowest cost, or induce users to download. First of all, a developer named Zhang recently revealed to us that the paid rankings of iPhone are now easier to brush than the free rankings, with small efforts and large returns. He claimed that now you can enter the iPhone paid rankings by downloading 1,000 apps a day. If you find a ranking company to purchase your 6-yuan app for 8 yuan, then you need to spend 8,000 yuan. But 70% of the 6,000 yuan is your application income, so the actual cost is only 3,800 yuan. The price of brushing the free rankings is as high as more than 30,000 yuan, and this does not take into account the natural downloads that paid software can bring after entering the rankings.

Cost of paid rankings

We then found the ranking manipulation company introduced by Zhang, and the company sent a quotation sheet for August. In the quotation for the paid ranking manipulation, they gave a price even lower than 8,000 yuan, because they said that sometimes some software does not need to be purchased 1,000 times to enter the paid ranking. It seems that many software costs less than 3,800 yuan, and only 500 yuan can enter the iPhone paid ranking, which is very surprising.

Paid list quotation

The latest gameplay of the online game "Dual Sword Merge"

In addition, an industry insider recently claimed that domestic developers have discovered some new "gameplay methods". Many online games have begun to launch two versions of the game with basically the same content, one focusing on the paid list and the other focusing on the free list. The reason is that the paid list is easier to brush. You may ask, if the paid list is easier to brush, why launch a free version when only one paid version is launched? In response to this question, the industry insider said that it is because the factor of built-in paid props in free software must also be considered. The free version has more users, and the number of users can be up to 100 times that of the paid version.

According to our observation, there are indeed many apps in the current App Store that have both paid and free versions (not LITE trial versions). However, some software is indeed designed to target different users. For example, the paid version of a hotel software will give users XX yuan in cash and other benefits every month. But some game software is more likely to be cheating. For example, the paid version changes the logo and gives away a prop worth XX yuan, which can originally be purchased through the free version. And then it can also attract users' attention and downloads through promotion methods such as "price reduction" and "limited free".

Two different versions of online games

The taste of the limited free

Speaking of the most common promotion method of limited free games, it has actually changed its flavor now. This policy introduced by Apple was originally intended to facilitate developers to promote their applications in a cost-saving way that users prefer. However, in the Chinese market, this method has become "abuse", and more and more paying users claim that they have seen limited free games on the apps they bought many times; or that they were paid at first, but later became completely free. Wang is such a user. He once expressed his dissatisfaction to the developer through Weibo because he bought an 18-yuan game, but it was limited free less than half a month after the purchase, and it has been in a limited free state. However, the developer did not give him a solution, but only promised to give him some game stickers. Wang said that he would never buy any games from the developer again to avoid being at a disadvantage again.

Although the limited free and permanent free methods can benefit more people, on the one hand, these software should be free software, and on the other hand, it also harms the already small number of paying users in China. Apple's original good intentions have also lost their original intentions under the increasingly fierce competition. Of course, we believe that Apple also has a certain responsibility on this issue. At least limit the number of free times within a period of time and improve the review of paid software to free software.

On the contrary, in foreign markets, free games are still in a normal state. You may also find that the software you bought has been free, but the number is small, and some are not popular software, or some are major festivals, or major strategic adjustments by developers, such as Temple Run, which was originally a paid game and became a free game after its success.

What can be achieved by manipulation of rankings, multiple versions to confuse users, endless free trials, random recommendations and deceptive reviews? Perhaps these will give users more exposure to the software, make it famous, and generate more downloads, but whether it can stay on the user's phone depends on factors such as the software experience and positioning, which cannot be solved by manipulation of rankings. As for the abuse of free trials and versions, it can only lead to the loss of more new users.

As for Apple, although it has not taken many actions to curb the current chart manipulation, the strict Apple will not let it go. In addition, perhaps because it has noticed a series of problems with free games, Apple has also begun to take the lead in launching boutique free games, regularly launching a software that can truly be called free, such as the previous "Angry Birds".