Sam Oliver
Apple appears to have changed the App Store's approval criteria on the heels of its annual developer conference, beginning to issue rejections to apps that reward users for watching video advertisements or sharing information about the app on social media.
"Specifically, we found your app incentivizes users to watch a video that promotes another app in the App Store," one developer's rejection notice reads. "This excessively influences the App Store and it's [sic] listing order or ranking." The rejections were first spotted by TechCrunch.
Common to the rejections that have surfaced thus far are sections 2.25 and 3.10 of the App Store's review guidelines. Those sections prohibit promoting apps other than those from the same developer and doing anything to manipulate the App Store rankings, respectively.
Section 2.25 was added earlier this year and has already been involved in one high-profile incident. Search and discovery app AppGratis was pulled from the App Store in April for violating the section, drawing angry reactions from a number of individuals including France's digital industry minister.
As noted by TechCrunch, both methods of promotion are widely used throughout the store and often play a critical role in the success of apps from both independent developers and large corporations like Electronic Arts. It is not yet known what Apple intends to do with existing apps that violate these provisions, but the company may be planning a more wide-reaching purge.
"On occasion, there may be apps on the App Store that don't appear to be in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines," one developer was told. "We work hard to ensure that the apps on the App Store are in compliance and we try to identify any apps currently on the App Store that may not be. It takes time to identify these occurrences but another app being out of compliance is not a reason for your app to be."
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
14 Comments
1) Good, but I'd still like to see a lot better curation all around. 2) I can't believe they misspelled[I] its[/I]. This wouldn't have happened if Steve Jobs were alive¡
Interesting. There are a LOT of games that rely on this cross-advertising for revenue to support a freemium app model.
I hope they kick out Number Guru, which slyly introduced an update that makes the app completely useless by requiring the user to watch ads before each number lookup.
Frankly, I'm tired of apps and sites on safari that automatically switch over to the App Store to display an app ad. That ability seems, to me, be a potential source for mischief. I want control over where my phone navigates. I don't want a third party site switching me anywhere without my prior agreement. I will applaud when Apple fixes this.
[quote name="SolipsismX" url="/t/180528/apple-alters-app-store-rules-starts-denying-apps-for-incentivized-ads-sharing#post_2548012"]1) Good, but I'd still like to see a lot better curation all around. 2) I can't believe the misspelled[I] its[/I]. This wouldn't have happened if Steve Jobs were alive¡[/quote] 2) I can't believe the [sic] misspelled it's. This wouldn't have happened if Steve Jobs were [sic] alive. Anyone can make mistakes.