![]() These reviews represented 6 different developers. Each review was short and sweet, and extremely positive. He reviewed 7 applications, and gave each one of them 5 stars. ![]() So, we clicked on the reviewer “Vegas Bound” ( iTunes link) and started to look at his reviews. So, a few positive ratings doesn’t prove anything.įortunately, iTunes allows you to see other reviews posted by the same reviewer. Clearly, it was a popular app and users really liked it. The app now has over 908 ratings, and 348 of those ratings were 5-star. Sure enough, the first five reviews for HydroTilt XL were glowing 5-star ratings. We went to the App Store page for one of their client’s apps, specifically HydroTilt XL by Publisher X, and looked at the earliest app reviews for the title. Our source assured us this document was real, but seeing as how it was our first time with the guy, we decided to double-check. Yes, the “iPhone storefront” that Reverb Communications is referring to is the one you all know as the iTunes App Store. O Release reviews starting at launch as stretch over 14 days from release * Reviews begin to go live on day of launch on the iPhone storefront * Written from the angle of each age group including key words that resonate with each audience O Positive reviews – not over the top – but endorsing the game as a good product They call these “internal user reviews” and outline the process for creating them here: Reverb will use these interns on Developer Y products to post game reviews (written by Reverb staff members) ensuring the majority of the reviews will have the key messaging and talking points developed by the Reverb PR/marketing team. Reverb uses the interns as a sounding board to understand the new mediums where consumers are learning about products, hearing about hot new games and listen to the thoughts of our targeted audience. Reverb employs a small team of interns who are focused on managing online message boards, writing influential game reviews, and keeping a gauge on the online communities. For $0.75 per paid download of your app, you get a whole host of standard PR services, and then some … not so standard ones. This tipster forwarded us a document from Reverb Communications (attached below) that described what services Reverb provides to its clients. One prospective client, hereby known as “Developer Y,” (no irony intended) recently let us on to Reverb’s lack of scruples. ![]() Unfortunately, they don’t always follow the rules, and they have been stupid enough to tell that to prospective clients. Update: Reverb Communications has just sent over a statement, which we have included at the base of this article. ![]() Reverb claims that their clients have sold over $2 Billion of product under their watch. Additionally, they’ve managed to do an impressive job at courting the press: clients have had iPhone apps featured in just about every major media outlet known to man, including Forbes, MTV, G4TV, NBC (in fact, all the examples were for one developer: Publisher X, which Reverb happens to own). Aside from representing Pangea Software, one of the more successful App developers for the iPhone (they made Enigmo, which was featured during the Apple WWDC Keynote 2008), they also represent Harmonix (the Guitar Hero and Rock Band guys), MTV Games, and a host of iPhone game developers. Reverb Communications is an extremely successful PR firm that claims to have “first party” and “personal” relationships with Apple. Reverb isn’t the first to try and game the user review process, but they are definitely one of the most blatant cases. Yeah, that 5-star iTunes app review you saw for the once top-5 paid app Enigmo? It might not be written by a real user, but rather by Pangea Software’s PR firm. Among its various tactics? It hires a team of interns to trawl iTunes and other community forums posing as real users, and has them write positive reviews for their client’s applications. Reverb Communications, a PR firm that represents dozens of game publishers and developers, has managed to find astounding success on Apple’s App Store for its clients. When it comes to winning in the App Store, one PR firm has discovered a dynamite strategy: throw ethics out the window. ![]()
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