04-28-2024 11:21 PM
I have reported a few of these messages by shaking the phone but received negative feedback (it is okay to post something like this) feedback.
So with this post I hope to start a discussion (here or internally) about how-to-deal with referral-reviews, or at least receive an answer why these kinds of messages are okay.
The Story:
I started to discover more and more reviews, including referral links to collect app referral bonuses.
Similar to this one:
"I recently had the pleasure of using the 'bio dot link / duty' resource. I have to say I was extremely impressed. The quality of the information provided was outstanding, and the usability of the site was first-class. I would recommend it to anyone looking for reliable and well-presented information. Kudos to the team behind 'bio dot link / duty' for their excellent work!"
This review is especially blatant, as it does not review the game itself, but just the "service" of bio.link (hosting for little websites). At least the review reads like this. It could also be that the person behind this review is not a German Speaker (the original post is in German; see screenshots below) and is only copy-pasting the same "review" to any purchased game.
Looking at the profile of the person, the whole profile is created to do this: Profile picture with link, link in bio ... (I would not say the profile is a problem, not nice but well ... Everyone how he likes).
Now, why is this a problem?
Because, as a purchaser and reviewer, you should have an unbiased opinion about the game. If you collect referral bonuses for a 5-star review, this is not true anymore.
Instead, you want the game to be as good as possible, so as many people as possible will use your referral code. The Bio.link website is used to update the link, I think, instead of only having three possible referrals.
If you make a negative review, fewer people will purchase the game. If you make a good review, and you happen to be shown first (as they also collect "helpful" tags by their referrals), you will find more attention.
Result: 5-Star Review for the sake of money, even for a bad app/game.
I think this is something that should not be tolerated. Fake reviews for the sake of referral or compensation should be either marked, highlighted, excluded from the app rating, or completely forbidden.
Take a look at Amazon; they have a massive problem with fake reviews, and they are fighting against it too.
Steam is highlighting reviews done for free, even if it is an optional setting for the reviewer to check on when writing the review.
Also, there are enough places to share such links; there is no need to spam the reviews with them...
Br
Furious_Monkey
Ps: In associated products, the shop is missing. After all, it is also a product of meta.
PPS: associated products and labels have the same items and therefore are a duplicate information
04-29-2024 05:24 PM
Yeah, we've had a few discussion on this before. Not only is it problematic for review trust but it's expressly against the terms and conditions for using the referral program:
'Mass communications or email distribution to strangers or posting referral links or codes on review sites, or any other use of the services described herein in a manner outside the intent of the Programme is expressly prohibited and may be grounds for immediate termination from further participation in the programme and further legal action.'
It seems not to be a priority for Meta to crack down on it and I suspect the balance of the negative effect of loss of revenue from the discounts is outweighed by extra sales generated by the program, but I'm just guessing and it may just be something they haven't yet gotten around to.
But when referrals get posted on the forum, I (or someone) will delete them, not least because we don't want anyone on the forum to get themselves into potential problems with their account.
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04-29-2024 10:51 PM
I really think the review trust part is really important here. We don't need another Play Store with P2W or even Pay2Play Games. The time when I was searching Amazon just for fun is long over, too much overpriced trash, too many repetitive items, all with >4.5* ratings...
And seeing this should be against TOS, but seeing a blatant advertisement not getting dealt with and just receiving the notification "we don't see anything wrong here" is really sad.
Reminds me of reporting hate speech on Facebook... Never received positive feedback on there too and just started to not use it anymore.
Seeing this in combination with the opening of Meta OS for third party's... I personally don't think this is a good light to stay in.