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"The company reportedly said that Google’s policies explicitly prohibit reviews aiming to manipulate an app’s rating" Literally the only reason someone rates s

"The company reportedly said that Google’s policies explicitly prohibit reviews aiming to manipulate an app’s rating" Literally the only reason someone rates something is to affect/manipulate the rating.

wnevets 6y ago
> Literally the only reason someone Well, no. Maybe we're splitting hairs but when I rate something its to describe my experience, not to affect its overall rating. At no point do I think my one rating would have a meaningful impact on its overall score unless it has very few ratings to begin with.
- osrec 6y ago
  I think it depends on whether your experience was positive or negative. If positive, I think your description applies. If negative, I think people really do want to impact the rating negatively.
  - jessriedel 6y ago
    When I find a good product and review it, it's because I want to benefit the developer and help other people find it. I am trying to affect the overall rating.
  - wnevets 6y ago
    So if you were to leave a 1 star review on the facebook app on the google play store, you actually think you're impacting their overall score in a meaningful way?
    - RobLach 6y ago
      If you're joined by a billion other people...
      - wnevets 6y ago
        most people rating apps aren't expecting to be joined by a billion other people. So there MUST be another reason why people are leaving ratings. AKA the complete opposite of what the original commenter is claiming.
    - t-writescode 6y ago
      How is your question different from asking "when you vote for a particular candidate, you actually think you're impacting the overall vote in a particular direction?" Validated app purchase, app-store rating is a democracy.
      - wnevets 6y ago
        > "when you vote for a particular candidate, you actually think you're impacting the overall vote in a particular direction?" I absolutely don't.
        cryptoz 6y ago
        What is voting then? Nobody's vote matters? Is democracy a sham to you? The math is simple though. Your vote is 1 added to a total. So is everyone's. The totals don't go above 0 tied with 0 based on your description. But clearly our votes don't all end in a 0-0 tie.
        wnevets 6y ago
        I can guarantee you that my vote in the 2020 presidential election had absolutely zero impact on who my state electors voted for, let alone impacting the race at a national level. I would have to be a complete moron to think my vote had any impact on choosing the winner.
    - osrec 6y ago
      I don't know if I will have a meaningful impact or not, but my intention is certainly to impact the rating. Otherwise, why rate at all?
      - wnevets 6y ago
        > Otherwise, why rate at all? to describe my experience.
        osrec 6y ago
        To influence others? To express an opinion? Or just for fun?
        wnevets 6y ago
        Probably the same reason I post comments on hackernews. I'm definitely not expecting too influence or change an outcome
        osrec 6y ago
        But you're certainly persistent in trying to get others to agree/see to your viewpoint on here. Perhaps you want to influence opinion more than you think?
3327 6y ago
Google is trash the system is rigged. Never thought i would join the camp but the days events have proven all the “its rigged” sayers right. They were right. GME , BB, NOK to the moon.
jbay808 6y ago
If I think an app deserves three stars, then I should give it a three star review, even if it currently has four stars. If I say "well, this deserves three stars, so I'll give it a one-star review so as to pull the average closer to three" then I'm aiming to manipulate its rating, rather than rating it. Note: I'm only guessing at Google's thought process here at the distinction between reviews and manipulation, and guessing at their detection algorithm; I'm not myself suggesting or implying that one-star reviewers are always engaging in manipulation. Of course you could honestly think an app deserves one star. The difference is unknowable to an outside observer. Only you can really know whether you're being honest, but that won't stop Google from assuming the worst.
- gnicholas 6y ago
  True, but it seems that most of the current reviewers think that it should have 1 star, so giving 1 star reviews isn't an example of this kind of manipulation.
  - jbay808 6y ago
    I agree that that's what happened here, but maybe Google didn't think so, or automatically assumes that the above is typically the scenario where one-star reviews are given. Such reviews will naturally be at one end of the spectrum or the other - either one star or five stars, so as to maximize your voting power. So they might detect it in the case of reviews being bimodally distributed. I'd expect that two star reviews should always be treated as honest, so I'd recommend that as a review floor to prevent getting accused of manipulation and deleted.
    - gnicholas 6y ago
      I think reviews are naturally bimodally distributed because people are most likely to take the time to review a business when it is either amazing or horrible. I would speculate that this is the reason that Yelp created its Elite program — to incentivize people to write tons of reviews, including for places that were neither amazing nor horrible. This gives Yelp the crucial middle ground reviews that as you say are more likely to be accurate than just the highs and lows.
skeeter2020 6y ago
My immediate response too. Even more ridiculous than "prevent the manipulation of a stock", you know the entire point of economics and markets...
fasdf1122 6y ago
don't worry, we can just do it again.
kerng 6y ago
Is Google not following the news and sees what's going on? These seem legit reviews of upset customers, not some random prank.
- xiphias2 6y ago
  The news doesn't have experts in securities tradings law, and it's still not clear what happened. What's going on right now is unprecedented, so it has to go through a complex review process. Just following the news is witch hunting.

wnevets 6y ago

> Literally the only reason someone Well, no. Maybe we're splitting hairs but when I rate something its to describe my experience, not to affect its overall rating. At no point do I think my one rating would have a meaningful impact on its overall score unless it has very few ratings to begin with.

osrec 6y ago
I think it depends on whether your experience was positive or negative. If positive, I think your description applies. If negative, I think people really do want to impact the rating negatively.
- jessriedel 6y ago
  When I find a good product and review it, it's because I want to benefit the developer and help other people find it. I am trying to affect the overall rating.
- wnevets 6y ago
  So if you were to leave a 1 star review on the facebook app on the google play store, you actually think you're impacting their overall score in a meaningful way?
  - RobLach 6y ago
    If you're joined by a billion other people...
    - wnevets 6y ago
      most people rating apps aren't expecting to be joined by a billion other people. So there MUST be another reason why people are leaving ratings. AKA the complete opposite of what the original commenter is claiming.
  - t-writescode 6y ago
    How is your question different from asking "when you vote for a particular candidate, you actually think you're impacting the overall vote in a particular direction?" Validated app purchase, app-store rating is a democracy.
    - wnevets 6y ago
      > "when you vote for a particular candidate, you actually think you're impacting the overall vote in a particular direction?" I absolutely don't.
      - cryptoz 6y ago
        What is voting then? Nobody's vote matters? Is democracy a sham to you? The math is simple though. Your vote is 1 added to a total. So is everyone's. The totals don't go above 0 tied with 0 based on your description. But clearly our votes don't all end in a 0-0 tie.
        wnevets 6y ago
        I can guarantee you that my vote in the 2020 presidential election had absolutely zero impact on who my state electors voted for, let alone impacting the race at a national level. I would have to be a complete moron to think my vote had any impact on choosing the winner.
  - osrec 6y ago
    I don't know if I will have a meaningful impact or not, but my intention is certainly to impact the rating. Otherwise, why rate at all?
    - wnevets 6y ago
      > Otherwise, why rate at all? to describe my experience.
      - osrec 6y ago
        To influence others? To express an opinion? Or just for fun?
        wnevets 6y ago
        Probably the same reason I post comments on hackernews. I'm definitely not expecting too influence or change an outcome
        osrec 6y ago
        But you're certainly persistent in trying to get others to agree/see to your viewpoint on here. Perhaps you want to influence opinion more than you think?

3327 6y ago

Google is trash the system is rigged. Never thought i would join the camp but the days events have proven all the “its rigged” sayers right. They were right. GME , BB, NOK to the moon.

jbay808 6y ago

If I think an app deserves three stars, then I should give it a three star review, even if it currently has four stars. If I say "well, this deserves three stars, so I'll give it a one-star review so as to pull the average closer to three" then I'm aiming to manipulate its rating, rather than rating it. Note: I'm only guessing at Google's thought process here at the distinction between reviews and manipulation, and guessing at their detection algorithm; I'm not myself suggesting or implying that one-star reviewers are always engaging in manipulation. Of course you could honestly think an app deserves one star. The difference is unknowable to an outside observer. Only you can really know whether you're being honest, but that won't stop Google from assuming the worst.

gnicholas 6y ago
True, but it seems that most of the current reviewers think that it should have 1 star, so giving 1 star reviews isn't an example of this kind of manipulation.
- jbay808 6y ago
  I agree that that's what happened here, but maybe Google didn't think so, or automatically assumes that the above is typically the scenario where one-star reviews are given. Such reviews will naturally be at one end of the spectrum or the other - either one star or five stars, so as to maximize your voting power. So they might detect it in the case of reviews being bimodally distributed. I'd expect that two star reviews should always be treated as honest, so I'd recommend that as a review floor to prevent getting accused of manipulation and deleted.
  - gnicholas 6y ago
    I think reviews are naturally bimodally distributed because people are most likely to take the time to review a business when it is either amazing or horrible. I would speculate that this is the reason that Yelp created its Elite program — to incentivize people to write tons of reviews, including for places that were neither amazing nor horrible. This gives Yelp the crucial middle ground reviews that as you say are more likely to be accurate than just the highs and lows.

skeeter2020 6y ago

My immediate response too. Even more ridiculous than "prevent the manipulation of a stock", you know the entire point of economics and markets...

fasdf1122 6y ago

don't worry, we can just do it again.

kerng 6y ago

Is Google not following the news and sees what's going on? These seem legit reviews of upset customers, not some random prank.

xiphias2 6y ago
The news doesn't have experts in securities tradings law, and it's still not clear what happened. What's going on right now is unprecedented, so it has to go through a complex review process. Just following the news is witch hunting.