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Ask HN: Competitor is giving my app 1 star reviews... what do I do?
Hello,
I launched my app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.senstore.alice.harvard) about a year ago and it's performed very nicely, with an average review of 4.6. However in mid-december I started getting one 1 star review a day and over hte last month the average review score has dropped to 4.48 which has reduced my place in the charts. At almost the same time a new competitor arrived, and so I'm suspecting them of giving me the reviews. What should I do?
- k3oni 13y agoCan you prove this or are you just going on assumptions?
- technotony 13y agoCan't prove, but it's a very sudden change in behavior from users. Would also welcome other suggestions about what could cause this, or ideas for how to prove.
- k3oni 13y agoI don't see that many 1 and 2 start reviews and form the ones that i see they seem legit like: "Pointless Keeps saying no internet connection even though I have one and all other data apps work. Will only address one symptom at a time when it does work. Most conditions have multiple symptoms... " . Some of the users have a G+ account as well which is linked to their name and those seem legit as well. Do you see an increase in the app downloads/installs? Edit: And yes some are just stupid reviews: "Stupid lol" .
- benologist 13y agoSomeone trying to bring you down a fraction of a decimal a day seems far less likely than some people just not being happy with your product. 2 stars legitimate? Lauren Bee December 29, 2013 Not enough info They give you a wide range or symptoms, but you can't check all the symptoms that apply to you just one at a time so they can't tell you exactly what's wrong they just describe what could, be wrong just based on one symptom. 1 star illegitimate? Ashley Cochren December 29, 2013 Poor Douse not work the way it says
- technotony 13y agoIt's the significant change in number of poor ratings. I used to get one or two 1 star reviews per month, now it's nearly one per day. And most don't leave a comment, whereas they used to. I haven't released a new version for months, so unclear to me why else there would be a sudden change in bad reviews.
- benologist 13y agoHave you been improving your app in that time? Bad ratings may be relative to other apps improving while you idle, or focus on improving the wrong areas, or your improvements aren't helping like they should. Are you providing a communication channel for your users outside of reviews where you can get feedback and get to the bottom of problems they have?
- technotony 13y agoThere's a feedback section built into the app so I'm tracking those comments. I hadn't released a new app version in a while, so it's possible it's just relative to new apps... Am working on a new version now...
- technotony 13y agoAnd the fraction of a day decimal is significant, it's dropped my ranking from 112 to 173, and ranking for main keywords from 1st to 2nd.
- technotony 13y agoUpdate: here's the graph of rankings... anyone other suggestions for what could be causing the change? Used to steadily improve, then suddenly a change in behavior: http://postimg.org/image/gk0t343gp/ http://postimg.org/image/gk0t343gp/
- smartician 13y agoMany developers are complaining about an influx of 1 star reviews lately, so I doubt it's your competitor. More likely it's related to Google making the "Rate this app" box more prominent: http://forums.makingmoneywithandroid.com/android-development/3898-google-play-bad-rating-after-10th-december.html http://forums.makingmoneywithandroid.com/android-development...
- technotony 13y agoThanks, just the kind of information I was looking for. That looks like exactly my problem too.
- abhi3188 13y agoMake sure these reviews aren't coming from Turkey, there is an alarming trend there of posting one star reviews.. Was on HN a while back I think.. http://blog.appwared.com/awful-app-review-trend-among-turkish-users-this-is-why-your-app-gets-so-many-one-star-reviews/ http://blog.appwared.com/awful-app-review-trend-among-turkis...