Solving the fake ratings issue would solve all of the various problems @_inside and @johnsundell mention here, other than the *really* good counterfeits.
If the ratings are 4.6 stars but all reviews together are 1.6 stars, you don't need any advanced AI to detect.
True ratings would deprive all these scams from their oxygen, and would allow people to come together and protect themselves without relying on a potentially biased decision from any single Apple reviewer.
The root of the problem is singular, and easy to explain:
FAKE RATINGS
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The App Store has a *massive* fake ratings problem👇
You: an honest developer, working hard for a 4.5 star rating.
Your competitor: a $12M App Store scam, undetected for years.
1/🧵
This app was released early 2016.
With a 4.5 rating from over 150k users, and a price of free, it definitely seems worth downloading:
Upon first launch, we’re presented with what amounts to a $260/year auto-renewing subscription. I didn’t notice the X button located all the way up there, so I’m gonna assume there’s only one way to proceed here - all those users can’t be wrong, and it’s a free trial after all!
If you ever wondered what scammers can do, my Reddit post exposing them hit the r/Apple frontpage with 100 votes but just got mass-downvoted into oblivion.
And I mean, down to ZERO votes.
The truth won't be hidden for too long, but the scammers surely want to keep it that way.