Company says it has "proof" that Apple manipulated App Store ranking

Last September, a series of charges against Apple about a likely monopoly with the App Store culminated in a publication of Wall street journal that put, say, "all the cards on the table."

According to the newspaper's analysis, the company would have altered its store's algorithm to prioritize its apps over third-party software, which for years was among the most popular options in App Store searches. This theory was later “ratified” by the New York Times, and Ma had to move the chopsticks.

Now, however, a new accusation has emerged that the company has indeed altered the App Store algorithms following the above reports. More precisely, the development company Blix (creator of Blue Mail email client) claims to have discovered new data which points out that Apple has long suppressed third-party app ratings in the App Store. The information is from Washington post.

According to the founders of Blix, they distrusted the App Store's rating method at the end of September, when Blue Mail moved from 143 to 13th place in Ma's e-mail app ranking just after the report. New York Times have been published.

Based on information and belief, Apple changed its search algorithms in an apparent attempt to remove the manipulation and suppression techniques previously employed that were now under scrutiny following the extensive report of the New York Times.

Still according to executives, the reason Apple has “neglected” the Blue Mail app for so long is precisely that the software “attracts ordinary consumers thanks to its richness of features compared to the basic iOS Mail app” .

Blix is ​​waging yet another (older) battle with Apple, in which it requires the company to redistribute Blue Mail on the Mac App Store. The e-mail client was removed from the store last June, and since then the developer has accused Ma of “antitrust violations”. According to Apple, Blue Mail was removed from MAS because it duplicated another Blix app, TypeApp.

Back on the app rating charge, Blix closes by saying that Apple's software is the only one on the App Store without rating. They also suggest that the company intentionally singled out apps with lower ratings to "confuse customers and make them think there were only lower quality alternatives to the Mail app."

Apple has not commented on Blix's accusations so far. The company is also being accused of monopolizing the App Store in the largest judicial sphere in the United States and even in Russia.

via Business Insider