App makers may be using manipulative tactics to make their apps seem more popular than they are, writes Ryan Tate, in a bid to draw investors. Highlights include:

• Those who produce apps have several avenues to artificially boost their numbers. They include:
  • Offering users virtual money in one popular app, in exchange for asking them to download another app made by the same publisher.
  • Spamming social networks such as Facebook.
  • Being slow in removing inappropriate content.
• The rewards from doing so can be substantial. Viddy, hailed by many as the next Instagram, raised $30 million. Its traffic decreased by more than 50% soon after.

To read more including other ways that apps can manipulate their numbers, other app-makers who may have engaged in these practices, what industry experts have to say, which app-stores are the most vulnerable, what the app-stores have tried to do, and why app-makers keep trying, click here.

Source: Wired