I was forwarded an email from a listener of the show that has an app.  He was contacted by a site by the name of YourAppReviewed dot com - no I am not going to put the link to said site and from here on out I will just refer to them as YAR.  This site is claiming to offer paid reviews in iTunes for your Apps.  I contacted the person running the site posing as someone interested in this service.  Well really I was not posing I was very interested in the service just not in the way they thought.  

I asked the following question:  "Can you give us a few examples of Apps in the app store you have worked with?"  

YAR's response to that question was the following:  "As I'm sure you can easily imagine, our customers are not really keen to have there name disclosed."    

Which lead me to send the following:  "Now you have me a bit concerned - is your service something that our clients should be worried about using?  In other words is this something that Apple would throw an app out of Itunes for using?"  

YAR response to that was: "As we are not posting fake reviews, it's not something which is conflicting with Apple rules. Our reviewers are real iPhone and iPod users.  We don't pay them to post fake positive reviews but to give their honest opinion Apps.  Don't worry about that."

Well first I don't think Apple would be happy with any paid review services - and second he comments that they were "honest" reviews.  This I seriously questioned in my mind.  So I started doing some research and was able to figure out who many of the reviewers are that they use and the apps they reviewed. When I started looking at the reviews it became clear they were anything but honest - IMO.  Here is a list of the Apple usernames I was able to work out that are part of YAR and doing the paid reviews.  The number of 4 or 5 star reviews for each is listed - along with a link to their reviews so you can see for yourself.  

#   Reviewers

35  ACKirkPatrick

34  RobbyRedPort

32  Violin Lady

31  amberg914

31  RRS Comm

29  HustonJudge

28  stephyboop

16  sailing r

15  Wii4Me

13  kyoku1

13  Meowzers9

13  Writer R

 9  Bartsrock

 9  Seatramp

 8  R2S Writes

 7  Musician 123

 7  RS 11

 7  Witchygreemeyez2

 5  Nice Mom

 4  relsenpeter

 2  WriteWithMe

UPDATE 1:  Additional Bogus Reviewers

5  Parker from PA

Note - There were additional reviewers that did single reviews for some of the apps below - but as they only did a single review it was tough to prove they were part of YAR so I did not include them in the list above. If they do more I will add them at a later date. 

The group above was responsible for doing well over 300 reviews in iTunes for the following apps, The number of likely paid reviews performed by the "reviewers" above is listed before the App in question.  

Update 2 - More Apps Likely getting Bogus Paid Reviews:

    5    HeartScan

    4    Diet OK

    2    Sound Memory Family

    2    Tic Tac Toe - iPad Edition

Note: Again there were other apps I am pretty sure were part of the YAR reviews - but as they were just a single review and I did not want to include them in the list above.  I am sure there are other apps and reviewers I did not come across - but the ones above I have a very high level of confidence that they are part of YAR. Sadly some of the apps above had 4 or 5 star reviews from people that clearly were not part of YAR - but those are now IMO rendered moot as you can not trust anything you read for reviews for any of the apps above - except the 1 and 2 star reviews - which many of them have.  

Per the start of the article where I was disgusted by what I discovered, that was when I came across a review by apple user - RobbyRedPort.  It was for the app -  Overcome the loss of a loved one with prof McMurphys subliminal techniques - Thats right they appear to be paying to put up a fake review for an app that "prays" on those that lost a loved one.  That to me was way over the top.  Oh and if you think I am jumping to conclusions - go an look at the apps he reviewed for the developer (ZENESSA) of that and the other Prof McMurphy apps.  Apparently RobbyRedPort - also had issues with Acne, Weight, keeping new years resolutions, finding a mate, improving his sex life with the mate he was looking for, being successful, being happy, and oh yeah he also reviewed an app for Marathoners and Triathletes because nothing says I need subliminal help with my weight like someone that is running a marathon.  Yup they all seemed like honest reviews (Heavy Sarcasm). Looking at the other "reviewers" reviews that have multiple apps you find other conflicts.  Like Amberg914 that reviewed apps for New Moms, a Wedding Planner, and how to find a man.  I guess that is possible.  After all - RSS Comm, Violin Lady and Bartsrock all reviewed the New Mom and Wedding planner apps - Maybe they should have reviewed a birth control methods app.    

It is possible some of the reviews are real and heart felt - but you know what - not a single one of them said they were paid to do the review by the App developer they did said review for - and that is what the real issue here comes down to.  These are app reviews as an end user you really can not trust.  It makes you wonder how many others are doing this as well. Granted 300+ bogus app reviews is small in relation to all the app reviews out there and thankfully Apple does have control of the App store and what goes in it so they can do something about this.  

I hope Apple reads this and takes appropriate action - especially with regards to the app that prays on those that just lost a loved one.  To me this went from a fun project to something that just made me sick to my stomach.