<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Apple is clamping down on developers who artificially inflate the rankings of their apps on its storefront. The tech giant warned that anyone found using automated PCs - or &amp;#039;bot farms&amp;#039; - to push their applications up the software chart will be banned from the App Store. The report follows revelations on the Touch Arcade gaming forum, where an anonymous developer claimed they were approached by a company offering to push their app into the storefront&amp;#039;s top 25 in exchange for $5,000 (\u00A33,144). According to the post, the unnamed firm outlined its business model and named eight of the App Store&amp;#039;s best-selling titles among its clients.  &amp;quot;I was totally shocked when I heard that there were eight apps in the top 25 were all promoted by them,&amp;quot; the developer wrote. &amp;quot;He said he had outsourced someone to build him a bot farm and the bots will automatically download his clients&amp;#039; apps and drive up their rankings.&amp;quot; Apple responded by clarifying its position on such practises in a post on its developer forum. &amp;quot;Once you build a great app, you want everyone to know about it. However, when you promote your app, you should avoid using services that advertise or guarantee top placement in App Store charts. &amp;quot;Even if you are not personally engaged in manipulating App Store chart rankings or user reviews, employing services that do so on your behalf may result in the loss of your Apple Developer Program membership.&amp;quot;  Apple&amp;#039;s competitor Google has been tackling similar issues on its Android Market. The storefront has garnered a reputation for attracting malware, but the search engine firm now claims to have tightened security. The company recently revealed that it has been using a malware screener called Bouncer, which it says has led to a 40% decrease in potentially harmful software over the last six months. &amp;gt; Apple security expert exposes iPhone app flaw "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/apple/news/a364815/apple-clamping-down-on-app-store-chart-manipulation/>