App Store developers stuffing the ballot box (again)

App Store developers are known for finding creative ways to game Apple's App Store for financial gain.

• In July 2008 crafty developers discovered that changing the titles of their apps to include all spaces and/or special characters would make them appear at the top of the category listing in the App Store.
• In September 2008 developers were suspected of having proxies post positive reviews of their products (and negative reviews of the competition) prompting Apple to change its requirements for posting a review of applications in the iTunes Store. Users were (finally) required to have downloaded or purchased an application before being able to review it.

It appears that one developer has stooped to a new low in an attempt to promote an application: paying for positive reviews.

According to Wired Adam Majewski, developer of iPhone app Santa Live "appears to have posted a listing on Amazon's Mechanical Turk offering to pay $4 for the highest-rated reviews on Apple's iPhone App Store."

...all you have to do is download the application (1.99) and then leave a 5 star review for the app in iTunes or the App Store

(Tip: Wired Gadget Lab, TUAW)