Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by 2pasc 4815 days ago
I am ashamed by some of the reactions here (appart from jacquesm which offers a balanced one)

AppGratis is a media, and like all media, it runs on advertising. The quality of apps promoted is shown in the fact that many apps stayed high in the ranking after the promotion and most apps (95%+) never paid to be featured by AppGratis. There was a cost - the cost of giving away an app with in App purchase credits or what have you. Do you know many black hat marketing Companies with 20,000 - 5 stars ratings from consumers all over the world? I doubt eHow would have 5 star ratings...

Maybe AppGratis became too big for its own good, but still. But we are not talking about scams like offer walls and shady newsfeed hacks.

What I see is a bunch of jealous people that are now coming out of the hood to kick the CEO on the floor - and he is obviously hurting.
1 comments
ebbv 4815 days ago
> AppGratis is a media, and like all media, it runs on advertising.

In most media the advertising and the content are separate things and clearly demarcated. That's the problem that's being highlighted here. AppGratis' content was its advertising.

Ostensible media which is being paid for positive reviews/highlighting of subjects has always been viewed as unethical.

I don't know how much of AppGratis' highlighted apps were paid for, but if the answer is "any", then I think they violated their users' trust.

link
2pasc 4815 days ago
AppGratis sponsored content was marked as Sponsored on the screen advertising the app, or by being called "Discovery App of the Day" (vs. Deal).
link
jrochkind1 4815 days ago
Wait, "Deal" means paid placement and "Discovery" does not? Or is it the opposite? How exactly is it you think this is clear?

It is true that there is certainly plenty of 'old school' media that intentionally confuses the difference between paid-placement advertisements and editorial content too. And venues that do that are disrespected and considered deceitful too, even if there are plenty of them.

link
2pasc 4815 days ago
Sorry- my mistake. In the US, the Sponsored apps were marked as sponsored. They could have been more clear about it, but you can see that. The others were just regular content for consumers to discover.
link