Do you enjoy reading reviews for apps that need to pay money to get reviewed, by reviewers who are getting paid to write them? In an attempt to make everyone happy, honest review sites are chipping away at their credibility by charging for expedited reviews.

As you would expect, part of our marketing strategy for Ms. Chuck involved shamelessly emailing every app review site and teenager with a YouTube channel begging for attention.  The experience was largely the same as it was for the original Chuck the Ball.  As we expected, the game received only a little attention and we went on with our lives.  However, this time around we received many more responses suggesting that we pay for an “expedited review”.  On the surface, this seems like an acceptable proposal: We pay a nominal fee of $50.00 and in return we get moved to the front of the increasingly large review queue.  Everyone is happy- we get our review, and the blogger is compensated for his or her effort.   It wasn’t until one of these sites sent out a poll asking devs their opinion about paying for expedited reviews that I realized how I really felt about it.

First, let’s be honest and call this arrangement what it really is: paid reviews.  All of the sites in question receive a constant stream of review requests.  To think that there is some mythical queue in which all submitted requests live with equal status based on submision date would be naive.  Besides, even if this were true, that means you can expect your review some time next year.  So what’s the big deal with paid reviews?

Even if a site remains completely impartial, not everyone who visits it will believe that it is.  I have faith that most of the sites offering this service are just trying to do what they think is best for everyone.  However, they are shooting themselves in the foot by degrading their credibility.

Who wants to read reviews for apps that need to pay money to get attention? With the exception of the occasional rant, I am looking for positive reviews when I visit review sites.  I already know that 99% of the apps in the App Store are worthless.  If a site truly remains impartial and writes honest reviews for the hoards of developers that are paying them, they will find their site polluted with articles no one cares about.

The review site isn’t the only victim here.  Naive developers desperate for attention pay for these reviews because they don’t see any other option.  Paying for a review will likely result in no noticable increase in sales or exposure.  Why?  If the app in question is not interesting enough to warrant being reviewed without being paid, that probably means no one reading the review will care.  In addition, even worthwhile apps have to pay the review tax because the reviewers are too busy to write any free reviews.

The App Store is a highly competitive arena with almost no middle class.  There is a small elite selling thousands a day and a huge lower-class making single digit sales.  The sooner everyone gets over this harsh reality the better.  Review sites should go back to reviewing what readers care about and developers should concentrate on creating worthwhile apps.

Thoughts?  We’d love to hear a reviewer’s perspective on this topic.