14 DAY TRIAL // Apple’s App Store is a highly lucrative business for some. That’s right, for some. Because only the apps that make top rankings generate enough revenue to make their developers rich.
But everybody wants in. And according to a leaked document handed to Business Insider, the service rejected by Apple last week, AppGratis, helped some developers skip the queue.
The document suggests that some developers paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to have AppGratis promote their software in just the right way that it would make the first five positions on Apple’s charts.
According to the report, “this document shows AppGratis estimates a ~$300,000 buy will land an app in the top five slot in the US version of the App Store.”
Pretty serious stuff, considering AppGratis’ statement the other day:
“Since the App Store algorithm has been based on download velocity only for so long, advertisers know exactly what they are doing. Reaching the top of any App Store is a simple and logical equation. But we’re not in this business,” said Simon Dawlat, CEO of AppGratis.
Dawlat added, “We’re in in the business of helping the end users discover new apps, and to serve this mission, we’re playing the long run.”
“We’re building a community. We’ve never been in the business of gaming the top charts or anything. This is a very strong statement from us,” said the CEO.
It’s been almost two weeks since Apple pulled AppGratis from the iTunes App Store citing a breach of contract between the two parties.
In the interim, AppGratis launched a petition which asks its user base of 12 million to submit their vote of confidence in an attempt to convince Apple to reinstate the app on the iTunes Store. The vote count was close to 1 million at the time of this writing.
