 "Fake BBM app reviews on Google Play Store raise eyebrows")
A lot of users are currently still twiddling their thumbs, waiting for an opportunity to get to use the BlackBerry Messenger app on Android or iOS. BBM’s head at BlackBerry, Andrew Bocking, only ramped up the excitement when he announced that the application had been downloaded 10 million times and 24 hours and managed to rack up 60,000 5-star posts on the Android Play Store.
However, if you just head on to the Play Store page for the application, you will be hit with the feeling that something isn’t quite right. There are far too many 5-star rated reviews from users belonging to different countries and oddly they all have the same thing to say about the app. No, we mean the exact same thing, down to the bad grammar. “Thank you so much Blackberry team. I was waiting this app. It is really great user friendly and smooth,” read thes reviews by these reviewers.
Fake reviews galore
Tech blogger Terrence Eden too combed through these reviews to figure out that there was some element of astroturfuing on the Play Store. Interestingly, he even found an over-eager post that copy-pasted a lot more than he was supposed to. “Dear Mr. [redacted], please post the following comment on the new BlackBerry Messenger APP…” it read. Incidentally, Apple’s App Store hasn’t seen many of these kinds of posts, and only the Play Store seems to be affected by this.
This is surprising because the BBM for Android has been one of the hottest app releases this week and BlackBerry has had people queueing by the millions just to access the app, not something the company has experienced in a long time. With such an Applesque clamour for its app BlackBerry should’ve clamped down on these suspicious reviews right at the start instead of waiting for the community to throw up so many questions. There is some evidence that these reviews are being taken off now but the process has been far too slow and this also begs the question as to why the BBM team ready to tackle yet another app store fiasco.
Yet another variety
The company has already come out with statement regarding the fake five-star reviews. BlackBerry spokesperson Victoria Berry said, “We have recently been made aware of a number of potentially fake five-star reviews of BBM for Android on Google Play. We do not approve of or condone such activities and are committed to working with Google to resolve this.”
BlackBerry has also pointed out that not all of these similar-sounding reviews have left five-star ratings. Even so, apart from Blackberry Google too would want to seriously look into this matter, especially since BlackBerry’s failed launch of the BBM app has raised quite a few questions about the app store’s itself . The surge in fake BBM applications and the fake reviews combined means the companies need to seriously plug the hole of problems.
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
