Marketplace Faces More Spamming, Does it Need a Report Feature?

Despite Microsoft owning up to issues of "bulk publishing" and claiming to have taken measures to restore order,  it appears the Marketplace is still facing an onslaught of apps with identical functionality. WPCentral has investigated these further reports and have found that the 20 app a day limit is working, but the actual approval process isn't any better. Their example of this are the RSS apps created by developer 'xdracinginx' which have all been published in the last two days and total to about 41 apps.

A popular idea and one of the simplest ways to resolve this error would be adding a 'Report' functionality to the Marketplace. For example when you install an app and realize it is either nonfunctional or essentially identical to several other apps by the same developer, you could choose to report that app from its Marketplace details page. It seems like such a simple idea, but there is an issue with this that Microsoft may not be able to face if initiated: it is much easier to squash spam apps when they are submitted compared to when they have already been published.

The reason is that if there is an app already in the Marketplace and it is reported by a user, it uses up more of Microsoft's resources to go back and investigate every single reported app. Honestly, a report feature seems like it would be more of a last resort rather than the first solution to a growing platform. It may be ideal, but if Microsoft wants to take the smarter and more conservative approach they would be wise to further restrict their certification process instead.

Unfortunately for them, they are burdened with playing 'App God' and it is difficult to determine whether an app is in fact a duplicate or if it is similar but covers a different topic. In some cases that is exactly what the developer intended (without nefarious reasons) and yet their app could be rejected for no reason. Apple has taken a lot of flak for their 'draconian' approach to App Store approvals and Google left their doors wide open but are now facing potential malware attacks. Microsoft needs to find a middle ground: keep the Marketplace quality at a certain level of quality while still allowing developers a chance to actually submit their apps. Good luck Microsoft, because you're gonna need it.

Source: WPCentral