[ad_1]
- Apple on Friday removed the Fakespot application from its App Store at Amazon’s request.
- Amazon has complained that Fakespot has misled customers, broken App Store rules and poses a security risk.
- The CEO of Fakespot said he was shocked by the turn of events.
Amazon asked Apple to remove an app called Fakespot from the App Store on Friday, as the Verge and CNBC reported.
Fakespot is an app that signals when product reviews on shopping apps like Amazon’s are likely to be bogus or bot-generated.
According to The Verge, Amazon filed a complaint with Apple on June 8, claiming that Fakespot displays Amazon’s website in its app, which violates Apple’s rules. The rules in question state that applications displaying third-party content must have permission from that third-party.
Amazon has also said that Fakespot is misleading customers and creating a security risk with the way it puts code on Amazon’s website to display its reviews.
“The app in question provides customers with misleading information about our sellers and their products, interferes with our sellers’ activities and creates potential security risks. We appreciate Apple’s review of this app against its Appstore guidelines.” , an Amazon spokesperson told The Verge.
Fakespot CEO Saoud Khalifah has denied that the app has security flaws, in an interview with The Verge. He added, “Amazon is ready to intimidate small businesses like ours that showcase their business flaws.” He said Fakespot had 150,000 downloads when Apple removed it.
Read more: Fakespot, a startup that helps shoppers spot bot-generated reviews and fake sellers on Amazon and Shopify, used this pitch deck to nab a $ 4 million Series A
Saoud said Apple had given Fakespot few opportunities to retaliate since Amazon filed suit on June 8, and he told CNBC that the takedown notice was sudden and unexpected. “Imagine going to a tenant and telling them you have to take all your things, you have to leave right away. That’s how I feel right now,” he said.
Apple disputes this, saying it has given Fakespot “a lot of time” to resolve the issue with Amazon. Speaking to The Verge, Khalifah said that between June 8 and Friday, the process consisted of an argument between Fakespot and Amazon, with Apple providing no guidance. “I am shocked that Apple has decided to side with Amazon without any proof,” he told The Verge.
At the time of writing, Fakespot remains in the Google Play Store for Android phones, where it has over 50,000 downloads.
Fakespot, Amazon and Apple did not immediately respond when contacted by Insider for comment.
Fake reviews have been a big PR problem for Amazon. The tech giant faces an investigation in the UK into fake reviews and in June it released a statement saying social media companies need to do more to stop the sale of fake reviews on their platforms.
[ad_2]
Source link