Microsoft may have recently hit the 100k app mark, but that doesn’t mean every app in the store is useful or non-deceptive. A quick look at the Windows Store will reveal that there are many apps that are “deceptive” and trick you into purchasing the app, only to find out that its just some lame “tutorial.”
For example, there is an app called “Angry Birds for win 8” in the Windows Store. This app was submitted, certified, and approved by Microsoft and is now listed in the Windows Store as of today. At first glance, it appears to be the Angry Birds game from Rovio and it costs $6.99. After browsing through the screenshots of the app via the Windows Store, you can easily tell that this isn’t the popular Angry Birds game, but rather a deceptive app. (see screenshot above)
There are a crap ton (yes it’s a unit of measurement!) of apps in the Windows Store that have a similar title to this: Cut the Rope Game for Windows 8: How to use. Notice the “How to use” part in the app name. There are a ton of popular titles, including Microsoft’s own Office, OneNote, Publisher, Word, etc, that feature the “How to use” bit. However, when you browse through the store, you wont see the “how to use” part since it is cut off from the tile. Take a look below:
As you can see, these deceptive apps are published into the Windows Store and trick those who are new to Windows 8 into thinking these are the apps they were searching for. These deceptive apps get indexed so when a user searched for “Spotify” or “Photoshop” in the Windows Store, these deceptive apps pop up fooling the user and tricking them into wasting their money. The screenshot above and below are just two recent examples from the past few days. There are a crap ton of these apps in the Windows Store as of right now. Just search for “how to use” and see for yourself.
Dear Microsoft, please do something about this. How on earth are these “apps” passing your lengthy certification and approval process? For those of you who love to purchase apps from the Windows Store, we urge you to be extra careful on what you purchase.
Microsoft has offered a statement to the guys over at TNW, stating that the software giant strives to make the Windows Store an excellent experience.
“We routinely review apps based on performance, ratings and user reviews and take steps to remove apps if they do not meet our certification guidelines. We are aware of the issue and are actively removing apps that offer little value or confuse customers, and will continue evaluating our submission process to make sure Windows offers the highest quality app catalog available. With regards to trademark infringement, with every app there is an option to report the app for violating the Windows Store’s Terms of Use. If a company feels a Windows Store app is infringing on their copyrights or trademarks, they should report the app and we will take immediate action to determine if the app should be removed from the Windows Store,” a Microsoft spokesperson stated.
