据可靠消息透露，苹果最近已采取措施，取缔App Store中的“下载奖励”广告行为（游戏邦注：指用户通过第三方广告服务，点击下载指定应用，即可获得自己所玩游戏的虚拟货币）。

而移动分析公司Flurry近日观察则发现，App Store有可能正在调整应用排名算法，其参照标准已从原来的应用下载量，转向以用户黏性为主。

App Store

据称现在已有一些原来获得极高下载量的游戏更新版本，在应用审核环节中已被App Store拒之门外，理由是它们采用了“下载奖励”广告服务。

不少开发商从苹果方面得到的均是相同的回复，由此可见此事并非孤例，苹果很可能将这种政策推向整个iOS生态圈。

在过去6个月中，“下载奖励”这种广告模式在App Store的重要性与日俱增，它不但为免费应用创造了更多曝光率，而且也推动了TapJoy、MdotM、G6 Pay、Adknowledge和Flurry等第三方服务的繁荣发展，应用开发商及发行商通过这类服务，以奖励游戏虚拟货币为手段，鼓励用户下载其他应用，从而刺激不少应用的下载量。

有许多免费游戏都采用了这种运营模式，例如Glu Mobile公司的《Big Time Gangsta》，用户如果点击该游戏的奖励性广告下载了Pocket Gems的免费游戏《Tap Zoo》，就可以赢取7个Creds，如果下载了GameDuell的4.99美元游戏《Cleopatra’s Pyramid》，就可以获得61个Creds（游戏邦注：Creds是《Big Time Gangsta》的游戏虚拟货币，65个Creds等值于9.99美元）。

在这个奖励性广告市场中，Tapjoy是其中最为领先者，据称其每日均可促成150万次下载量，其中多数来自iOS用户，这类项目每月可创造3500万美元的收益。

很显然，假如App Store公布了这项政策，不但大量开发者的项目会受到影响，Tapjoy等第三方服务也将遭到重创。

有人认为，从苹果处理保护用户隐私、应用内置付费功能这两个风波中就可以看出，苹果素来就没有与开发者事先蹉商，然后再做决策的传统，所以不论开发者是否乐意，最后也将不得不接受这项苹果新政。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

Apple stamps down on app incentivisation; starts rejecting games using per install model

According to well placed developer sources, Apple is clamping down hard on incentivisation schemes that offer users in-game credits for downloading apps.

The news follows yesterday’s speculation that Apple has been tweaking its iTunes chart algorithms to favour user activity with apps and games over pure downloads.

PocketGamer.biz has learned that several games, some of them very high profile and previously available on the App Store, have been rejected when updates were submitted, with the reason given that they offer virtual currency in exchange for downloads apps.

The wording the developers received from Apple was the same in each case demonstrating this doesn’t seem to be an isolated issue, but a wholesale change being applied to the iOS ecosystem.

Changing the rules

Download incentivisation is a business model that has grown more important over the past six months on the App Store, especially for freemium titles, which can otherwise struggle to gain exposure in a very competitive marketplace.

It enables developers and publishers to pay mediators such as TapJoy, MdotM, G6 Pay, Adknowledge and Flurry to get users to download their apps as they are rewarded with virtual currency in games they are already playing.

The vast majority of the freemium industry use it, but, for example, in Glu Mobile’s Big Time Gangsta, you can earn 7 Creds for downloading Pocket Gems’ free Tap Zoo or 61 Creds for GameDuell’s $4.99 Cleopatra’s Pyramid. Within Big Time Gangsta, 65 Creds would otherwise cost $9.99.

Feel the wrath

Glu Mobile uses Tapjoy, which is the biggest player in the market, and claims to incentivise 1.5 million downloads daily, mainly on iOS, in a business that generates $35 million of revenue monthly.

Clearly, if confirmed across the App Store, this is a massive move from Apple that will annoy large parts of the developer community, not to mention incentivisation companies.

However, as previously demonstrated with user privacy and concerns over in-app purchases, Apple has a history of making far reaching decisions without consultation. （source:pocketgamer）