This would seem to be really obvious, but sadly today on the Internet not everyone follows the same rules. Mashable has a good write-up (Apple Gets Tough on Cheaters, Nukes 1000+ Apps) about Apple taking action against iPhone app developers who allegedly bought votes or ratings for their app using Mechanical Turk.

I wonder if Amazon has put anything in place to stop this from their end? Apple sure is clamping down because they don’t want their ratings system messed up by “money votes.”

More than one developer has been publicly blasted for using Mechanical Turk to try to get 5-Star app reviews. The idea being that if something can make it into the “highest-rated” category for that particular application, that exposure will lead to sales that will offset any bribery costs.

iPhone Music Apps

To be fair, I haven’t started digging around at Amazon to see if they have anything written down that would stop Tasks like this from getting through the system. Does anyone out there have any information?

What about thoughts about it? Should Amazon control more tightly what tasks are allowed to be used on the Mech Turk System?

Leave your comments below. I know it’s not another forum, but maybe we’ll get some good discussion about Amazon’s Mechanical Turk going anyway. If not, I’ll keep giving information and thoughts on Mech Turk…