A bunch of 5-star reviews of WhatsApp's Snapchat update sure look fake
Just like everything else owned by Facebook, WhatsApp is becoming more like Snapchat.
Whether that's a good or bad thing depends on your own preferences and loyalty to the actual Snapchat. But it looked like a lot of people were thrilled by the update — until the influx of positive reviews got suspicious.
Bad ratings for WhatsApp in Google Play were boosted by hundreds of five-star reviews, a Telegra.ph post claimed. Spotted by The Next Web, the post called out tons of five-star reviews that suspiciously all mention games and graphics.
WhatsApp is not a game, though you can play some games within it. Still, just look at these:
The reviews allegedly started appearing after other users were less than thrilled with the WhatsApp Status feature, aka its version of Instagram Stories, and lowered its Google Play rating. A security flaw found earlier this month also left real review-leaving users dissatisfied.
WhatsApp denied to The Next Web that they had anything to do with these glowing reviews.
"We’re focused on making our service better for our 1.2 billion users around the world. We don’t have time for fake reviews, and we’ve reached out to Google to look into the issue," WhatsApp said in a statement.
Maybe hundreds of reviewers really believe WhatsApp is "tons of fun!"
Topics WhatsApp
Emma Hinchliffe is a business reporter at Mashable. Before joining Mashable, she covered business and metro news at the Houston Chronicle.
