I have been working on compiling a list of un-intuitive and unexpected ‘Gotchas‘ for app store rejections and I decided a short tangent was in order.
Getting an iPhone app or update approved is a crapshoot. There is no other way around it. The largest block in this seems to be the lack of clear policy. Much of the system seems to work on individual judgement calls. A ridiculous and arbitrary system becomes just a little more bearable if at least there is a set of consistent rules we can follow. So I am both happy to have discovered this, and frustrated with the decision Apple has recently made and posted. Apples policy on rejections based on keywords.
According to Apple “Improper use of keywords is the fourth most common reason for App Store rejections.” (requiring an entirely new binary to be submitted and processed, but thats an entirely different complaint) the document explains “The most common rejections are for keywords which are offensive, objectionable words or phrases; using trademarks, company or product names”
This is not only a 1) terrible idea, it also 2) contradicts US court decisions about trademark use.
First off, the little issue of keywords being a remnant from the 1990s that just won’t die.
1) When I think of searching I think of somewhat popular search engine that gives great results. How does this search engine employ keywords to search and rank results? It just doesn’t. Keywords are silly. Google knows this. Limiting search data to 100 characters alone is extra silly. Google threw keywords out for search results long long time ago.
2) And what about use of a trademarked keyword? As tech dirt neatly summarized ‘Court Says Keyword Advertising Isn’t A Trademark Violation‘ The key idea here is that it doesn’t cause consumer confusion so it’s not causing harm.
So it’s a terrible idea and it’s not consistent with US law. Surely it helps the user find what they are looking for?
As an example this is the result of searching for Tetris in google. 16,000,000 results, a tiny handful of which belong to copyright holders, but all are relevant.
What do we find on the app store? 20 results, 18 of which are EA titles (who have iPhone rights to Tetris), and 2 are random titles which somehow slipped through approval using the disallowed keyword.
Trism is a great falling blocks / match three puzzle game and is something that would instantly appeal to people who know Tetris. My game iso is another Tetris-like game people may like. These do not show up but Wolfenstein RPG does!
Since I am already rambling, lets slip a #3 in here.
3) Bedfellows. Tetris is just an irrelevant keyword when applied to Wolfenstein RPG as listed in the Apple doc. EAs healthy relationship with Apple shouldn’t give them special exemption from the rules. The results are too consistent to simply be a one-off oversight in the approval process, every single EA title is displayed.
So what can I conclude from all this?
1) Using trademarked names is officially disallowed, but still happens on the AppStore in some cases.
2) Using irrelevant keywords is officially disallowed but clearly done by EA games.
3) There is zero consistency in the AppStore and app approval/rejection process. When in doubt, resubmit it!
4) I am incapable of writing a short blog post.
I’m hoping the decision to use keywords and app title alone for search results will be corrected and the random inconsistencies will be cleared up. Search should be a way for users to find apps they want.
