App Store alterations could be game over for app promotion services

A change to the App Store guidelines introduced by Apple could spell the end of popular promotion services such as FreeAppADay and AppShopper.

Pocket Gamer reports that the new clause reads as follows:

"Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected."

Although open to interpretation to a certain degree, it’s clear that Apple could quite easily use it as licence to dismiss any apps that list third party alternatives with links to purchase.

Services that fall into this category include the popular FreeAppADay and price monitor AppShopper. It could also affect publishers who enter into in-game cross-promotion agreements with competitors.

The implications for consumers are obvious, but developers will likely be unimpressed, too. The use of such services has become a vital marketing strategy for many.

And while we’re yet to see any firm implementation of this new rule, Pocket Gamer has word from many within the iOS community that Apple is planning a crackdown on such promotional tools and apps as it looks to alter the structure and legitimacy of the App Store charts.