Bell Fined $1.25m Over Fake App Store Reviews
- Thursday, October 15th, 2015
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Canadian telco Bell has been fined $1.25m (£0.8m) by the countrys Competition Bureau over reviews of its app posted by the companys own staff.
Bell employees left positive reviews of the MyBell Mobile and Virgin My Account apps on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, without disclosing their connection to the company. According to The Globe and Mail, the firm acknowledged this as “an overzealous effort on the part of our service team to highlight the app” but denied that it was “practice to encourage employees to rate our products”.
The Competition Bureau reported that Bell quickly removed the reviews once they were discovered, and has since worked to cooperate with the inquiry. Today, MyBell Mobiles rating stands at two stars on the App Store, and 2.9 on Google Play. 
The fine is the first of kind in Canada, and the Competition Bureau is hoping to send a clear warning signal to other businesses.
